Mirrors.. no one said we needed Mirrors

[blawless]

This is a pet peeve that seems to be getting worse. While we headed home on Friday the weekend warriors were heading out to their various destinations. I passed by 65 travel trailers being pulled by SUV's, PU's and cars. Only one... Had proper towing mirrors. None of them could see passed the front of their trailers. It made it quite dangerous when they tried to change lanes. Then there were others that dealt with the poor visibility by putting the peddle to the metal and passed everything in sight not bothering with what was behind them. Most of them were commendable for having the proper sway bars etc. But missed the boat on extended mirrors. Is this something that no one told the newbies?

[LMHS]

My daughter replaced the OEM mirrors on her daily driver pickup truck with "towing" mirrors. They look exactly like her OEM mirrors except they extend a few inches more. She has even had other RVers ask her how she sees around her truck camper ("I use my mirrors.")

They also can collapse back to "normal". Not that that happens because the truck camper is mounted 24/7/365. We take the truck to go grocery shopping so the dog can go with us. It's amazing how many people have walked up to us in a parking lot and proceeded to "school" us, very loudly, on needing mirrors to see around the truck camper.

That said, people are terrible drivers in their passenger cars, add a big RV or camper to the mix and they are just worse. We regularly get passed on double yellow lines in a 55mph limit like we are standing still. I do the speed limit. A little slower in bad weather. Every week we have at least one near miss.

[BarabooBob]

When driving a semi do you think that the driver can see directly behind them? You can fit 3 or 4 cars into the blind spot behind a 53 ft trailer. There is a reason you see signs on the back of a truck that say "If you can't see me in my mirrors, I can't see you."
You can't control what other people do on the road, you just have to be able to react to their stupid actions.

[Mike134]

only thing I can see in my mirrors is the other lane so no worries I'm covered when I go to change lanes.

[dodge_guy]

You say you passed 65 RVs. How fast were you going? Not all of them had to be going the speed limit or slower! Hmmm

And not sure what a weekend warrior is, but I do know there are a lot of people that go camping on the weekends. But I guess to a weekday warrior they are awful!

[Walaby]

65 is a precise number.

Glad you had an uneventful trip and had time to actually count the numerous offenders.

I agree with whoever said I have better things to do with my time.

That said, I understand what you are trying to communicate and it is a good point.

Mike

[Sjm9911]

They may have a rear facing camera? Just a thought.

[mdcamping]

At one time I towed with a 7' wide trailer with a my tacoma, still needed the extension mirrors to see square down the sides of the trailer. In our area I would estimate about 20% or maybe more don't have any type of mirrors entensions, seen this with out of state plates and one I remember had a florida plate towing through CT. Not just locals

Mike

[PButler96]

RetiredRealtorRick wrote:

blawless wrote:
This is a pet peeve that seems to be getting worse. While we headed home on Friday the weekend warriors were heading out to their various destinations. I passed by 65 travel trailers being pulled by SUV's, PU's and cars. Only one... Had proper towing mirrors. None of them could see passed the front of their trailers. It made it quite dangerous when they tried to change lanes. Then there were others that dealt with the poor visibility by putting the peddle to the metal and passed everything in sight not bothering with what was behind them. Most of them were commendable for having the proper sway bars etc. But missed the boat on extended mirrors. Is this something that no one told the newbies?

How were you able to direct your full attention to the road in front of you if you spent so much time observing those 65 tow vehicles & their mirror configurations?

That's a good point lol.

What about the moron who is tucked in drafting behind you? Even if your mirrors extend 3' past the trailer sides you're not going to see that doofus until right as you change lanes and he comes whipping out with foot to the floor and pulls beside you.

[BarabooBob]

My add-on mirrors by CIPA slip onto my existing mirrors and give me full view of the road behind my TT. They don't look like traditional towing mirrors and some people may not see that they are extended. They stick out about 6" on each side. When I went through the Zion tunnel, they made me take them off until I got through the tunnel because I was 2" too wide.

[RetiredRealtorR]

blawless wrote:
This is a pet peeve that seems to be getting worse. While we headed home on Friday the weekend warriors were heading out to their various destinations. I passed by 65 travel trailers being pulled by SUV's, PU's and cars. Only one... Had proper towing mirrors. None of them could see passed the front of their trailers. It made it quite dangerous when they tried to change lanes. Then there were others that dealt with the poor visibility by putting the peddle to the metal and passed everything in sight not bothering with what was behind them. Most of them were commendable for having the proper sway bars etc. But missed the boat on extended mirrors. Is this something that no one told the newbies?

How were you able to direct your full attention to the road in front of you if you spent so much time observing those 65 tow vehicles & their mirror configurations?

[blawless]

Well it appears some replies make it about themselves not the intended observations. Yes PU's come with a tow package with extended mirrors, others do not. Many SUV'S observed were smaller and narrower than the trailer they were towing without the aid of an extended mirror of some sort. The point is just be safe out there. If you get a chance to talk to a fellow RV'r newbie or veteran bring rear view mirrors into the mix and ask or give suggestions if prompted. It's just a safety issue to help protect each other. Not a my way or the highway rant.

[rhagfo]

Well my tow mirrors are always on as work best on the DRW flipped out. Just because someone doesn’t have mirrors hanging off their fenders, doesn’t mean they can’t see around their trailer.

[Lantley]

The only rig you can manage and are in charge of is your own.
Putting too much time,effort and thought into deciding what's best for the other guys combo is futile.

[NamMedevac_70]

I have observed this situation also and use extra caution when in close proximity and have seen them change lanes into the next vehicle that had to take evasive action while I was far behind for my own safety. I always used the very ugly add on tow mirrors when pulling the 28 foot TT and then no worries. Cheers