Were we Wimps??

[JulieandStuart]

After a very snowy and cold stay at a superb site near Matlock, Derbs throughout the Xmas & New Year period we reluctantly took the decision to 'leave' the van on site and return home with the intention of collecting the van asap once the weather improves.

Although on the journey home we observed some 4 / 5 motorway accidents of the serious damage / overturned nature - those who progressed in a 'steady' manner seemed to make good progress unhindered.

We are relatively new to caravanning and having arrived home safely are querying whether we should have brought the van with us?

We are not looking for sympathy or even support for our decision - what we are seeking is a 'measure' i.e. from those who have vanned for many years - have we over-reacted and should we have towed the van home as normal, -or- have we been somewhat cautious and been 'wimps' simply 'cos we had a caravan on our towbar??

Practical Advice Welcome . . . . .

Julie & Stuart

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

"NO" sounds like the most sensible thing to do if you are not confident about towing the van in bad weather we all had to learn from scratch at one time or another but towing a van on snowcovered icy roads in a blizzed is definitly one lesson you need to learn LATER rather than SOONER.

colin.

(caravanner for over 35 years)

 

[Dustydog]

Not wimps at all.

As the old saying goes " Better safe than sorry".

There has been a lot of dangerous hidden black sheet ice recently . Even solo is awful driving on that stuff, in fact pretty dangerous.

There is another factor here. A lot of car and caravan insurance policies have a "due diligence clause" which basically says you must take reasonble care of the insured property.

In the event of an accident some Insurers may refuse your claim on the grounds it was not sensible to drive / tow in dangerous conditions.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[Oldsalt49]

Hi Julie & Stuart,

No! you are not wimps at all. If you consider that the police and highways agency are advicing not to make un-necessary journies. Then leaving the caravan behind is a sensible move. Had you had problems on the way back, imagine the flack you would have received. Its all about risk assessment, you assessed the risk and decided it was not worth it, WELL DONE.

David

 

[TD42]

Juli & Stewart from your own post comes confirmation that you did indeed make the right decision.snow & ice at your own location,accidents on the motorway!! the slightest incident causing you to brake hardish could have caused you to jacknife in such conditions.

Back a few years I was towing a trailor tent in wet conditions & slowing (15/20mph) on a slight downhill section I applied the brakes only to find that the trailor (unbraked )was pushing me through the brakes even when they finally locked up,very scary

 

[JD6620]

No not wimps at all. A few years ago we had no choice but to tow 100 miles home in heavy snow. I do have a 4x4 and well experienced in towing but it really was not a pleasant drive home. It is always better to ere on the side of caution. As your relatively new to caravanning I think you made a very sensible decision.

 

[Steve L]

Hi Julie & Stuart.

You are most certainly not wimps. In fact you have demonstrated what most people seem to forget today. Good old fashioned regard for safety of not only yourselves, but the safety of other road users too.

Having been driving for 33 years and towing trailers for the same, and then caravanning for 26 years, I would consider myself to be experienced.

That key word experience is however gained by practice, but then one would start with a bike with stabilisers before progressing to a bigger bike , then one with 3 gears and then one with shimano gears before going onto a 21 speed mountain bike.

The point I'm getting at is, you will no doubt one day try a bit more worse weather conditions and survive that, to progress onto even worse conditions.

I got my father-in-law who was an agrophobic, into caravanning by convincing him to trust that he had the house on the back of the car and that we didn't mind if we had to stop every 10 miles for him to rest and have a cuppa in the van. From what started as a dare to get a caravan, turned into him seeing Lands End and doing a 1500 mile tour of Scotland going as far north as Ullapool. In ten years, we had turned his life around from not going past the garden gate to even contemplating a trip to Ireland.

So if by doing things in "bite size" pieces, enables you to enjoy yourselves there is no shame in that.

Take heart, have fun and happy caravanning.

Steve L.

 

[Parksy]

Hi Julie & Stuart

I only wish that all caravanners would display the good sense that you did in deciding not to take risks by towing in adverse weather conditions.

All too often we hear 'Sally Traffic' on Radio 2 giving details of traffic delays caused by overturned caravans and the general feeling here is that these accidents are caused by bad driving and poor decision making so well done! There is nothing wimpish in putting safety first.

I hope that you enjoyed your Christmas and New Year break in your caravan and continue to enjoy many more happy and safe adventures in the future.

Good Luck and Happy Caravanning!

 

[Pat_374304630]

Wimps ------ DEFINATELY NOT

Sensible ------ DEFINATELY YES

Well done to you both. You made the right decision.

( 27 years caravanning )

 

[forestgump]

put it this way you still alive and you have a car and caravan still.

 

[JulieandStuart]

Guys,

We really do appreciate the comments from everybody a couple of which we had not anticipated, i.e. i) had we have been over confident and then had/caused an accident it would have been 'those damn caravanners!' and ii) in a similar situation maybe giving our insurers an out by not demonstrating adequate care of the insured property.

On the day one caravanner had left site ahead of us, had taken a route not recommended for heavy vehicles, and had suffered a skid and damage to his van - this did little to encourage us to leave site towing!!

I am a confident driver and can/have dealt with most situations over the last 45 years of motoring, however having only been a caravanner for the last 14 months I was, for once, unsure of my ability to deal with the conditions and still have slightly mixed views on my decision but on balance believe that I did the right thing.

Thank you everybody for your views - I think should I read a similar post in future years then I too will reflect on caution, as one contributer (Steve L) put it . . learn on stabilisers before you venture onto two wheels.

Happy New Year All

Stuart & Julie

 

[James_374408700]

Julie/Stewart,

Just think, when you decide to collect the van you can combine it with another weekend away..........nice planning! LoL

Jim

 

[UKHunk]

not a wimp m8 just bloody sensible

 

[Guest]

Sensible decision, I have done a few time myself. better be a wimp than injured or dead.

 

[DomDom]

Top decision - shows there is still something called "Common Sense" alive & well. Remember, there is no definitive answer either, it has to be what is right for you.

We were also up there in all that (Chatsworth CC site) and I thought VERY carefully before making the drive home with the van on the back, even though I tow with a LR Discovery and have 20 years experience as a HGV driver.

The other upside for you is that you won't have to clean all that salt & slush off your van. Just 50 miles and mine looked like it had been bombed by a herd of flying cows - took nearly 3 hours to get it clean.

So, all things considered you made a good call.

 

[JulieandStuart]

All I can say is thank god I missed that herd of flying cows - I got loadsa caravan cleaners but none that say suitable for cow s**t!!

Thanks Again Guys . . .

Stuart & Julie

PS: Obviously still waiting for weather to improve so we can go and get the van and my better half (Julie) has already spotted the opportunity of making it another weekend away - and why not!!

 

[Gafferbill]

....as you say you are fairly new to the crazy world of caravans, did you take precautions against the current cold weather before you left your van ?

Sub zero temperatures can cause costly damage to the water system and discharged lead acid batteries.

 

[JulieandStuart]

Yes thanks GafferBill, we think so. Drained down the water system as we would normally do when leaving site, gas off, emptied the toilet cassette and also emptied the toilet top box. Thinks that covered it?

Thanks

Stuart

 

[Pat_374304630]

Let us know when you have collected your van.