Caravans

[flip-flop]

People towing caravans should only be allowed to use the roads between 9pm and 7am. Discuss.

[ugly_bob]

nope.
between 3.00am and 3.01am

[jake-the-peg]

I think you should provide a better justification for your case before telling us to discuss.

Or is your case "I don't like them - they should be banned"

Anything based on actual facts and figures would be good!

[Loosehead]

I agree but it's only because they are a pain in the arse I do not really have a coherant argument.

[ugly_bob]

jake - that's exactly my argument.
I also think lorries should be prevented from overtaking on motorways in busy times. Again because it's bloody annoying.

[flip-flop]

Jake - that is exactly my argument: they are a pain in the arse and selfish: they don't give a tinker's cuss that they are creating a five mile queue of traffic behind them.

No actual facts and figures.

[jake-the-peg]

Well banning things on the "I don't like it - it's a pain in the arse principal" isn't much of an argument.


But do caravan actually cause that much of a nuisance? do they really cause huge tail-backs?

I can believe that on a few particular roads going into the lake district or Cornwall on August bank holiday or on a few weekends a year they do but is it any worse than say horse boxes or people towing boats or any trailers?

They and artics are already banned from the outside lane of motorways so it's not like you can't pass them there

[ugly_bob]

only problem with towing vehicles overtaking on motorways is that the rest of the traffic is forced into (usually) only 1 lane, causing problems if it's busy. No problem during quiet times.

[Rev Sermon]

There was an experiment a couple of years ago restricting caravans to the inside lane of a section of the M5 at certain times. I don't know if it was ever repeated or what conclusions were reached.

The logical part of me thinks more restrictions would be a good idea. It seems unfair that people toodling off on holiday should be obstructing people who are en route to work for example during rush hours.

My heart feels that caravans and owners should be declared outlaws and any act of ramming, burning or general destruction to these bumbling half-wits should be legalised.

[Paul22118]

I have been a caravanner for about thirty years.

If you think that all caravanners are the same you are wrong.
If you think that all caravanners know how to tow safely and properly you are wrong.
If you think that all towing outfits i.e. the match of towing vehicle to towed vehicle, are well matched you are wrong.

This is to say that whilst I totally disagree that there should be a silly restriction of times and use on our roads, what I say is that until the law changes there is no justification for screwing us for maybe not having set adequate levels of competance.

What there should be is a DSA competancy test for towing a caravan combined with a theory requirement to ensure that drivers know the rules.

Make the law crystal clear as to what can tow what, which it does not clearly do at the moment.

To sum up. Unfair to ask a question as flip-flop does when caravanners are not legally compelled to be trined or tested. Discuss.

[flip-flop]

I'd be happy with that Paul - proper training and proper education as to what is capable of towing what: I have been behind that person towing a caravan uphill in 1st in a 1300 Rover whilst the tailback behind him has been getting ever longer and longer.

How about amending the Highway Code to make it an obligation to pull into laybys to allow the tailback to pass? A lot of driving is about courtesy and holding people up, and they damn well know they are holding people up, is discourteous.

[ugly_bob]

Paul - I agree entirely about training, but as to the law not being crystal clear - eh? I think it's fairly clear - you are restricted as to what you can tow according to the vehicle and trailer's weight.

The problem is that the law is divined from the stopping power of a vehicle ie the trailer can't weigh more than the towing vehicle. There is no dispensation for the towing vehicle actually having sufficient power to tow the trailer.

[Paul22118]

ugly bob - Im with you on this. What my meaning was is that there should be specific laid down rules as to what can to what. It would not be rocket science to list all motor vehicles against (not a very big) a list of caravans. It is either legally matched or it isn't. End of.

[kwicky]

A more pressing argument would be to ban tractors from public roads during the rush hour. Outside of these times they should be made to pull over at the next lay-by. They should ensure that any mud left on the road is removed to prevent motorcycle accidents.
There usually is an alternative than using roads. That is to have tracks on farmland for travelling between fields. Farms today usually have large contiguous fields and should rarely have to use the roads.