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Road Trip Jokes:
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Five Easy Ways to Use Less Gasoline:
Whether
you're making an environmental effort, or just watching your money, the
following techniques can help you reduce the number of trips to the gas
pump:
1.
Lighten up. Don't carry unnecessary heavy items in your
car or RV, and remove accessory racks when you're not using them.
2. Drive the speed limit. Many communities have stoplights
timed to turn green for vehicles moving at the speed limit. Speeding puts
you out of sync and you use more gas idling and accelerating from the
lights.
3. Minimize passing. When you speed up to pass, only
to slow down to fit back into traffic, you use more gas and you don't
get there much quicker.
4. Check your tires. Fuel efficiency can be reduced
if your tires aren't rotated, aligned, and properly inflated.
5. Shift gears appropriately. Generally, the higher
the gear, the less fuel you use.
A Safe Driver is an Awake Driver:
Lack of sleep impairs your ability to think clearly and react
promptly. Estimates suggest up to 30 percent of highway vehicle accidents
are releated to driver fatigue and sleepiness. Warning signs include:
1.
Difficulty keeping eyes open, focusing, or keeping your head up.
2. Tailgating or missing traffic signs.
3. Trouble maintaining a constant speed. (If you suspect you're
too tired to drive, take the cruise control off and see how well you maintain
speed.)
4. Wandering or disconnected thoughts.
5. Difficulty remembering the most recent minutes of your drive.
6. Drifting across lanes or off the road.
Falling asleep at the wheel for even a few seconds
can kill you or someone else. An alert driver is a safe driver.
- From the National Sleep Foundation.
Six Tips on RV Driving Safety from California Division of Motor Vehicles:
Especially helpful for those new to RVing or
renting an RV. It's fun traveling with your home as you explore different
regions of the country. However, it can be dangerous if you are not familiar
with the differences that the weight, size, and visibility will demand
of your RV driving. The transition from driving the family car to driving
an RV is different, but not necessarily difficult. The points discussed
below will help you to be a safe RV driver.
1. RV Heights:
Most RVs are taller than passenger vehicles so you will need to learn
quickly about road clearances, service station canopies, bridge heights,
and to watch for low hanging obstacles such as trees branches. Your owner's
manual, your RV dealer, or the RV manufacturer are the best sources for
helping you determine the maximum road height of your RV. Once you know,
post the height somewhere on the RV or in the tow vehicle so it will always
be handy as a reference.
2. Maneuvering:
The additional weight and size of an RV makes it less maneuverable than
a passenger vehicle. A safe maneuver in your family car may be dangerous
in the RV. Defensive driving in an RV requires making changes slowly,
braking gradually, and being familiar with its handling characteristics.
3. Braking:
Most RVs are heavier than passenger vehicles and require greater braking
and following distances. You must allow more time for the vehicle to slow
or stop. If you are towing an RV you must also worry about brake fade.
Brake fade can happen when the brakes are overheated from prolonged use
or the brakes are out of alignment. To help avoid brake fade on downgrades,
use the lower gears to allow the engine to help slow the vehicle.
4. Speed:
RVs are naturally slower than passenger vehicles. It takes longer to climb
a hill in an RV because it's heavier than a passenger vehicle. Keep this
in mind, practice good manners, and observe the law by using turnouts
when there are five or more vehicles behind you that wish to pass. The
drivers behind you will be able to see ahead more easily if you try not
to drive next to the center of the lane. If you are traveling with other
RV owners in a caravan, be sure to leave enough space between your RV
and the RV in front of you for other drivers to enter when they want to
pass.
5. Safety Belts:
Always wear your safety belt when driving. Even though many motorhomes
accommodate passengers in places where safety belts are not required by
federal law (i.e., dining table), if the area has a safety belt, wear
it. Riding in a place which is not equipped with a safety belt increases
the danger of injury in case of an accident. In addition to safety belts,
defensive driving can minimize the risk of accidents.
