Our European motorhomes here in New Zealand are second to none, with many unique features that set them apart from the rest when it comes to design, quality and comfort.
While 99% of our motorhomes’ design features are overwhelmingly positively received, one seemingly contentious feature we get asked about a lot is the right-side rear exit door.
The door on the ‘wrong side’ – as it is often referred to as – essentially means that you can alight from the main ‘house’ area onto the roadside when parallel parked.
The risk is that you could exit without looking and have a run in with a cyclist or car. This sounds quite dramatic and it is something we don’t take lightly, but in reality it has not happened. And that’s with more than 150 European motorhomes in our sister company Wilderness Motorhomes’ rental fleet on the road at any one time.
All of our customers we’ve surveyed have declared their surprise at the brouhaha around the door. They tell us it’s a non-issue and that it just requires a bit of awareness at the beginning as you get used to checking the traffic before you open the door, then it becomes second nature.
We’re used to checking for traffic before we open our door onto the street when we’re driving, and they tell us it’s no different for the rear exit door.
If there are children joining for the ride, a child safety lock or a little bit of education is all that’s needed, just like you would with the right-side rear passenger door on a car.
Whenever safety is concerned we do encourage discussion and discernment. If you’re interested in what else there is to be said on this topic, have a look at this editorial response to a reader’s concern from Motorhomes, Caravans & Destinations Magazine.
At SmartRV, safety is important to us, should you wish to discuss door placement or any other safety concerns you might have further, feel free to contact us at 0800 007 627.
