ITV did a good piece tonight about caravan accidents,and spokesman from CC appeared and gave advice about snaking and tyre age,pretty good coverage, although I think I heard them say there are 5000 accidents a year involving caravans, might have been my hearing as OH was talking but that means 100 accidents a week involving caravans.
ITV West Country Caravan Accidents
- Thread starter woodsieboy
- Start date
There does seem to be a lot of interest in caravaning on the tv today.
Some of it is justified, before we set off we clean our van and check everything is as it should be.
When you see the state of some vans it often makes me wonder if they have ever been serviced, and then there are the I don't need towing mirrors brigade followed by the what there's a speed limit for caravans.
The worst thing is vans that seem to be nose diving to the floor and it's not just single axle vans, I can only assume that when a twin axle is towed in this manner the extra pressure being exerted on the front tyres causes overheating that could lead to an explosive blowout.
All of this is what gives us a bad reputation and as the saying goes mud sticks.
Some of it is justified, before we set off we clean our van and check everything is as it should be.
When you see the state of some vans it often makes me wonder if they have ever been serviced, and then there are the I don't need towing mirrors brigade followed by the what there's a speed limit for caravans.
The worst thing is vans that seem to be nose diving to the floor and it's not just single axle vans, I can only assume that when a twin axle is towed in this manner the extra pressure being exerted on the front tyres causes overheating that could lead to an explosive blowout.
All of this is what gives us a bad reputation and as the saying goes mud sticks.
intransient1 said:
You make an interesting point, but actually the trailer manufactures should be aware of this issue. Strange as it may seem the majority of twin axle caravans have independent suspension which means the load on the tyres is not necessarily shared, consequently the manufactures should ensure the tyres fitted to each axle can carry the the caravans entire load.
There are some axle arrangements that do share the load by virtue of coupling devices between the axles, and in these cases the each axle will not take the entire caravan weight so tyres can have smaller load ratings.
yes saw it on calender, sound advice, not sure about the 7year bit though, best was the comments I thought,woodsieboy said:
ban them on the roads between 9am to 9pm "Dick" would make booking in and out times interesting though,
compulsory Mot's eh we have been there before folks, so what part of the Mot would cover correct loading!!
and the best one, no one should tow without doing a separate test first "he said" another Dick.
I have a better idea make all drivers do a trailer test even those who do not tow, that way all would understand what is involved, perhaps then they would give us more room, and not be so dammed impatient.
There was another piece by the Highways Agency which put thge number of accidents about 2,400 but you do have to remember that these probably include things where the caravan driver was not at fault and the caravan might not even have been relevant to the accident. These figures look more reasonable though.
http://www.highways.gov.uk/news/press-releases/are-you-fit-to-tow-this-summer/
http://www.highways.gov.uk/news/press-releases/are-you-fit-to-tow-this-summer/
This is a quote from the Highways Agency in the above link posted by Raywood
"There were 2,415 towing related incidents recorded on Highways Agency roads between July and September in 2013 nationally"
........that leaves a further 9 months to increase the total!
"There were 2,415 towing related incidents recorded on Highways Agency roads between July and September in 2013 nationally"
........that leaves a further 9 months to increase the total!
The Highways Agency figures are to towing related incidents, that means all trailers, not just caravans. I can only guess at what proportion of the incidents are caravans.
colin-yorkshire said:
There are many things it would be worthwhile banning first. Like the heavy transporters that used to pass through the Almondsbury Interchange (M4/M5) daily during the morning rush hour carrying railway carriages for maintenance, some bean counter having worked out (how the heck??) that it was cheaper than being taken by rail. They were not bothered about the economic cost of tens-of-thousands of commuters being delayed 15 minutes each though. Just goes to show how seriously wrong transport accounting is (but don't get me started).
Another example, also on my M5 commute, was a massive snack and hamburger "caravan" being towed by a Mini (old type)! It must have been on its jockey wheel; the Mini was almost touching the ground at the back, doing about 25mph and filling the motorway with black smoke. I only saw it and eventually passed it after doing about 20 miles in an hour of stop-start with everyone else, such was the tailback it was causing (the road was clear beyond it). Surely the motorway controllers could have seen it and despatched a patrol to pull him over?
colin-yorkshire said:
I must admit, new to caravanning, I was astonished that MoTs are not required. No, they would not cover loading, just as the car MoT does not cover loading, your driving style, or many other factors, but at least it could check the brakes. Having said that, the MoT test for cars is getting silly (not to mention the rife bribery and corruption), with things like driver warnings for low tyre pressures (introduced for driver convenience) becoming part of the test and thus just another critical thing to go wrong and, far from a convenience, a pain in the backside.
Sorry must have misread it. looks like the original figure might be correct but I do think a lot more information on these is needed before you can draw any conclusions.
http://www.highways.gov.uk/news/press-releases/are-you-fit-to-tow-this-summer/[/quoteRaywood said:
From that Highways Agency link :-
"During autumn and winter, 1.4% of all incidents involve caravans and trailers. During spring and summer – this increases to 2.6% of all incidents."
I am not sure if I am meant to be alarmed, underwhelmed or indifferent about those figures. It depends on what proportion of vehicles are towing, and I would have thought that around 2% could be pro-rata. Perhaps because I live in a rural area with Landrovers around pulling farm and horse trailers, and also being not far from the M5 which sees a lot of weekend caravans, I would have said that over 2% of the vehicles I see are towing - more like 5%, in which case towing would actually seem safer.
Towing a caravan is less stable and has poorer braking characteristics than not. OTOH, people towing are more likely to be driving sanely. I see plenty of boy-racers passing where I live (it is one of those winding scenic roads which have motorbike accident rates on posters), and they are not towing caravans.
"During autumn and winter, 1.4% of all incidents involve caravans and trailers. During spring and summer – this increases to 2.6% of all incidents."
I am not sure if I am meant to be alarmed, underwhelmed or indifferent about those figures. It depends on what proportion of vehicles are towing, and I would have thought that around 2% could be pro-rata. Perhaps because I live in a rural area with Landrovers around pulling farm and horse trailers, and also being not far from the M5 which sees a lot of weekend caravans, I would have said that over 2% of the vehicles I see are towing - more like 5%, in which case towing would actually seem safer.
Towing a caravan is less stable and has poorer braking characteristics than not. OTOH, people towing are more likely to be driving sanely. I see plenty of boy-racers passing where I live (it is one of those winding scenic roads which have motorbike accident rates on posters), and they are not towing caravans.
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