I've no wish to re-open old wounds or to revive a discussion that has been aired on the forum many times but one of our forum regulars, Roger L, had a letter published in the letters page of the April edition of Practical Caravan Magazine (Page 14).
Roger outlines his concern about 'the continued undermining of the NCC Towing Guide's 85% guideline for beginners on the Practical Caravan Forum by regular posters and others who post their views online, specifically in threads from beginners asking for advice on the forum'.
Whilst many of us will agree that the 85% guideline for beginners is a good starting point and the concensus was arrived at as a result of the collective experience of clubs and organisations there are obviously those who consider the 85% guideline for beginners to be arbitrary and not based on any published research or documentation.
Roger wrote that he felt that 'Practical Caravan and it's forum have a duty to provide responsible advice to new caravanners' and that 'they are falling short of fulfilling that duty'.
Towcars Editor David Motton replied to state that 'We agree that the 85% matching guideline is a worthwhile rule of thumb, especially for beginners. This guideline (like you, Roger, I prefer not to refer to it as a rule) is explained on the 'Caravan basics' page each month, and is often the subject of questions in our 'Talking Towcars' questions-and-answer column'.
David went to to write 'Whether reading the magazine or website, I think it's clear that Practical Caravan supports the 85% guideline as a useful tool for inexperienced caavanners'.
I'd like to congratulate Roger L on the publication of his letter and reassure him that whenever those who are new to towing or who ask advice about any aspect of touring use this forum to broaden their knowledge we do our best to ensure that the advice offered will not endanger those who ask the question or encourage them to break the law.
All too often seemingly simple forum enquiries become bogged down in debate that has little to do with the question originally being asked, and the term '85% rule' is an oft used colloquialism that for some reason enrages a minority of forum regulars even though most of us who use this forum are all too aware that the 'rule' is in fact a guideline for beginners and that the actual wording is not terribly important but that towing safety for beginners definitely is.
As David Motton went on to say in his reply, it's important that forum posts are not censored by moderators unless they breach forum etiquette and the Terms and Conditions which can be seen by clicking the red text links at the foot of the forum page.
There are many statements which appear on Practical Caravan forum which moderators and forum users may not totally agree with but this does not give moderators the right to censor or to edit comments that we don't like or agree with.
If moderators genuinely feel that safety is being compromised or that an illegal act is being encouraged (such as in cases where lpg and 240v electricity is under discussion) we will act, but when pedantic challenges to the 85% guideline for beginners appear on the forum it's up to the rest of us to convince those asking the questions that the concensus of opinion coupled with the publicly stated support of the Practical Caravan team is the best advice to follow.
Roger outlines his concern about 'the continued undermining of the NCC Towing Guide's 85% guideline for beginners on the Practical Caravan Forum by regular posters and others who post their views online, specifically in threads from beginners asking for advice on the forum'.
Whilst many of us will agree that the 85% guideline for beginners is a good starting point and the concensus was arrived at as a result of the collective experience of clubs and organisations there are obviously those who consider the 85% guideline for beginners to be arbitrary and not based on any published research or documentation.
Roger wrote that he felt that 'Practical Caravan and it's forum have a duty to provide responsible advice to new caravanners' and that 'they are falling short of fulfilling that duty'.
Towcars Editor David Motton replied to state that 'We agree that the 85% matching guideline is a worthwhile rule of thumb, especially for beginners. This guideline (like you, Roger, I prefer not to refer to it as a rule) is explained on the 'Caravan basics' page each month, and is often the subject of questions in our 'Talking Towcars' questions-and-answer column'.
David went to to write 'Whether reading the magazine or website, I think it's clear that Practical Caravan supports the 85% guideline as a useful tool for inexperienced caavanners'.
I'd like to congratulate Roger L on the publication of his letter and reassure him that whenever those who are new to towing or who ask advice about any aspect of touring use this forum to broaden their knowledge we do our best to ensure that the advice offered will not endanger those who ask the question or encourage them to break the law.
All too often seemingly simple forum enquiries become bogged down in debate that has little to do with the question originally being asked, and the term '85% rule' is an oft used colloquialism that for some reason enrages a minority of forum regulars even though most of us who use this forum are all too aware that the 'rule' is in fact a guideline for beginners and that the actual wording is not terribly important but that towing safety for beginners definitely is.
As David Motton went on to say in his reply, it's important that forum posts are not censored by moderators unless they breach forum etiquette and the Terms and Conditions which can be seen by clicking the red text links at the foot of the forum page.
There are many statements which appear on Practical Caravan forum which moderators and forum users may not totally agree with but this does not give moderators the right to censor or to edit comments that we don't like or agree with.
If moderators genuinely feel that safety is being compromised or that an illegal act is being encouraged (such as in cases where lpg and 240v electricity is under discussion) we will act, but when pedantic challenges to the 85% guideline for beginners appear on the forum it's up to the rest of us to convince those asking the questions that the concensus of opinion coupled with the publicly stated support of the Practical Caravan team is the best advice to follow.