A major problem with towing a large trailer or driving a tall motorhome across our country’s roads is the sometimes infuriatingly low clearances found along certain routes.
One company has developed a new product that promises to keep you safe from low clearance locations.
This map shows the location of the low clearance crossings throughout the United States.
Some RVers think they can simply drive underneath a too-low bridge. They soon find the laws of physics don’t change on a whim. Don’t let a 100-year-old railroad bridge ruin your driving plans.
LowClearances Attempts to Solve RVer’s Driving Woes
According to a press release, the company has marketed a tool called Route-1Â especially for large RVs.
Route-1 is a database of height data on over 5,000 low clearance obstacles on both major and minor roadways in the United States and Canada.
The company says that although some truck-specific GPS units may have low-clearance alerts preinstalled, these systems usually only have about 1,500 locations.
How Route-1 Works
Route-1 interfaces directly with your RV GPS system.
It works with popular low-cost GPS and mapping systems such as Garmin, TomTom, Rand McNally, MapSource, Google Earth, Microsoft Streets & Trips, and BaseCamp. It is also compatible with iOS & Android devices (TomTom & Google Earth Apps only).
Once you install the database into your RV GPS system, the unit will send an audible alert as you approach a low clearance.
The height is displayed on the screen, allowing you to either continue driving under the obstacle, or take an alternative route.
You can set the trigger distance up to miles ahead of the obstacle, ensuring you’ll have plenty of time to plan a detour.
Video demo of Route-1 low clearance alerts.
Jon Mills, Route-1’s developer said,
Every year there are hundreds of bridge strikes in the United States and the trend is rising as traffic volumes increase. What truck and large RV drivers need is a simple and low cost countermeasure, which is possible using modern mapping and GPS technology.
You can purchase and download the software through the LowClearances website.
The software is regularly updated to improve coverage, and you can download an updated version any time at no additional cost.
