Towing overtaking warning

The Caravan Council of Australia is warning of the dangers involved when overtaking with a caravan, following a number of towing and overtaking-related accidents in recent times.

The CCA’s Colin Young said inexperienced caravanners were particularly at risk of an accident during an overtaking manouevre.

“There are still too many accidents, and too many nasty incidents, involving 'vans on our roads,” Young said.

“In recent times, I have personally witnessed three scary over-taking moments, where drivers including myself had to take quick avoiding action.”

The CCA has written a technical article that highlights some of the important factors to consider when overtaking another vehicle while towing a caravan or camper.

Most important is having a tow vehicle with “sufficient power available to accelerate the car-caravan combination at a reasonable rate, and to maintain a reasonable speed when climbing hills”.

It’s also “vital that you are able to stop at a reasonable rate... safely, and in a straight line”.

Young said it’s also important the driver has good eyesight in order to guage the length of road in the distance available for over-taking.

The driver also needs to have a good appreciation of the accelerative, handling, stability and stopping performance of the tow vehicle.

“The number one rule is that if you are not 100 per cent confident that you can overtake a slower vehicle safely, in the prevailing atmospheric and road conditions, do not attempt to overtake.

“Hopefully the article will highlight the key aspects involved in safely overtaking another vehicle, especially for inexperienced ‘once-a-year-towing’ drivers.”

To obtain a copy of the article, email caravancouncil@optusnet.net.au or visit the Technical articles section on the CCA website.