Message Forums

On the radio traffic news this morning there were at least four overturned caravans reported on motorways - mainly the M5. That's four lots of personal misery for owners, as well as four tailbacks and four more reasons for other drivers to hate caravans!

Who knows why each individual 'van crashed? But the overall message is clear - be certain that your van is in a fit condition to be on the road, double check your noseweight and tyres/pressures and make sure the van isn't overloaded or badly loaded.

Let's be careful out there, people!

Its quite windy (as in weather before I get silly comments!)- I expect that hasn't helped. I hope no one was hurt. 

J

That's four holidays spoiled that's for sure. But more importantly let's hope nobody was badly hurt...

It could well be that the drivers weren't speeding, weren't overloaded, etc so I'm not going to speculate without knowing the facts - that just isn't fair... Like I said, let's just hope nobody was hurt, (and that it's all cleared by tomorrow morning )...

The M5 has a stretch of road with a long downhill with an offsife bend at the bottom. This is a real caravan black-spot. As I'm sure most of you will agree, down hill stretches can be uncomfortable, especially whilst trying to peg the speed down.  This is when ALL trailers are at their least stable.  The only safe way to stay out of trouble is to slow down. If any serious snaking occurs, don't panick, carefully shave more speed off. Keep all movements smooth and gentle.

Another hazard comes when HGV's, who don't slow on the hills, overtake. They pull on your caravan which can be un-nerving. Again, keep it slow and smooth until the road levels out.

All this is my opinion and caravanners should seek proffesional advice if unsure.  Also, loading and use of stabilizer device should be taken into consideration.

Ant

th

Two caravans passed me the other day and it was obvious they were together as they weaved in and out of the traffic nose to tail

Right or wrong I put my foot down to catch up and see what speed they were doing,guess what 80mph and they both went over the thelwall viaduct on the M6 doing this

For those that don't know the viaduct is a very high bridge over the river mersey and the manchester ship canal that very often suffers from high crosswinds

I only hope they didn't get hurt or hurt anybody else on their journey

The actions of some people make me ashamed of being a caravanner

Dave

There will be a lot more overturned caravans this summer. We have been passed by idiots travelling at 70 and more with no mirrors. The problem is they give those of us who have been towing for years a bad name too.

The M5 is a notorious grave yard for caravans just after Bristol. Wait and see what happens today (Saturday) !

The only hope is that the traffic will be so bad there will be a jam.

Quote: Originally posted by snowy747 on 25/7/2009

---

That's the problem though Alan, they take out people who are totally innocent when their overloaded outfits with poor vision go out of control or move over without being able to see correctly.

---

that is true ali, some say i am pedantic with loading, checking the rig, adjusting mirrors etc and in the way i tow, like quadrupling braking distances and trying to keep momentum, i tow as smoothly as i can whilst trying to keep out of the way of others as i know what it is like solo being stuck behind a caravan. fact is that i have absorbed all the advice yet loads dont and those are the ones that put themselves in the crapper. dont forget most numpties are ordinary folk that want to take their kids on a holiday and dont really want to end up on their roofs

i have been overtaken by rigs snaking away on the motorway, seen cars with the front wheels barely touching the tarmac and every clown under the sun. i know on here i try to help any newbie but some dont want advice or know how to take it. perhaps a roll will teach them the hard way

it is thanks a lot to the guys on here coupled with some safe driving that the worst i had was a big twitch and that was on a bad downhill curve being overtaken by 3 artics. the van didnt get out of shape, the alko 1300 did its job. simples :-)

we see the same problem every year on the popular caravan routes such as the M5 and to a lesser degree the A64 to the east coast of yorkshire.

caravans that have been sat on the drive since the last outing last summer, tyres bulging and cracked ,electrics not working correctly,overloaded with gear not a thought given about loading,extension mirrors,speed etc etc.

last weekend caravans were being stopped between york and scarborough for spot checks and advice on loading and towing speeds, i daresay people will have been having a good moan about it but i wonder how many dodgy outfits were not allowed to continue on their way ??

we use the A64 alot and the amount of vans we saw last weekend that had the a-frame virtually touching the floor ,2-4 bikes on the back of the car adding to the problem and most of these were fairly new expensive outfits.then the favourite caravan graveyard at whitwell on the long downhill section,caravans flying past at 60 + where there are signs all over urging towing vehicles to use low gear NOW.

its mad !!

sometimes we are our own worst enemies im afraid.