As you travel across the country, you’re bound to come across a few road signs you’re unfamiliar with, some perhaps you’ve never even seen before. Don’t forget, you’re always responsible for your driving, and ignorance is no excuse if you get pulled over! Here are some uncommon road signs you might run into on your travels, what they mean, and what you should do when you see them.
Low Clearance
Imagine this: you’re driving along, not a problem in the world, and as you pass under a bridge, scrape! Passing under a bridge that’s too low for your motor home, as you might imagine, can cause huge damage to your coach, effectively sidelining your trip and costing you thousands in repairs. You should always be aware of your surroundings when you drive, but towns and cities pose more potential issues for you and your motorhome. Keep an eye out for low clearance signs posted onto bridges. They are usually rectangular and yellow or orange, and they should have written on them the maximum height allowed to pass under the bridge. It should go without saying that you’ll want to know your motor home’s height clearance before hitting the road.
Falling Rocks
You might not always see the parts of the environment that threaten to damage your motor home. This is the purpose of advisory signs like the falling rocks warning, which indicate that you should take extra precautions for unanticipated dangers. The falling rocks sign is different depending on where in the States you are. In California, it’s a symbol of a car driving under a crumbling cliff, while in other states it’s just phrases like “falling rocks” or “watch for rock.” Keep in mind that you shouldn’t just be on the lookout for rocks falling from above, but also ones that might be on the road and obstructing your path.
Downgrade Road
You might have seen this sign before – it’s a yellow diamond with a design of a large truck driving down a steep decline. The sign’s message is simple and should be pretty easy to figure out: there’s a downward hill coming. But its importance is much greater to you when you’re driving your motorhome. As you know, something as massive as a motorhome carries a lot of inertia to it, meaning that you need to take extra precautions when making your way down a steep hill. You don’t want to put too much wear and tear on your brakes, so you should downshift, letting your engine take care of the work. Making use of your jake brake, if your motorhome is equipped with one, can also help you stay in control during your downward descent.
Thankfully, most road signs in America are pretty common, and if you’ve never seen one before, there’s a good chance that you’ll figure it out easily enough. However, if you think you’re a little rusty on your road sign knowledge, the Wikipedia page for road signs in the United States will give you a helpful primer to the ones you might see during your travels. Above all, staying attentive and being cautious at all times while you drive will prove to be the best thing you can do.
