The case for caravan speeding fines
Cars and trucks have variable speed limit restrictions, so why not caravans?COMMENT
Are all caravans of all weights and sizes equal on the open road, sealed or unsealed?
According to Australian road laws they generally are, but should we think this?
Consider this: even where it’s legal, is it a good idea to tow a 3.5 tonne tandem-axle caravan stretching 11 metres or more behind you at the 130km/h allowable on some Outback roads, sealed, unsealed, dry or super-slippy muddy?
How about 110km/h in traffic with the family onboard on a stormy bitumen freeway? Or 100km/h on a wet, twisting and crowned back road?
Most of us don’t tow caravans on roads like these at such speed. But we often can...
How fast should you tow?
In Australia, the open road speed limits vary from 80–110 km/h depending on the conditions of the road. In remote parts of Australia, such as outback Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia, 110–130 km/h speed limits are used.
However, for learner and probationary drivers in certain states, speed limits between 80 km/h and 100 km/h apply as a maximum along all roads, regardless of the posted limits.
Towed caravan speed limits, while often also lower, are not posted and rarely known by travellers. Unlike a Learners’ Permit, there is no qualifying test before you are put in charge of a rig often weighing nearly seven tonnes and stretching up to 15 metres or more long.
In most states, the law is that the maximum speed limit for a tow vehicle with a trailer in Australia is as per the signposted speed. However, there are some subtle variations to this rule across the states.
Cross-border speed changes
The maximum allowable speed of a tow vehicle towing a trailer in New South Wales is 110km, so long as the tow vehicle has a GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) not exceeding 4,500kg.
Western Australia has a maximum of 100km/h for a vehicle towing a trailer. However, unlike NSW, there's no specified vehicle and trailer weight
In Tasmania, all vehicles towing trailers or caravans must stick to the posted speed limits, unless the trailer or caravan has a GVM of 12 tonnes or more, in which case lower limits apply.
In Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, there are no specific caravan speed limits; instead, the law requires that drivers travel at a speed that's suitable to the prevailing conditions on the open road. Highly subjective!
Now, consider this. When towing a caravan or camper, the dynamics of the tow vehicle are changed, especially if you’re towing an unbraked trailer up to a maximum Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM) of 750kg.
In this case, you effectively have up to 750kg pushing your tow vehicle along without any extra braking assistance. Above an ATM of 750kg, automatic mechanical or electronic trailer brakes are required.
OK, all this is very confusing to many travellers, particularly many first-time caravaners who may have stepped out of front-wheel-drive hatchbacks to lap Australia after COVID-19 quashed their overseas holiday plans.
I have a slightly radical solution that probably won’t be popular with many readers...
Caravan licence endorsement
I believe everyone towing a caravan or trailer with a laden ATM of more than 750kg should have a ‘Trailer’ endorsement on their driving licence.
This would entitle them to hold a 'Provisional Trailer Licence’ which would require them to display a ‘P’ on the rear of their caravan for a period of (say) two years before they would be eligible to graduate to a full ‘Trailer’ Licence, provided they were not guilty of a driving offence in the interim (just like a Provisional car driving licence).
The licence would apply to anyone towing a trailer weighing over 750kg, so would also apply to your partner who helps out on a long travelling stint.
Part of gaining your ‘Trailer’ endorsement could also be a simple reversing and manoeuvring test, potentially ruining the amusing scenes enjoyed by experienced travellers during ‘Happy Hour’ at many caravan parks.
However there are no statistics showing whether anyone has been killed or injured seriously while reversing a caravan!
The Trailer endorsement could also include a written test on the understanding of common caravan terms such as ‘Tare’ and ‘ATM’ and the relationship between the legal towing weight of a given tow car and its trailer, tyre pressures, the extra braking distance required, etc.
Not all caravanners are equal
As we can see from the examples above, all caravans and caravanners are not created equal, so a large, heavy caravan in the hands of an inexperienced tow-person should not be able to travel as fast as a lighter and more nimble pop-top or hybrid camper in the hands of an experienced driver, regardless of the road.
In most countries, permitted speeds are lower for larger trucks and trailers, particularly in wet weather. These speeds are often shown – particularly in Europe – by signs on the rear of each trailer, sometimes displaying their maximum permitted speed allowed under different weather circumstances, or roads.
Some countries have different general speed limits for urban roads and the remaining roads. Such differences exist since the beginning of the 20th century in countries such as the United Kingdom and France. This concept is formally defined as roads within built-up area in various regulations, including Vienna Convention, even if UK has re-branded these roads as street-lighted or as a restricted area.
It sounds very ‘Big Brother’, but it has worked successfully in Europe for many years.
Enforcement plan
The reality is that most of the infrastructure already exists to make these things happen.
Driving schools and those licensing heavy vehicle driving endorsements could easily add a cut-down caravan handling course to their menu. Entrepreneurial caravan retailers could build the nominal cost of these courses into the sale price of new or used caravans.
Highway-side heavy vehicle weigh stations could check licences and endorsements and enforce car and caravan weight limits and issue warnings or infringement notices. A moratorium on penalties should apply for 12 months if these new limits were introduced.
The first responsibility for all braked caravans and trailers to display their maximum permitted speed in a plate on their rear would rest with the person selling the van.
Other motorists could shame caravanners into complying by suitable hand signs and any transgression would be very obvious to police.
Good ideas?
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