the most important thing to do is to load your caravan correctly with heavy gear on floor and over axle,and also and drive at such a speed takeing into account road weather and traffic conditions at the time,do not overtake when going down hill and remember you are on hoilday so chill out relax and take your time.
------------- its easy enough to be pleasant when the world rolls along like a song.but a man is worth while if he can smile when every thing goes f------ wrong.
I think driving at the speed limit is drummed into candidates these days. 3 of my kids have passed their tests over the last 5 years & they all firmly believe they have to be right on the limit as much as possible. I don't know how long this sort of instruction has been being delivered to new drivers but perhaps this is a lot of todays speed problem.
Membership of a driving group such as the I.A.M being rewarded with substantial discounts from insurers might help the situation. I've only had dealing wirh the I.A.M & there could well be other groups equally as good but something needs to happen to highlight drivers bad habits to them.
Crikey BB that the longest comment about nothing I have seen in a long time :-) But correct me if I am wrong instructors teach kids to get up to speed and make progress that way you are not obstucting other road users. We are in a small world everyone needs to get from A to B as quickly as possible you may not like it but get used to it. I personally work hard and as soon as I finish work I want to get home as quick as possible to see my family and I want people to be up to speed limit. When I am on holiday I am the complete oposite and drive quite slow but allways pull over and let them pass after all they may be working.
------------- A barman is just a pharmacist
with a limited inventory
Quote: Originally posted by Basilbrush on 27/7/2012
I think driving at the speed limit is drummed into candidates these days. 3 of my kids have passed their tests over the last 5 years & they all firmly believe they have to be right on the limit as much as possible. I don't know how long this sort of instruction has been being delivered to new drivers but perhaps this is a lot of todays speed problem.
Membership of a driving group such as the I.A.M being rewarded with substantial discounts from insurers might help the situation. I've only had dealing wirh the I.A.M & there could well be other groups equally as good but something needs to happen to highlight drivers bad habits to them.
I had to do a driving test in 1996 to change from my SA driving licence to a British driving licence. I drive according to road conditions and not to the speed limit. I also held a Advanced Driving licence. On doing my test, although I passed one of the observations was that I did not drive to the speed limit in certain areas. I pointed out that I thought it unsafe to travel at 60mph on a bumpy twisty road where visibility was reduced for oncoming traffic.
No wonder we have some many fatalities with kids if they are told by driving instructors to drive at the speed limit!
Quote: Originally posted by Chalkie56 on 27/7/2012
Crikey BB that the longest comment about nothing I have seen in a long time :-) But correct me if I am wrong instructors teach kids to get up to speed and make progress that way you are not obstucting other road users. We are in a small world everyone needs to get from A to B as quickly as possible you may not like it but get used to it. I personally work hard and as soon as I finish work I want to get home as quick as possible to see my family and I want people to be up to speed limit. When I am on holiday I am the complete oposite and drive quite slow but allways pull over and let them pass after all they may be working.
I don't want to be hanging around behind a slow coach either Chalkie but, something seems to convince some drivers they can drive like idiots & everything will be OK, the problem is, at some point it tends to backfire & everything goes wrong.
I've no idea what happened to make my earlier input take up so much space Chalkie, I tried to delete it but the space was stil the same so I left it in. Perhaps one of the Moderators could go in and delete it.
Someone was asking for evidence about the 60 mph limit?
There was a study done by the Unversity of Bath into Caravan snaking, and they concluded that 60mph is the safest max speed for an outfit to be able to recover from snaking. Faster than that and the oscillation just magnifies out of control. See report here... http://people.bath.ac.uk/en8cjk/Caravan.pdf
Interesting Huw......... but if correctly loaded with the right towcar for the job and driven correctly (i.e. not overtaking downhill) a stable well matched outfit driving at the speed limit, shouldn't snake in the first place...
I see a lot of caravans in France on the autoroutes doing a lot faster than 60, if it were just speed related there would be caravan related accidents all over the motorways in Europe every day.
I like most on the threads think that 60 mph is quite fast enough on motorways. However the amount of threads I read that say 'a caravan flying by swaying all over the place'... indicating in the topic to say its speed related and its normally followed on by the car being a 4 x 4 or twin axle! (Which personally I think are the safest outfits on the road, but thats just personal opinion).
I have seen many a caravan swaying all over the place only doing around 50 on a motorway, and its normally a single axle, running nose down or nose up, with an overloaded car barely heavy enough, often with old tyres or hitches that dont look as if they have seen a service in years.
If there were stats compiled I believe the amount of overturns, due to blow outs, instability issues or mechanical failure would be just as many if not more than speed related accidents.
Interesting Huw......... but if correctly loaded with the right towcar for the job and driven correctly (i.e. not overtaking downhill) a stable well matched outfit driving at the speed limit, shouldn't snake in the first place...
I see a lot of caravans in France on the autoroutes doing a lot faster than 60, if it were just speed related there would be caravan related accidents all over the motorways in Europe every day.
I like most on the threads think that 60 mph is quite fast enough on motorways. However the amount of threads I read that say 'a caravan flying by swaying all over the place'... indicating in the topic to say its speed related and its normally followed on by the car being a 4 x 4 or twin axle! (Which personally I think are the safest outfits on the road, but thats just personal opinion).
I have seen many a caravan swaying all over the place only doing around 50 on a motorway, and its normally a single axle, running nose down or nose up, with an overloaded car barely heavy enough, often with old tyres or hitches that dont look as if they have seen a service in years.
If there were stats compiled I believe the amount of overturns, due to blow outs, instability issues or mechanical failure would be just as many if not more than speed related accidents.
I left our van and lent it to the in-laws for a week at Whitby, on the way home he got caught speeding on the A614 at Howden, outside the kitchen factory of the same name. I'm sure a few of you passing that way have noticed this speed trap van at the factory gates, can't bloody miss it as I told him! but a useful source of revenue when the limit drops from 40 to 30 for a short distance passing the closed factory on a Sunday!.
Retired lorry driver and never nicked before, he took the speed awareness course last Thursday, 8 courses that day and 32ish on each course! He was by far the eldest, plenty of mid 40's types, only a couple of young lads! well out numbered by young girls!!
Moral is, towing or not, speed is only dangerous if mis-used, like young girls that don't particularly drive fast but I've noted don't bother slowing when the limit happens to be less than their generally slow speed!.
Bit like that speed trap, I feel sure it's 30 because of that busy factory entrance but not on a Sunday when it's shut?.
So I drive and tow to suit the conditions, bringing the van back along that same route, I made good time down to Howden, no better on the short M62 section and the length of the M18. But on the M1 down to Nottingham it was very busy, so I set the auto pilot to the slowest lorry and followed it.
No mention of speed limits you'll note, apart from at Howden, but if you drive to the conditions it's unlikely you will be far away from them unless unfair. But if there's a mobile speed trap the size of a barn door painted florescent red and yellow and you miss it? then your not observant enough to drive at that speed, whatever that speed is!
Sorry if this all seems off topic? but I don't think it is
Very well put & I agree with you. If only everyone drove to the conditions of the road it's be so different out there gary. Sadly far too many just have to be in front & they don't realise they gain very little :-(
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Topic: Overturned,Education needed!!!
