Safety Article – May/Jun 2026

It was Dave Meyer that recently reminded me of the “Search This Blog” function on the Dogwood blogspot.  From the HOME page, view the righthand column, scroll down and you’ll find the box at which you can start your search.  I searched on the word “Safety” and immediately found several excellent articles submitted by Butch Jones over the years … most of which I could not improve upon! So, with a tip-of-the-hat to Butch, the below “Pre-Trip Safety Checklist” is, well, re-posted.

 

But first, I’d like to amplify the “Tires – sidewall cracks” entry.  Some years back, my aging Goodyear tires appeared quite “healthy” on the exposed sidewalls, but when I crawled under my rig, I found that the inside sidewalls of the “duals” (i.e., the dual’s sidewalls that “face” each other) where showing significant cracking.  Immediate replacement was call for.  

 

One additional safety action:  Have a golf putter (or driver) at-the-ready for use as a “tire thumper” before hitting the road.  Even if you have a TPMS (tire pressure motor system), perform a walk-around with the putter (mine: purchased from a Goodwill store).  I whack (thump) each tire on the tire’s tread (not the sidewall).  A solid THUMP of a tire reveals a low-frequency sound (a short “ring” of sorts).  An under-inflated tire or a tire that is suffering some sort of failure (tread separation?) will have a different sound than the other/good tires.   

 

Pre-Trip Safety Checklist

 

Before Every Trip

 

1. Engine Compartment
2. Tires – check cold, 3 hours without usage
3. External Lights (I usually check these just before we pull off)
4. Glass
5. Exterior Walk Around
6. Towed Vehicle
7. Interior Walk Around
8. Start-up
9. Buckle Up
10. Look around one more time. Now it is time to be “on the road again”.

 

There may be some items that you may want to add or subtract from this list; however, if it got you thinking about motorhome safety then we are on the right track.

Click here for the full article

Click here for the complete Checklist

 

  

THINK

SAFETY

EVERYDAY!

 

Wishing everyone safe travels.

Robi Robison, Safety Chairman
FRVA Dogwood Chapter