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Yes the name of the game seems to be

"consider every other road user as an idiot and be ready for them"

That way your prepared for the stupid things and rather than getting angry with the idiots, your pleasantly surprised by the good drivers

Quote: Originally posted by ian-albion on 10/8/2009

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We've only been caravanning just over a year now and although we have seen the odd van being towed by an unsuitable car

Hi.

How do you know the car was unsuitable?

Just a straight forward question nothing else.

T.

 

 

 

Quote: Originally posted by timtheenchanter on 12/8/2009

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TBH, I usually stick around 56mph on the motorway, I cant be bothered pulling in/out round hgvs etc.

the thing that really bugs me, is the car driver who sits in the blind spot right up behind the caravan, then tries to overtake you, only to realise thye van/bus/wagon in front, and then cuts you up I try to keep enogh space for the numties to come into

Im also a biker, so have a good defensive driving style

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Quote: Originally posted by neil and lena on 12/8/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by Draig on 12/8/2009

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"I must confess to being alarmed at the number of bikes I see being carried on roof racks."

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The ones mounted on the rear of the car scare me more.

AL

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Whats wrong with carrying the bikes on an approved roof mounted bike rack ?

perfectly legal providing your car is not over its maximum loaded weight

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Interesting gripe here.

We had a blow out this year on the M1 at 55mph but for the fact that we use a range Rover for towing (an old one by the way) we would have had a real problem.

The trick is not to panic but bring the speed down quickly without braking too hard, I have no doubt whatsoever that our safety was down to using a sensible tow car with enough weight to handle the problem, I too have seen too mainy people driving at insane speeds with tow cars obviously too light for the job.

I have been towing allsorts for too mainy years to be surprised at the antics of some but again I have towed a trailer at speeds up to 95 in an emergency situation but that was in a controlled situation with no danger to anyone as no-one was there! bairly even a road.

The only answer is to keep your speed down to what your rig can handle safely and pay attention to the speed limits, they are there for a reason.

Please.

Complacency, the feeling that nothing can happen to me.

For those who think this was it bl**dy well can and could if you continue to speed.

Dont understand the idea of going on holiday just to race around the motorway, better the get ther late than never.

Greetings,

Message for 664 Dave on Page 4

I beleive we are just under the 3.5 tonnes, yes we saw that article in the CC magazine.
Kia Mass 2065,Bailey Burgundy max 1400Kgs, it is not fully loaded so we are just inside the 3.5tonne!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you are quoting the Kerb Weight of your Sorento.

France wants to know the Gross Weight of your outfit.

I suppose your Sorento holds over 500kilos making its GVW over 2565kgs so your outfit with the Bailey on the back is more than a tad of 3500kilos.

Quote: Originally posted by Ina on 12/8/2009

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Having had 6 caravans, and now on our 4th motorhome, one thing that we sometimes see is that some people just throw everything in their caravan. We've seen chairs, table, bicycles all packed in there, and wonder how much weight is in there as well as how is it distributed?
We saw one outfit leaving a site a couple of weeks ago and the caravan's A frame was not far off scraping the ground!

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Quote: Originally posted by emmitdb on 12/8/2009

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Greetings,

Message for 664 Dave on Page 4

France wants to know the Gross Weight of your outfit.

I suppose your Sorento holds over 500kilos making its GVW over 2565kgs so your outfit with the Bailey on the back is more than a tad of 3500kilos.

I doubt we carry 500kgs in it, but there is fuel of course, only 2 of us & we don't carry a lot in the car. The car cruises (towing) nicely around 65 mph. Usuallyonly go to  70 when overtaking! So  so we will have to remember to keep it down.

Cruise control is useful as it helps prevent inadvertent transgressions!

 I bet alot of the large 4 x 4 twin axle vans which zip along at 70 are not aware of the restriction.

Might pop the outfit on a weighbridge sometime just to see what it comes in at!

Quote: Originally posted by dr bacardi on 13/8/2009

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if you can tow at 68mph overseas whats the differance towing at that speed over here?

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Its only in France, and they have signs up with lower speed limits on hills, so even they acknowledge that caravan towing has its dangers.

Germany has 50mph, lower than for lorries and no speed restriction for cars on the motorway.

Quote: Originally posted by 664DaveS on 13/8/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by emmitdb on 12/8/2009

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Greetings,

Message for 664 Dave on Page 4

I beleive we are just under the 3.5 tonnes, yes we saw that article in the CC magazine.
Kia Mass 2065,Bailey Burgundy max 1400Kgs, it is not fully loaded so we are just inside the 3.5tonne!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but you are quoting the Kerb Weight of your Sorento.

France wants to know the Gross Weight of your outfit.

I suppose your Sorento holds over 500kilos making its GVW over 2565kgs so your outfit with the Bailey on the back is more than a tad of 3500kilos.

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I doubt we carry 500kgs in it, but there is fuel of course, only 2 of us & we don't carry a lot in the car. The car cruises (towing) nicely around 65 mph. Usuallyonly go to  70 when overtaking! So  so we will have to remember to keep it down.

Cruise control is useful as it helps prevent inadvertent transgressions!

 I bet alot of the large 4 x 4 twin axle vans which zip along at 70 are not aware of the restriction.

Might pop the outfit on a weighbridge sometime just to see what it comes in at!

Think you are barking up the wrong tree, the Sorrento is way over the limit: copied from CC Website:

Speed limits in France - update

08 July 2009

A hell of a lot of `family` cars will fall within that category then as well.

My Passat for instance, has a GTM of 3940kgs and I would imagine many cars of a similar size will also exceed 3500kgs.