In our first episode of RVgeeks Driving School, we covered the finer points of Off-Tracking & Rear Overhang. Today we’re starting a brand new semester with a focus on mirrors. Specifically, how they differ from car mirrors, how to adjust them, and how to use them.

Because we’re not RV technicians, we’ve always included the disclaimer that “we’re not professionals” with our How-To videos. But as we mentioned last time, driving is one situation where no caveat is required, as I (Peter) am a retired professional motorcoach operator and bus driving instructor. Standing in the stairwell of an MCI while teaching many hundreds of brand new, inexperienced trainees over the years (in a major city, no less) would typically garner comments such as “You must have nerves of steel” or “You must have a death wish.” So far, teaching on video has earned me a lot less notice for my alleged bravery or potential suicidal tendencies. Come to think of it, it does seem a lot safer. 😉

This time we’ve worked to demonstrate as vividly as possible how to adjust your mirrors, then use them for both situational awareness of surrounding traffic and establishing good lane position & control.

Once again, we’ve put our 3D Robotics Solo quadcopter to good use, giving us an aerial overview that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. We’ve also added some overhead GoPro shots from high up on the side of our RV, and synchronized the footage with a driver’s-eye view. We hope the result is so clear that even a brand new RV driver will totally get it, and be safer from day one behind the wheel.

Whether you’ve been driving large vehicles with multiple flat & convex mirrors for years… or you don’t even know what convex mirrors are… we hope you’ll find some useful information to help keep you safer on the road.

We have future driving videos planned, but we appreciate your patience as the work involved in planning, shooting and editing these time-intensive pieces is considerable. We promise to release more of them as our work and travel schedule allows us.

In the meantime, please leave us a comment or question below. Let us know what you think, or if anything is unclear. We’d be interested to know, especially from newer RVers, if you find this information enlightening, or if if you knew most or all of this already.

Thanks so much, and safe travels,
Peter & John