Easy! Being stuck behind a slow moving vehicle over significant distances, especially on long stretches where passing is not viable, results in notably greater travel time; often increasing trip duration by 25%, more if RVs cover the entire stretch.

An RV driver can stop anywhere in the comfort of their RV to eat food, use their restroom, stretch on their mattress for a nap. A driver in a car often deals with unsanitary and often broken facilities along those long countryside stretches. I have IBS; an RV can extend the time I have to experience gut-stabbing pain by half an hour only to reach a clogged toilet with blood smeared everywhere and then I'm stuck behind them again or I have to go use leaves in a bush.

Point is, sometimes people are in situations where getting somewhere faster is important and we've not even considering medical emergencies where every minute counts and emergency services are too far distant to intervene, if cell signal exists at all to reach them. RVs usually won't pull over to allow a person to pass despite their signals. It's just a shitty situation and the alternative presented by most who are free of disabilities, not going out to enjoy one's life in the fullest manner possible, at best lacks empathy.

[–] scubbo@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Gotcha! All those "reasons why it might be bad/harmful/awkward to be stuck behind an RV" make sense, but what I was missing was that these RVs might be on roads where passing them isn't possible. Other commenters have clarified that. Thanks!

[–] thepaperpilot@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So how frequently do you think rv drivers should pull off to the side of the road to let cars pass them? I find it hard to believe they'll be having meals, restroom breaks, or naps with the frequency you desire. Also, I'm not sure what kind of road has room for you to pull off to the side of, but not an extra lane for passing. I also am not sure what roads you're talking about where an emergency vehicle is going to be stuck behind an RV for a long enough period for it to matter - if there's no closer hospital, then by the point an RV would make a difference between life or death they're probably just going to send out a helivac.

Just to be clear, I'm not an RV owner and I sympathize with your IBS. In fact I have no vehicle, and support plans for public transit and similar ways of reducing congestion and improving people's lives (like a lane solely for busses, taxis, and emergency vehicles, like several European cities have had success with). I just don't see a need to blame RVs for their slightly slower speeds, over systemic infrastructure issues that are the primary reason for congestion.

[–] gerbilOFdoom@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sounds like you're not familiar with driving in the US. Passing along the shoulder is both illegal and incredibly dangerous. These long roads without passing lanes, often with frequent curves making a safe line of sight for passing impossible, create a situation in which courtesy is suggested: if traffic builds up behind while you travel drastically below the nominal speed of traffic with no opportunity to pass coming up, pull over to let them pass.

Unfortunately, the middle of nowhere exists and that's where people tend to vacation when they want to exist outside of a concrete jungle. The middle of nowhere also lacks funding for significant road infrastructure; that will not change and changing it would be so inordinately expensive that doing so would be foolish. The answer here is simple courtesy as a driver.

Also, emergency vehicles aren't going to be stuck behind am RV - they obligate everyone to pull over by law. The issue is that emergency vehicles do not exist in these areas. None. No help available. No funding, no people to do the job. The US is vast and significant portions of land exist with barely any residents.

You can also be sure that hospitals are at least an hour's drive away in these locations where no opportunity to pass exists. There's no way around it: someone impeding the flow of traffic significantly without allowing faster traffic to pass is dangerous, both because of emergencies and the inevitable human tendency to pass in risky situations due to frustration.

[–] thepaperpilot@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago

You're correct, I am unfamiliar with driving in the US - I've lived here my whole life, but have made it into my mind 20s without a license. Needless to say, I don't live in a particularly rural area (I live in a suburbs where I can ride my electric bike to nearby stores or the train to commute downtown). I wasn't trying to suggest people pass on the shoulder though. I hadn't thought of winding roads, but that's a fair point where there could potentially be two lanes but it's still not safe to pass. For the single lane scenario I still don't think it makes sense to suggest a giant RV regularly move into the shoulder (if it's even present), especially not "any time there is a car behind them" as has been suggested elsewhere in the thread.

Regardless, in general I think it's more important to strive for systemic solutions rather than expecting/hoping for/pressuring all individuals to act in the way you want. In this case, since we're talking about rural areas, I think fixing our broken rail network would help immensely. Building the network and corresponding culture around trains for inter city travel would be cheaper for individuals and the government, better for the environment, would allow everyone on board to relax, and it'd even be faster than driving. For popular vacation locations the frequency could even be high enough to eliminate the last barrier of it being on a sometimes inconvenient schedule! Now, of course the locations themselves may not be easily traversable without a car (and trust me I'm aware of how often that applies), but if you're trying to escape concrete jungles anyways then perhaps walking around was the goal anyways. Otherwise, you can probably rent a car (or a bike!) and still save money compared to the fuel and maintenance cost on driving the vehicle there.

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If there is a car behind your RV, use the very next turnout to let quicker traffic pass.

[–] thepaperpilot@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hell even in a car there's a car behind you most of the time. I can't believe your suggesting they literally detour at every single moment. That's adding a hell of a lot more than 25% to the trip duration

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago

I said RV. Don’t put words in my mouth.