Having just towed down to St Ives last fri eve. I was constantly being overtaken by other caravaners.Anyway to cut a long story short one of the afore mentioned vans was on it's side on the A30. Not many things upset/bother me but the sight of a (very lucky) family stood at the side of car and caravan, upturned and facing east on the west bound A30 which(if like me and mine) was the holiday that they had been looking forward to for 52 weeks,does! Also the fact that a lorry had stopped not more than two feet away from the carnage I would have thought would serve as a very stark warning to other people towing. Alas not, as soon as I had passed and reached 50mph (I tow at that purely 'cus of the fuel consumption) Me and My family are again being overtaken by people towing at what can only be described as TOO FAST! Sometimes when I have been over taken i speed up to 60mph just to get a better gauge of the actual speed that some are happy to do. I realise that accidents do and will happen but please tell anyone you know that is a novice or maybe a too confident tower that it is 60mph for a reason!
shame to hear about it ,but all to frequent and very easy to do these days ,after a blow out on the m5 a few years back that put paid to my caravanning till now (and due to my excessive speed at the time) i thankfully have a device that sits beside me and screams its head off at 61mph so i now keep it down below the limit .
P.S only cause she paid for the new tyre at the time
We were on our way down to Axminster about 6 weeks ago with the caravan in tow on the M5 and pulled into Sedgemoor services for a break. On leaving the services exit we continued for about 5 miles and realised there was little traffic on the opposite carriageway when in sight I noticed blue flashing lights. As we drew closer we could see a black 4x4 upside down on the roof with the caravan on top of it which hadn't tipped over. I know what you mean when you say it upset you because I felt the same and it played on my mind for days after. I have to agree though that there are a minority of caravanners who travel too fast and exceed the 60 mph. speed limit hoping to get to their destination quicker. Some are unlucky and fail to reach their destination at all just because they want to get there a bit quicker. As the OP says, slow down and adhere to the 60mph. speed limit. It's there for your own safety and for other road users too.
I wonder if the speedsters have bothered to work out how much time they actualy save, the the time saved on my 300 mile trip doing 5 mph over the speed limit is a saving of 30 mins.
we often get overtaked at higher speeds than this though but havent you noticed how you catch them up when the traffic gets heavy.
I don't know why caravanners think caravanners are any better driver than any other category of road user. Of course they will speed - young people, old people, female,male,lorry,van,bus drivers all do it. Why not caravanners.
Most caravanners have in any case not be trained in the necessary skills and many will be ignorant of the law.
It seems to me that some people speed and do not take into account the wether the capabilities of the car etc if towing or not. I have no idea why they dont,. I used to have an extremely fast tuned saab and people would overtake in places I would not dream in that, I think its lack of brain cells !!!!
I would imagine that the people who speed with towing their caravan speed when they are solo, the bad habit they have learned persists whatever they drive.
I think that a false sense of security exists where they assume that they have the ability to avoid or control any situation that may happen. I don't think they have clue how quickly and how bad things can go so horribly wrong, after all, it's been all ok up till now!
I agree with you all but didnt France have a much higher figure than 60mph for towing. A lot of times if I travel at 67MPH on motorways my sat nav says 60mph.
------------- A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory
always sad to hear of a fellow camper/'vanner in such dire straights,
personally ,apart from the fuel consumption aspects & obvious safety considerations, i tow at or 60 mph ,or below, mainly due to the fact that i'm off on my jollies and feeling qiute chilled and at peace with the world, that of course is on the way there, on the way back i stick to the limit because i'm in no hurry to get home and back to the work-a-day drudgery.
i did once get overtaken by a fellow camper in a big shiney 4x4 with an even bigger tin tent on the back, i was doing 60, and he passed me almost as though i was standing still, as he went past i glanced across and despite belting past me he was swigging away at a bottle of pop or some such, no wonder 'accidents' happen ,
------------- no tin tent outings booked as yet ,just another cruise in Sept' booked so far
Well does anyone have any info on France. If their speeds were a lot higher then surely there are more speed related statistics for towing. Everyone slates the 60mph rule me included but this is based on heresay (not legality). I am purely interested if towing beyond this figure is as dangerous as we all say.
------------- A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory
Quote: Originally posted by Chalkie56 on 25/7/2012
Well does anyone have any info on France. If their speeds were a lot higher then surely there are more speed related statistics for towing. Everyone slates the 60mph rule me included but this is based on heresay (not legality). I am purely interested if towing beyond this figure is as dangerous as we all say.
It is not a rule, it is the law. The 85% is a rule but not law. IMHO anyone who tows above 60mph is placing taking their life and the lives of others in danger. Have they ever tried an emergency stop at 50mph or perhaps even 30mph? Have they corrected a caravan that has started snaking at 60 or even 50mph?
We can rant and rave all we like, the silly idiots who disregard the speed limit are unlikely to be reading this forum. They know it all.............until faced with a situation they cannot control.
Indeed, but education and learning still helps. A neighbour would not tow, his wife had to do the driving. They swapped a FC for a caravan.
On the very first trip out, she overtook a lorry and the 'van started a shake. The husband told her to "drive out of it". His reasoning was that higher speed would pull the 'van back in to line. I kid you not.
It overturned and was written off.
Fortunately all in the car were unharmed. That was a lesson I always had in mind when towing our Pathfinder.
------------- Mike
My advice is worth no more than the price paid for it
Quote: Originally posted by mikegalagher on 25/7/2012
Indeed, but education and learning still helps. A neighbour would not tow, his wife had to do the driving. They swapped a FC for a caravan.
On the very first trip out, she overtook a lorry and the 'van started a shake. The husband told her to "drive out of it". His reasoning was that higher speed would pull the 'van back in to line. I kid you not.
It overturned and was written off.
Fortunately all in the car were unharmed. That was a lesson I always had in mind when towing our Pathfinder.
Depending on speed, that is probably one of the best ways out of a snake, but you need to slow down a bit first before accelerating.
Started caravanning 30 years ago when I was in my late 20’s. Cars weren’t as powerful then and I was lucky to get to 50 mph and only on a motorway. Even then there were accidents but mainly involved bow winds caused by coaches or snakes caused by too heavy caravans.
These times served as a good apprenticeship and I’ve never had any problems. I still drive at 50 mph and defensively !.
I think part of the problem is that a lot of caravanners today have never served such an apprenticeship and have bought the big car / 4 X 4 as soon as they’ve started caravanning !
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Topic: Overturned,Education needed!!!
