asirimarco wrote: I need some advice - For the last 20 years I have probably only driven less than 300 miles in the car. Since getting home in March I am the Driver as Bill's eyes are not good enough for him to drive. I am still a little nervous even driving my car around. Haven't been on a freeway yet, no reason to. But I am being kind of pressured to learn to drive the RV. By both our sons and Bill. Unless there is a miracle with Bill's eyes he probably won't pass his driver's license renewal in October. If I don't drive - the RV will not be used. I will be 85 in November. Still have good sight, brain and movement. But I am very leery of trying to drive the RB - it is a 30 foot Class C and will be towing the Jeep. Should I put on my big girl panties and do it?
Hello, Carol.
Since you asked for a few opinions, I guess I will share mine. And this is my opinion, only. I don't mean to cast shade on you or on anyone else.
Doing the math, if you have only driven less than 300 miles in your car in the last 20 years, this means that you have driven your car only about 15 miles per year.
If I am reading this incorrectly, and what you really mean is that you have only driven 300 miles
per year over the last 20 years, this means that you have driven only a
total of 6,000 miles over the last 20 years.
This really isn't much driving experience.
To give some kind of comparison (this is not a criticism) I have personally driven my own various vehicles at least 250,000 (two-hundred-fifty-thousand) miles over the last 20 years. I know this because I am the sole driver of my vehicles, so it is an easy thing for me to just go out and look at the odometer on these vehicles.
Try a Google Search on "How many driving miles make for an experienced driver?" You might find that 15 miles per year, or even 300 miles per year, over a period of 20 years, might answer this question for you.
This is not solely a question of having "good sight, brain and movement". It is also very much about having a
bone-deep knowledge and understanding of "the rules of the road". That is to say, the laws and regulations that govern driving in each state.
In California, we have a booklet that one can study when one needs to take the California driver's written test.
I see that there is one for Nevada:
https://dmv.nv.gov/pdfforms/dlbook.pdfI respectfully suggest that you carefully read over all of the sections of this booklet. To be a safe driver, a person needs to know how to do all of these things, what all of the road signs mean, basically
everything listed in this booklet - intuitively -
before that person gets behind the wheel of a vehicle, and takes that vehicle out on the road.
A safe driver needs to know how to react in unexpected situations, by not only having "good sight, brain and movement", but also by being able to put these laws and regulations into practice -
instantly, from
memory, in any unexpected situation.
Because driving a vehicle, probably more than most anything else in life, is 100% about encountering unexpected situations.
A person learns to do these driving things intuitively, first, by reading, understanding, and putting into practice the rules and regulations outlined in booklets like this one. Secondly, one learns to do these things
intuitively by having driven literally tens of thousands of miles down the road.
I would also respectfully suggest that if you are being pressured to do something that you are not comfortable doing - you should consider not doing that thing (whatever it might be). Only
you know what you are comfortable doing, what you feel
safe in doing (or in not doing).
Very Bad Things can happen incredibly fast when one is driving a vehicle - these kinds of Very Bad Things happen even to those who have had years and years of intensive driving experience, even to those who have driven hundreds of thousands of driving miles.
Inexperienced drivers are definitely at a disadvantage when unexpected situations occur. And unexpected situations
always happen while driving.
I, personally, would not wish to be expected to "graduate" from a small car to a 30-foot motor home towing another vehicle without a
LOT of previous, intensive, years-long, driving experience.
For myself, maybe not even then.
It is your decision, of course.
The decision rests with you.
Anne
ON EDIT: Carol, I don't know the total specs of your rig, but in addition to the above, you may also need a special endorsement on your current driver's license to be able to legally drive your motorhome and tow:
https://dmv.nv.gov/pdfforms/dlbookabj.pdf