Worrying how people jump to conclusions though the "debate" over on the news paper site is turning into a flame throwing exhibition little encumbered by facts though bless them some are trying.
The important thing is that everybody is okay, I know that road very well and it's an accident not so much waiting to happen as constantly happening and long has been. The road needs dualing from York to as near to Scarborough as you can get if at all possible and that roundabout while bad before is if anything worse since they improved it!
You have all the traffic from south/west Yorkshire and the midlands heading up there to get to York and the eastcoast, it was a death trap in the 70's and still is, with cars racing at the end of the odd bits of dual carriageway and cutting people up in the process, other people trying to turn right/left across the A64 and simply too much traffic for the road. Sutton Bank means caravans have little alternative too.
As for bad driving, there are some in any group, trucks, cars, vans etc I don't think there is any way to eliminate it, however as somebody has already pointed out the stats bear out the notion that caravanners are generally not the main culprits.
They have already changed the rules re what you can tow on a new licence, if they had tried to make it retrospective there would have been mayhem of a different sort. Yet more legislation is not the answer in my view.
'If you meet something like a tractor with twin trailers, or someone else towing going downhill you better be prepaired to back your outfit up. Because they can't.'
You are right, but I think the point he was making is that people who have never towed don't understand how much more awkward it is to back-up with a trailer. You sometimes come across a driver in a little hatchback who will expect you to reverse back because he/she doesn't like reversing and usually lets the other person back up. You can almost see the apprehension in their eyes when they realise they have to reverse.
Quote: Originally posted by brianconwy on 08/6/2010
'If you meet something like a tractor with twin trailers, or someone else towing going downhill you better be prepaired to back your outfit up. Because they can't.'
You are right, but I think the point he was making is that people who have never towed don't understand how much more awkward it is to back-up with a trailer. You sometimes come across a driver in a little hatchback who will expect you to reverse back because he/she doesn't like reversing and usually lets the other person back up. You can almost see the apprehension in their eyes when they realise they have to reverse.
But there are many caravanners that can't reverse their unit anyway, in fact many of them can't reverse solo up to a hitch.
Perhaps in this new towing test that "everyone should take" there should be a greater onus on reversing - say be able to reverse a trailer in a straight line for 100 metres or maybe reverse through an 'S' to park in a marked spot.
Of course there could be an adverse effect as weekend pitches suddenly become available on CC sites
------------- Caravanning is a way of getting a cheap holiday out of an expensive hobby
i think it would be good idea for people to take a test with a van/trailer on last weekend coming back up m5 i lost count off the number of caravans/trailers in the outside lane and flying along at stupid speed also badly matched outfits ,they either didnt know the rules of the road or simply dont care,maybe the sudden increase in people doing this fab pass time is to blame yes i would take the test (even though i hold a lgv c+e license)
Can I just add something on the subject of tyres - if you have a new caravan don't assume that the tyres will be at the right PSI. We picked ours up, drove 10 miles to storage & then another 25 the following weekend for our 1st getaway before we checked the tyre pressures. They were both below 50 & should have been at 65 PSI for our van. We'd, wrongly, assumed that making sure they had enough air in them would have been part of the pre-collection checks at the dealers.
So if you're collecting a new van I'd take a pressure guage with you!
I personally think that it is ridiculous, the number of people who are towing caravans who are either unable or unwilling to reverse. I believe that if you cannot reverse with your caravan, then you should not be driving at all with your caravan.
When going on a trip, you just never know what you are going to encounter and venturing onto the road, fully knowledgable that you cannot manouvre the vehicle properly is completely ridiculous.
Rant over
I always try and think "what if" when packing, loading and hitching. What if, you need to swerve from one lane to another, what if you need to brake hard, what if you come accross someone round the next tight bend? You cannot always plan for everything, but a bit of thought that these things can easily happen to me as well as you and a bit of forthought can help avoid a really bad situation.
I am glad the people involved are all ok.
A funny one - I was towing our caravan over a narrow bridge at barren tower near Bolton abbey a year ago, got 1/3 way accross to find an old lady in a little Nissan micra coming accross from the other side. Guess who had to reverse? She was completely unable to reverse her car and she was not towing anything. Should not be allowed on the toad me thinks.
