I just received the annual (2011) FMCA Directory which contains a state by state list of RV requirements and I became a little alarmed as I read through the details. Now, I realize a lot of these laws are unenforced, but it only takes one pissed off cop with a computer in his cruiser to really mess up your day.

I was long aware that my old widebody Barth was essentially illegal in most states due to the overall width with the mirrors exceeding the 102" dimension, but below I've listed just a sample some of the other troubling requirements.

Did you know that NJ has a maximum 40' length on RVs?

Did you know that with the exception interstates and Nat Defense highways, CA allows only 40' or less?

Did you know around half the states actually have a motorhome license requirement, many requiring extra endorsements for Class A or above certain weight requirements? For instance, Louisiana requires a Class D chauffeur's license to drive any RV?? and it goes on.....very worrisome.

The good news is that all states are reciprocal on licenses, but I wonder how many RVers are compliant with their own state requirements as written? A few states even have medical card requirements.

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but I wonder how many RVers are compliant with their own state requirements as written? A few states even have medical card requirements.

In Michigan, it is illegal to allow your wife to drive a car after dark without walking in front of the car (within 50ft), with an oil lamp to warn other drivers your wife is driving. It is also illegal to chain your alligator to a fire hydrant, and it is grounds for divorce for your wife to cut her hair without your permission.

I am not trying to discount what is said here, I am just hoping some of these laws in place fall under this category.

One thing for sure,..if an officer wants to give you a ticket for something, your more than likely going to get it. Still, one is way better off knowing the laws as ignorance is no excuse. Tina is a huge stickler on following the law. I can't even get away with not putting my seat belt on without the little beeper on the car going off and ratting me out. It causes a little concern that I was legally able to drive any motorhome when I was 16. I am pretty sure I was not prepared for it but legal just the same. Some of these laws may be good ones but I am a conservative and I would prefer less laws (and Government) to more.

I know it is a side note, but how many of you parents out there drive the kids around in the coach with their seat belts on? I have to tell you it kind of bumms me out to think I had all of those good times running around in a motorhome going 55 mph and I have to have my boy in a 5 point harness to be legal. (Don't get me wrong, Benjamin is just a year old so he is staying in the seat for a while anyways but...) Is this a law everyone follows or am I just a rebel (or unfit parent)?

What's the world coming too.................
thank goodness, here in Oklahoma we can still chain our alligator to a fire hydrant....

corey, These kind of regulations concern me, but the planned changes for fuel and fuel prices scare me the most. I can hardly drive my Studebaker any more because of the crappy gasoline. I have to go to a marina and get gas for it. I also have to carry around a spare fuel pump and gas line because the rubber can't stand Ethenol.
I think I'm going to set up my side and back yard to hold about 10 MH & TTs and just camp at home. I will have friends over for a GTG once in a while and make the fire pit a little bigger.

I might be able to afford the gas to get to that one.

And Doug, those pumps that say that their product contains a "maximum on 10% ethanol", have been proven to lie on occasion. Some motorists will take samples of their fill up and have it analyzed to find that it is 30/40% ehanol. When I replaced all the fuel lines on the Barth, I used lines that are rated for ethanol use. Course that doesn't cover the other rubber components in fuel pumps and carbs. Just another example of big business screwing things up. The only people who have benefited from ethanol are the agri-businesses groups. And I have read that it costs more in oil supplies to produce ethanol than it saves on price. Go figure.

North Carolina drivers of ANY vehicle over 25,000 lbs should have a non-commerical class b driver license and when towing over 10,000 lbs, the driver must have a non-commerical class A license.
I took the written test and you have to make 80% on it and then take the drivers road test. The road test was not too bad here, but I have heard some test in other areas have been hard, like parking and such. Ray

I don't think you need to be too concerned about OTHER states' laws on RV licensing, although it is good to be aware of them. I know the laws are on the books, but many of them will be "common sense" enforcement and believe me, most highway patrol officers won't be enforcing frivolous/outdated traffic codes unless they are commanded to do so by a higher state authority.

If you have concerns in states through which you plan to travel, call the state police / highway patrol prior to the trip and bring these topics up (politely and factually). It would be best to use their actual printed traffic code available online and not the FMCA Directory as an authority, since they probably won't know or care what FMCA is. Record the date/time and officer's name/city/number so you have record of the authorization to travel through their state (with a motorhome over 40' for instance) prior to the trip. But again, I doubt it would ever be an issue.

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I know it is a side note, but how many of you parents out there drive the kids around in the coach with their seat belts on?

We do nearly 100% of the time. There have been a few exceptions, but even then they are not carelessly running around on their own. Older kids (9 and 6) are belted on the couch, and baby is harnessed into his rear-facing carseat also on the couch (it's L-shaped with 3 belts, that's all I have in mine). Regardless of how we did it "back in my day" (and I spent plenty of trips rolling around in the upper bunk of my grandparents' Class C), it would be foolish of me to do anything else now that I'm older and occasionally wiser.

A few months back, two local teenagers were killed while RV-traveling with grandparents several states away. They were unrestrained in the rear passenger area. It appears that the driver nodded off and crashed head-on into a concrete overpass support beam. I believe the teenagers were both ejected through the windshield. Very sad. Not long before that, a fellow forum staffer at RVforum.net had a complete brake failure on his DP (not realizing it until he tried to slow down for an upcoming traffic jam) and crashed at full speed into several cars stopped in the interstate. Luckily no one was injured there because he and his wife were restrained in the front RV seats, and the SUV he rear-ended only had a driver inside of it and all the damage was contained to the rear end of that vehicle which had been pushed into another vehicle.

My point is that unplanned/unavoidable crashes can and do happen, and I could never forgive myself if my child were injured or killed because I thought it was a bummer for them to be buckled in.

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My point is that unplanned/unavoidable crashes can and do happen, and I could never forgive myself if my child were injured or killed because I thought it was a bummer for them to be buckled in.

Point taken. Funny how things have changed in a relatively short period of time.

In reply to the original post, mirrors are exempt from the width laws. However, except in Wy and Mo awnings are not.

BTW CA inforces the length law as they were the ones who first clamped down on 45'ers. That was because a new 45' Prevost was involved in an accident. When the owner started being a real jerk to the Highway partrolman, the cop looked at the Prevost and said it sure looks a little long. Got out a tape and measured and it was to long. Threw the book at the driver. That raised a lot of hell in the RV industry.

It all started when the feds starting allowing 45' buses in all federal highways. Then the conversion companies started buying 45' shells. As long as they were titled as a bus they were legal, but as a RV they were not. The problem is the RV industry is self policing, so it ignores laws like crazy.

Many of the large coaches are not only over length, but also over weight. I know as I have one.

Or how about RVs that are factory miswired and can not plug into a GFI outlet.

Off the box!