Spike in caravan crashes raises alarm bells

NSW Police are responding to a steady rise in serious caravan crashes with a number of caravan safety education sessions scheduled from later this week.

NSW Traffic & Highway Patrol Command and Roads & Maritime Services Northern Region will be conducting the safety sessions at northern NSW highway rest areas to highlight the need to have appropriate weights, load balance and towing equipment.

NSW Traffic & Highway Patrol Command’s Chief Inspector Phil Brooks said that Highway Patrol were attending an increasing number of caravan roll-overs and other serious towing accidents in the north of the state.

“It would appear that we have had a number of concerning crash events in recent times that have resulted in the need to establish this community engagement program," he said.

“It’s that northern, north-western belt that has seen the roll-over and crash incidents occur. There’s been one in particular, a roll-over that resulted in two fatalities in the state’s north.

The safety sessions, conducted by local Highway Patrol officers and the RMS, will cover a variety of topics relating to safe caravanning, said Brooks.

“There will be various programs on each day; weighing caravans, looking how they’re hooked up, what you should have inside them and the sorts of vehicles that are involved.

“It’ll be the local Highway Patrol, who attend these crashes, who’ll be on the ground to engage with the van operators to make sure that they’re aware of what we expect in the hope we can prevent these sorts of events occurring in the future.

“By and large experienced vanners know what they’re doing (so) it’s probably those who are entering into the marketplace with a brand new van with a vehicle that is probably underrated in the class; they’re the ones we are hoping to engage with in a very general sense.”

Also read: How to avoid a roll-over

Victorian Police and Vicroads undertook a similar campaign in January 2017,  where 60 per cent of caravans weighed were found to be overweight.

Brooks said that the NSW Police campaign would involve voluntary participation by members of the public.

“This is an engagement and education activity. It’s about educating those who are seeking advice, so [if necessary] we’ll help them re-position their load in an effort to make sure that their van is able to operate on the road safely, based on the vehicle they’ve got.”

Session 1 will be on the Pacific Motorway within the Northbound Rest area at Clybucca on the Mid North Coast between 9am and 2pm on the Wednesday September 11.

Session 2 will be on the New England Highway within the rest areas (North and South Bound) at Glencoe in the Northern tablelands (75km north of Armidale) on a date to be advised, due to current fires in the area.

More information can be found on the NSW Traffic & Highway Patrol Command Facebook page.

Also read: Overweight caravan epidemic spreads