Who Drives? The Man or the Woman?

[LittleRed586]

I thought that I would pose this question to some of you older RVers.

For heterosexual couples on the road, does the man or the woman drive the majority of the time?

The reason I am asking is because I'm taking hell from my 86 year old surrogate grandmother (Aunt Edith) over the fact that I will be the primary driver when my husband and I go on the road full time in a year or two.

My husband and I are both in our thirties and are planning on hitting the road once his medical retirement from the military is finished. We happened to visit my Aunt Edith and Uncle Archie a few days ago while we were on our way to an RV dealership. When we mentioned that we were planning on doing RVing full time, my Aunt Edith asked how my husband was going to drive the rig if his knees are bad. I mentioned that I was going to be the one doing the vast majority of the driving.

When Aunt Edith heard this she immediately exclaimed, "but the man is supposed to drive!" She and Uncle Archie did some RVing in a class C motorhome back in the 1990's and she never learned how to drive the rig because she wasn't "supposed" to drive.

I am somewhat of an atypical female when it comes to driving because I am legally a professional driver. When I was 26, I became a truck driver after leaving an abusive marriage. I have literally driven every thing from a tractor trailer to a taxi cab/limo (side gig). I think that I can handle a truck and an RV.

My husband doesn't like to drive much when he is with me because apparently he thinks that I am a better driver than he is. He also thinks that I am a superhero with special powers, but that is another post 😄

Aunt Edith even went as far as to tell me that she was going to call my mom if she ever caught me behind the wheel of our rig! My mom and step father are weekend RVers and my mom refuses to drive their rig. Aunt Edith used that fact and said "but your mother doesn't drive!"

Is it REALLY that inappropriate for a female to be the primary driver of a rig these days? Every time I talk to Aunt Edith I take hell for this.

[NYCgrrl]

Who Drives? The Man or the Woman?

Caitlyn Jenner solves all problems.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

Did you remind Aunt Edith that you are a qualified Big Rig driver?? Or that *most* school bus drivers are women? In comparison to THOSE jobs (easily handled by the "gentler sex") - driving an RV is a piece of cake!

Ed probably has logged more hours in the driving seat than myself, because he enjoys driving also - but were he unable to drive, it would not affect our RVing one bit. I would be more than happy to be the sole driver.

[Wanderlost]

Since I grew up on a farm, driving big stuff, then spent a career in the Army, driving more big stuff, the idea of not driving our class A, or driving the F-350 with our trailer, simply never occurred to me.

Now that Spousal Unit has Parkinson's, I prefer to drive the longer stretches and let him do the shorter ones. It's less stress on us both. I will let him back the trailer into position (I can do it, but there's a male ego to assuage).

Our friends who travel with us in their FW don't have the same situation, even though they were both Army. She just doesn't have the aptitude for big rig driving, and he's not gonna let her "mess it up." So we just make a point of not traveling more than 350 miles per day. We're all in our 60s, and that's a perfectly fine distance for us all. In an emergency, there are 3 out of 4 who can drive the rigs.

Aunt Edith is just a product of her time. Don't let her bother you and keep on truckin'...:W

[ncrowley]

I am the wife and so far, I am the only one that has driven our 39 foot diesel pusher.

[kohai]

LittleRed586 wrote:
I thought that I would pose this question to some of you older RVers.

For heterosexual couples on the road, does the man or the woman drive the majority of the time?

The reason I am asking is because I'm taking hell from my 86 year old surrogate grandmother (Aunt Edith) over the fact that I will be the primary driver when my husband and I go on the road full time in a year or two.

My husband and I are both in our thirties and are planning on hitting the road once his medical retirement from the military is finished. We happened to visit my Aunt Edith and Uncle Archie a few days ago while we were on our way to an RV dealership. When we mentioned that we were planning on doing RVing full time, my Aunt Edith asked how my husband was going to drive the rig if his knees are bad. I mentioned that I was going to be the one doing the vast majority of the driving.

When Aunt Edith heard this she immediately exclaimed, "but the man is supposed to drive!" She and Uncle Archie did some RVing in a class C motorhome back in the 1990's and she never learned how to drive the rig because she wasn't "supposed" to drive.

I am somewhat of an atypical female when it comes to driving because I am legally a professional driver. When I was 26, I became a truck driver after leaving an abusive marriage. I have literally driven every thing from a tractor trailer to a taxi cab/limo (side gig). I think that I can handle a truck and an RV.

My husband doesn't like to drive much when he is with me because apparently he thinks that I am a better driver than he is. He also thinks that I am a superhero with special powers, but that is another post 😄

Aunt Edith even went as far as to tell me that she was going to call my mom if she ever caught me behind the wheel of our rig! My mom and step father are weekend RVers and my mom refuses to drive their rig. Aunt Edith used that fact and said "but your mother doesn't drive!"

Is it REALLY that inappropriate for a female to be the primary driver of a rig these days? Every time I talk to Aunt Edith I take hell for this.

Ummm..... Aunt Edith and Uncle Archie? Archie Bunker?

[Veebyes]

Part of the deal when we bought ours 10 years ago was that she had to be prepared to do some driving.

Generally speaking she does not drive much east of the Appalachians. Too much traffic. Too many crazy drivers, especially in the NE.The open roads of the West are a different story, expect for the big mountain passes. I can sit in the right seat & doze all I want. As long as she does not have to back the trailer she is happy for hours of corn fields.

She is competent enough with a boat too. A 32' single inboard.

[westernrvparkow]

My wife drives 100 percent of the time. About half of time behind the wheel, the other half from the back seat.

[mighty7sd]

In general my wife drive, especially on long road trips. I am the spotter and hitch helper. Around town I drive a lot, but I get sleepy and don't enjoy driving long distances, and my wife loves it!

[Steve_B_]

Archie and Edith? Seriously? What are the odds. Even sounds like the same attitudes the Bunkers held. Or did you change their names to protect the innocent?
I was on a trip one year and a couple pulled in, husband got out and wife backed the trailer into the campsite. That's the trickiest part of the whole trip and I was told it was always her job. Not sure why you have to worry about who drives, unless you are driving past their house.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

🙂 Hi, I am the main driver most all of the time and my wife likes it that way. I am the more capable driver. Even in my wife's car, she asks me to drive. My wife is a great driver, but doesn't like towing. She wanted to drive while towing, but didn't want to drive in the mountains or in the city. Unfortunately, while she was driving there was a weather condition, mountains, and a city that she drove through mostly because there was no safe place to stop and change drivers. She handled it well.

You (OP) are the most capable driver in your family and there are other women like you. Sorry Aunt, you're wrong this time.

[drsteve]

My wife refuses to even consider trying to drive our rig, in spite of the fact that I have encouraged her to at least give it a try.

[naturist]

Aunt Edith is a product of her times. That was then, this is now. Best driver does the deed, and if that's YOU, so be it. Tell Aunt Edith to mind her own business.

[down_home]

Wife drives Mh most of the time. I'm diabetic and wee are apprehensive about the effects of it while driving.
I drive when I feel like it. She refuses or rather I let her refuse to let me drive when we are together.
She drives like a taxi cab driver charging by the hour.
In our little black car, she infuriates me, the way she drives. I have to drive it afterwards to blow the soot out of it.

[BPRescue]

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