Grey nomads suffer minor injuries in horror rollover
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August 5, 2019
A grey nomad couple walked away with only cuts and bruises from a horror rollover.
The accident, which took place last week, was captured on dashcam footage taken from a following vehicle.
The 67-year-old driver is seen overtaking another vehicle on the rural stretch of the Bruce Highway at Gumlu, 100 kilometres south of Mackay, when when the caravan starts to sway from side to side.
The oscillating caravan then flips on the side of the road, dragging the four-wheel-drive along with it.
Incredibly, the South Australian caravanner and his passenger escaped with only minor injuries.
The pair walked away with just cuts and bruises.
The shocking footage has prompted police to warn motorists with caravans to drive safely.
Senior Constable Mark Siddall from the Forensic Crash Unit told grey nomads that the driver of any vehicle is legally responsible for being safe when towing a caravan.
“Complete a few short towing trips at first, gradually increasing the distance travelled before embarking on a long trip,” he said. “This allows you to familiarise yourself with your vehicle and caravan and to understand the feel of the weight of the caravan on the back of your vehicle.”
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8 Responses to Grey nomads suffer minor injuries in horror rollover
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The roof of that vehicle has collapsed completely. How dreadful. I am so glad they aren’t badly hurt.
Too many Too often, glad they are OK though!!
Thinking that we will decide on a Mobile Home and not tow a van! Some disadvantages but lots of advantages!
There will be plenty more.
Hi folks, Gumlu is approx. 140k`s south of Townsville or approx. 40k`s nth of Bowen
Cheers
Yep.As Jed says. There will be plenty more, Comparing the van to the vehicle once the tail wags ….. ? To bigger van for that vehicle.
To many vehicles / vans out there badly matched and loaded.Along with lack of towing experience it’s a wonder there is not more of the same
Some Aussie van manufacturers are building new vans over 2 tonnes with electronic stability control (ESC) as standard. We fitted it to our previous van & are in the process of fitting it to our recent purchase. At $1300 it’s only a fraction of the initial outlay for a van….Maybe one day it’ll be mandatory on all new vans reducing the numbers of this type of crash
My brief web search has come up with no ADR for tow vehicle wheelbase to caravan length, but I believe that the general rule is a longer caravan and a shorter wheelbase tow vehicle will increase the severity of sway (see Ferg’s comment).
Caravan dealers (I’m not one) will be aware of this and will advise on appropriate tow vehicles but private sales…