15 MAY 2023
DRIVING A MOTORHOME IS SIMPLE IF YOU CAN RECOGNISE THE MOST USEFUL ROAD SIGNS
TOURING IN A MOTORHOME
Although motorhomes are designed to be driven like a car, they have different weights and dimensions compared with cars. It is therefore important to keep an eye out for traffic signs that provide specific information about width, height and weight restrictions on certain roads. Traffic signs in most EU countries look more or less the same. Only in some countries, such as Ireland and Sweden, does the background colour of certain prohibitory and hazard signs change (to yellow instead of white). The background colour of motorway traffic signs can also vary from one country to the next: either green (such as in Italy) or blue (in most other countries).
Always useful, never irrelevant
Some traffic signs are essential for motorhome drivers. Think of “road closed” signs: if you enter a street with no exits, you may have to reverse back out the way you came, and with a motorhome this can be problematic. The same goes for bottleneck signs: you should approach a narrowing road with caution because a motorhome is wider than a car. The same goes for “give way to oncoming vehicles” and “priority over oncoming vehicles” signs, which indicate that a section of the road is not wide enough for two-way traffic.
Since motorhomes are larger than a car, it is essential to pay attention to “no entry” signs that prohibit access to vehicles over a certain size (circular sign containing the maximum dimensions allowed, in terms of height, width or length).
Beware of strong winds and steep inclines
One important sign is the one that indicates strong side winds (by means of a windsock symbol): a motorhome can become unstable when buffeted by cross-winds on its large side panels. The considerable weight of a motorhome also means that caution should be exercised when negotiating steep downhill or uphill slopes: drivers are warned about these by means of triangular road signs showing a slope (going up or down) combined with a percentage gradient (e.g. 10% means that the height changes by about 10 metres for every 100 metres of forward travel).
Simply by paying careful attention to traffic signs along the route, you can enjoy safer, stress-free journeys in your Ducato-based motorhome.
Learn more about driver safety in our Ducato-based motorhome.