6. Weather
Conditions: Bad weather conditions including winds, fog, snow,
and ice, are hazards to all drivers. A motorhome driver has an advantage
over other passenger vehicles because of the added weight over the drive
wheels. This gives the vehicle better traction in bad weather. However,
its added weight can also make it more difficult to move if it gets stuck.
Schedule your trips to avoid bad weather conditions as much as possible.
Six RV Fire Safety Tips:
Your
home on the road needs to be as fire-safe as any stationary home! Follow
these tips to sleep better at night:
1. Know
what propane smells like. If you smell propane, do not turn on
any lights, be careful of static electricity on the carpets, and get out
immediately. Alert your immediate neighbors, and find a phone 50 yards
or more away. Call 9-1-1 and do not return to your RV until a fire fighter
has given their approval for re-occupancy. Here's a link to a Propane
Safety Tip.
2. Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Preferably
ones with their own battery power source. Check detectors monthly, and
replace batteries at least once a year.
3. Close doors while sleeping. Open doors allow fire and
smoke to spread more quickly.
4. Have a plan. Know the escape routes and location where
you will meet with the other occupants.
5. Identify two escape routes from each room. Make sure
visitors, especially children, know the plan.
6. Follow the plan. Teach children to follow the escape
routes without stopping for valuables or returning to a burning RV or
home. Here are two more links on RV Fire
Safety and Fire
Escapes.
Seven Traveler Safety Tips:
No matter where you camp, these tips can help you
to feel at home on the road.
1. Verify visitors. Don't answer the door without verifying
who it is. If the person claims to be an employee of the campground or
RV park, use your cell phone to call the camp host or manager to verify
the visitor's identity, and the reason for their visit.
2. Be observant. When returning to your RV late in the evening,
use the main entrance to the campground or RV park. Be observant and look
around before exiting your vehicle or the camp restroom.
3. Secure doors. Close the door securely when you are in
your RV, and use the lock. Do not leave the door open for air circulation
in hot weather. Lock sliding glass windows, especially when vacating your
RV.
4. Be invisible. Do not draw attention to yourself by displaying
large amounts of cash or expensive jewelry.
5. Be careful. Don't invite strangers into your RV.
6. Be sensible. Don't leave valuables in your vehicles.
7. Be a good neighbor. If you see any suspicious activity,
please report your observations to the camp host or management.
20 Leave No Trace Techniques:
Take
only photographs, leave only footprints!
When in the wilderness, these practices will help you to lessen your impact
on the natural environment. With so many people enjoying nature these
days, we don't want to love our native areas "to death". Please
be a low-impact camper and outdoor sports enthusiast!
1. Stay on designated trails. Walk in single file in the middle
of the path.
2. Do not shortcut trail switchbacks.
3. Choose an established and durable campsite that will not be
damaged by your stay.
4. Keep pollutants out of water sources by camping at least 200
feet (70 adult steps) from lakes and streams.
5. Protect wildlife and your food by storing rations securely.
6. Pick up all spilled foods and carry out all leftover food.
7. Do not feed any animals: they need to forage their natural way
to avoid over-population and spoilage of their food caches with our moist
snacks.
8. Dispose of dishwater in the toilet or in marked graywater collection
drains, or scatter strained dishwater at least 200 feet from lakes or
streams.
9. Inspect your campsite for trash and evidence of your stay. Pick
up all trash; yours and the previous occupants' trash.
10. Bring a small plastic bag on hikes, and pick up any trash you
find along the trail.
11. Treat our natural heritage with respect. Leave plants, rocks,
and historical artifacts as you find them. It is illegal to take anything
from a national park in the United States.
12. Let nature's sounds prevail. Keep loud voices and noises to
a minimum. Leave radios at home.
13. Altering a campsite should not be necessary. Do not build structures
or furniture, or dig trenches or level the ground.