Keep safe!
Ive already mentioned the blow outs we saw last weekend, but there were so many incidents over a five hour journey that we were glad to get home. Bad overtaking, cars pulling in front of us at roundabouts etc (and there's alot on the A75!)
First, we were cut up at a junction by a motorhome (which had been on the same site as us!) before we even got onto the A75, we had to brake sharply to avoid a collision. Said motorhome then followed same route as us (right down M6) and we saw it nearly cause two further accidents by pulling out in front of other vehicles, one occasion it was behind a large wagon on A75 which was slowing traffic to 20mph, two cars behind motorhome and wagon decided to overtake and at last minute motorhome pulled out to overtake too, causing the two cars to skid to a halt in oncoming lane to avoid it.
Also, we received more abuse than usual from car drivers, no idea why! By abuse I mean swearing, shouting, rude gestures out of the windows etc for no reason whatsoever - one was a young boy (about 10?) making certain gestures out of passenger window as they passed us on a dual carriageway, to the amusement of his parents. Nice.
My OH and myself have just had a conversation and if a course and a test for towing became compulsory we would do it. As has been said on here you have to be able to reverse competantly and get yourself out of tricky situation.
On another note read through the York Press comments dont people get het up and really nasty about things they know nothing about and can hide behind their computer screens. There really are some vile people out there.
i agree caroline , i didnt read it off the website til yesterday just saw it in the actual paper where none of the comments are posted.
we can all vent our anger at any form of motorist but caravanners seem to get more abuse ( unfair) than most.
Personally im sick and tired of being cut up by some of the would be valentino rossi brigade on the roads of north yorkshire who break more laws (and probably bones) in a sunday afternoon than most vanners do in a lifetime but hey ho........
I find that most of the caravan haters all moan about the fact that caravans go too slow and hold up all the traffic and therefore should stay off the roads .......until there is a caravan in an accident and then.....of course the caravan was going too fast!!!
If everyone had a bit more patience and courtesy a lot of these accidents wouldn't happen. Just a simple thing like flashing someone in when overtaking you,whether it is a caravan, a lorry or anyone with limited rear visability. I'd say 70% of lorry drivers will do it but only about 20% of fellow caravaners and hardly any car drivers
I read on here of people seeing vans with punctures a lot and can't for the life of me see why putting something in the tyres like Seal-A-Wheel approx £26 (which is sufficient for two wheels) and won't allow you to get a puncture for the life of the tyre, better still keeps the tyres at the correct pressure. It wont stop a full blowout but will seal a hole up to 1cm. I wouldn't be without it on my van. I have no link to Seal-A Wheel I just trust the product. Glad the occupants were all safe, and as to the comments on that newspaper article, it's about time Jeremy Clarkson put the public right. I think his program has caused a lot of grief for caravan owners.
We have had youngsters putting one finger up at us while we were keeping in the inside lane doing about 55mph keeping a good distance from the lorry in front but near an exit where they wanted to go off. My wife was most surprised.
If all of you so called " friendly caravanners"bothered to find out the facts before you jump to conclusions you would know that this car and caravan was travelling at less than 50 miles an hour when the accident occurred. They are friends of ours who were returning along with us from a weeks holiday at Coneysthorpe Incidentally if anyone is interested our friends and their two young children were not hurt but very badly shaken up .
Post last edited on 07/06/2010 21:37:04
June
Glad to here that all in the car were ok, I have been reading this thread and the one in the paper and can't believe the amount of people (including caravanners/Campers) who jump to conclusions, there is to much guessing, persieving and supposing going on. Like the people who "hate" caravans on the road because they hold up traffic, what a load of crap, there are many vehicles on the raoad that do that horsebox, heavily laden lorries, tractors but who moans about them!!!!
OMG I had no idea there was so much vitriol out there towards caravanners!! Very depressing and it's going to make me even more paranoid about towing than I was before!
Travelled over to the Wirral a few days ago and left the A64 (travelling west) at the Fulford exit to Harrogate. Two big pot holes in the road right on the exit. May or may not have been the cause of the accident but if you are travelling that way just watch out for them.
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
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Topic: more bad press
yes i would take the test (even though i hold a lgv c+e license)
