Hi. We had an awful snaking experience on the way down to our hols on the M5 in early June. We had not been on the road an hour and we had swapped drivers about 5 minutes before the incident. I was driving as hubby didn't want to tow it over the bridge at Bristol and the snake took hold seemingly out of nowhere.
I tried to control it and felt it tipping over but managed to keep it upright but we went into a 270 degree spin and ended up coming to rest right across the three lanes of the motorway. Amazingly enough noone hit us and we were all OK (my two babies were in the car - ages 2 and 4). We lost our Alloy but thanks to a lovely recovery driver we were back on the road in 15 minutes.
We got to hols OK and hubby thinks that it was down to the way we loaded the van. We changed it to how we normally do it to remove some of the noseweight but then ended up with too much weight in the back. I have only towed a few times and never with that weight so I couldn't handle it and the accident happened. It was horrible and I never ever want to go through it again.
Hubby is not keen on towing even though we have hols booked in a few weeks. The caravan needs a bit of a repair but again nothing major. Just be really careful how you load. Needless to say we are going back to our original way of loading in future and he is going to get help with his heights fear so I don't ever need to tow. I have never been so scared in my life.
hi glad your all ok,with the loading do not load the rear with heavy things as this can cause a pendulum affect when a sway comes on. our heavy items as ,awning poles,two bags of clothes,childs bike,all go over the axle. only the steps and water barrel ,small box of toys go at the back.
------------- the only silly question is the one you do not ask.
Youre ok and thats the main thing. Get some scales from Tesco (£3!!!) and check the nose weight once youve got it balnced like a pendulum with the axle(s) as the pivot. make sure its all secure with everything heavy low down. After that driving carefully theres a bit of fate and luck invovled but statistically I would think youve had your little bit of dancing on the motorway activity
We know that now. To be honest I have always loaded over the axle (been caravanning forever with family) but I didn't get control this time and it was done differently. Next time I am going to insist!
I was really careful drving and wasn't speeding so it must have been the loading.
OH checked the noseweight and that is why he moved things to the back but no more I told you so's because I have said that already.
Thinking about how lucky we really are sends shivers and proves that sometimes you need to stick with what you know best and if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Dont agree Jenni. Once youve loaded everything and youre driving decently as I said you cannot account for punctures, other drivers actions, sudden unexpected side winds, mechanical failure etc etc etc
Should obviously only be a small part of the equation but its always there.
Other drivers....anticipation, give them space, slow down if you are worried
Side winds......slow down in exposed areas.
Mechanical failure......pretty rare as I understand. Check wheel nuts regularly, have van serviced regularly. Make sure hitch and breakaway cable are properly attached.
Have a well matched, well loaded outfit. Fit a stabiliser as extra insurance, not as a get out.
And get a good insurance policy.......for when accidents happen!
Sorry Jenni I cant believe youre of this planet. (in the nicest possible way )
How about the lady who pulled into the emergency layby last week with her front offside tyre ripped to shreds by the hook of a securing strap that came off the heavy directly in front of her who we got stopped (mechanical failure of the fastening)? Definitely not her fault.
How about the car that drove into the back of me a couple of years back (poor driver standards)? I was still moving but the speed differential was enough to damage me and my car.
What about the portakabin that slipped, caused the heavy to swerve and hit the range rover/twin axle to its nearside (again mechanical failure of load securing chain)?
What about the changing wind direction and speed that occurs on say the A19 flyover that shows no indication whatsover of its actions, to the degree the road is sometimes closed and has knocked over perfectly driven vehicles whatever their speed, in fact just because they were there (fate and bad luck).
I've seen the lot. If you tried telling the victims of any of them theyre to blame in any way you may find yourself very unpopular indeed. You can reduce and manage risk (you post valid advice on how to) but never eliminate it.
In fact at the end of your posting you say get a good insurance policy for when accidents happen......why if you so strongly believe there isnt an element of luck and fate in avoiding or not?
To be honest you had a lucky escape, glad no one was hurt, I wouldn't let it put you off towing though as these things can happen, Fortunately you controlled it so that must prove you knew what to do! (Thats a skill you don't want to lose)
The bets way to look at is it was a mishap- put it in the past and try not to dwell, otherwise it will always hang over you in your caravanning life.
As long as its properly loaded etc, and your car is within the limits then you should be fine.
Hope you don't lose your conifdence though.
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
very scary moment i know ..but i would be interested to know your outfit..i had a bad snake once coming back from scotland on m6..4 lanes of traffic ..downhill overtaking after the brow of a very slow line of lorries..i got out of it by knocking the autobox lever button to overdrive off ..whereas the momentum pushed the van slightly faster to the forward and it activated the caravan brakes ..then smartly booting the accelerater to pull it out of the snake and correct the line to then naturally slow down to 40mph ..reason it snaked ..i put the awning and poles in the rear washroom ...never done that mistake since
I was thinking that we would carry the awning and poles in the boot of the car. Would that (coupled with the fact that 2 gas bottles are in the front locker) make the outfit unsafe?
Until I started reading all the posts I didn't think there was too much involved with towing a caravan - how wrong can you be!
I much prefer to carry the awning and poles in the van over the axle, it seems to add stability to the van, recently we bought a PDQ awning and duly put it on the awning rail, the van felt odd and unstable behind the car which is a Frontera 4x4, I am extremely fussy how I load the van and because of this the van usually feels very stable behind me, with no heavy awning in the van and the PDQ up on the awning rail the van started to wobble a bit to much for my liking so I stopped at the next parking area and pulled of the PDQ and loaded it in the van, instantly the van felt a lot better to tow, I must say because of this I will be going back to using the usual awning again, I think you must do your utmost to minimise the possible causes of snaking when you load but yes I would agree that fate sometimes plays a nasty hand when accidents happen.
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Topic: Horrendous snaking incident