14. Where fires are permitted, use established fire rings.
15. Do not fire-scar large rocks or overhangs, and do not carve
into trees or picnic tables, or otherwise graffiti the natural environment.
16. If gathering firewood is permitted, gather downed sticks no larger
than an adult's wrist in diameter.
17. Do not snap branches off live, dead, or downed trees.
18. Do not burn aluminum cans, plastic, or discarded food in your
campfires.
19. Put out campfires completely before leaving camp unattended.
20. Remove all unburned trash from fire ring and dispose in a proper
garbage bin or pack it out.
20 Tips to Become a Low-Impact Global Citizen:
Reduce, re-use, recycle! Did you know
recycling aluminum uses 96% less energy than is used to produce the same
amount of aluminum from raw materials. Recycling
paper uses 60% less energy in manufacturing paper than when using virgin
timber. Recycling just one glass jar
saves enough energy to light a 100 watt lightbulb for 4 hours. Here's
how you can help!
At Work:
1. Use the backs of scrap paper for informal notes or messages.
2. Buy recycled paper for your printer, copy and fax machine.
3. Route in-coming faxes to the computer and read them without
printing when possible.
4. Re-use copier or printer paper on the backside when possible.
5. Post memos & communications, or route a single copy instead
of making multiple copies.
6. Re-use manila envelopes & folders.
7. Start an office recycling program for paper, cardboard, aluminum,
etc.
8. Ride a bike to work, car pool, or take public transportation.
9. Turn off your computer when you take a break or during lunch.
At Home:
10. Turn off lights and heat or air conditioning when you leave
a room. Do this at hotels too.
11. Recycle everything you can; newspapers, cans, glass, aluminum,
plastic, motor oil, etc.
12. Buy food in bulk to avoid excess packaging. Use reusable containers
to store food.
13. Wash and re-use the resealable ziplock bags some foods are
packaged in.
14.Write to companies that send unwanted junkmail and catalogs,
and ask them to take you off their mailing list. The price of a few stamps
could save several trees, as companies share mailing lists and the volume
of junk mail only increases.
15. Look for recycled products and packaging when you shop. Re-use
your grocery bags.
16. Install a water-saving shower head.
17. Use phosphate-free laundry detergent and soap.
18. Avoid the use of lawn and garden pesticides. Soapy water works
well on aphids. Have you ever wondered why there are so few butterflies
now, compared to when you were a child?
19. Insulate your hot water heater and your house, including under
the floors.
20. Put on a sweater and turn down the heat.
Adjusting to Airline Travel in our Times:
Use these tips to make your airline travel experience more
pleasant.
1. Make reservations early. Leisure travelers are apt
to find fewer low-fare seats. Airlines have reduced their number of flights,
and they can't make up the low fares with business travelers like they
used to.
2. Fewer advertised sales. Airlines are selling more
seats through off-price outlets, discounters, and Internet retailers.
That way they can keep seats available to business travelers longer.
3. Please be patient. Airlines, airports, and governments
are currently in a learning curve trying to figure out how best to improve
security. Therefore delays due to security may become routine.
4. Take the train or drive. If you are traveling
less than 600 miles round trip, take Amtrak or drive. It won't be any
safer, but you'll have less hassle. - Adapted from
Ed Perkins, Tribune Media Services.
Beware of Road Rage:
Almost two-thirds of all traffice fatalities are
caused by behaviors classified as "aggressive driving," according
to an estimate by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
NHTSA considers the following actions aggressive:
1.
Running red lights.
2. Right-side passing.
3. Excessive horn-honking.
4. Tailgating.
5. Headlight flashing.
6. Screaming or making obscene gestures.
If you are confronted with an aggressive driver,
the NHTSA recommends you:
1.
Do not challenge aggressive drivers by matching their behaviors.
2. Avoid making eye contact with aggressive drivers.
3. Ignore obscene gestures made by aggressive drivers.
4. Report aggressive driving to authorities, especially when it
results in an accident.
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