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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.

BB

Quote: Originally posted by Basilbrush on 27/7/2012

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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.

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I think that speed is not the only issue. General lack of knowledge on how to set-up also contributes.

I don't exceed the limit whilst towing but going over 60 does not mean you are unsafe, as per countries with higher speed limits for towing.

An unstable unit due to poor loading or overloading will be a hazard below 60.

Do we nead some basic instruction before you are allowed to tow, even a 1 hour course to go through the basics?

Quote: Originally posted by Chalkie56 on 27/7/2012

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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.

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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.

BB

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. 

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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