A solar panel coming loose from a caravan has been ruled a ‘significant factor’ in a fatal crash on Tasmania’s Midland Highway back in 2020.
However, the use of cannabis by one of the drivers involved was considered to be principal reason for the accident that killed three people.
The tragedy happened in October, 2020, when a car swerved to avoid solar panels that had come loose from a caravan travelling in the opposite direction, and collided with another car.
Coroner Simon Cooper noted that there were no specific regulations governing how solar panels or similar accessories should be affixed to caravans and other similar vehicles.
The caravan was purchased by the owner, identified as IS, a few years before the crash. The ABC reports that ‘IS’ told police he arranged for the solar panels to be fitted onto it as an ‘aftermarket’ addition after he purchased it, arranging for it to be installed by a qualified electrician.
The electrician told police he had installed the panels in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions and had installed them on other caravans in a similar way in the past.
Mr Cooper found the adhesive used by the electrician to bond the panels to the roof failed, allowing them to blow free.
The ABC reports that the coroner also found strong winds at the time of the crash ‘no doubt’ led to the panels being dislodged.
According to the ABC, the Department of State Growth has tightened pre-registration checks of external equipment on caravans and other similar vehicles since the incident, while work has begun on national rules around aftermarket accessories.
The ABC reports that the coroner also said the tragedy could have been avoided if one of the drivers had not been high on cannabis.
The driver, AZ, and his family were travelling from Launceston to Hobart for a shopping trip, when their red Toyota Celica coupe swerved into the other lane and collided with a Holden Commodore behind the caravan.
AZ, his 15-year-old daughter, and his aunt — who was not wearing a seatbelt — were all killed instantly. His seven-year-old son survived, suffering a broken elbow and leg. The three people travelling in the Holden Commodore all suffered injuries.
In his report into the crash, Mr Cooper said an autopsy found that AZ had tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis — in his body, while 8.4 grams of chopped cannabis was found in his boot.
The ABC reports that Mr Cooper found AZ ‘overreacted’ to the solar panels coming loose, with dashcam footage showing they flew well above his car.
The coroner said he was satisfied that AZ’s perception and reaction time were very likely to have been affected by the THC found in his body at autopsy.
“AZ should not have been driving,” said Mr Cooper said. “His inability to react appropriately to the solar panel because of the THC in his body was the principal reason, in my view, he, his 15-year-old daughter, and aunt died.”
So if they guy had been sober and swerved to miss panels, and outcome was the same, then it becomes caravanners issue.
Caravan’s should be made to have compliance checks done 6 monthly on caravan. Total responsibility should be on the caravan owner.
Young man sorry for your loss.
Just terrible
If caravanners are made to have checks each 6 months then vehicles should have them at that rate also as they are on the roads far more often than a van
Vehicles DO – assuming being serviced at regular intervals
A regular service is not the same as a compliance check.
So your saying that if you have a tyre company change your tyres on your car, before you leave their shop, you go around and check all the wheel nuts are tight ? And if you have a new exhaust system fitted to your car, you climb under and make sure all bolts and nuts are tightened correctly, and the appropriate hangers and supports are in place before you leave the shop.
When you pay for the job, you are also paying for correct fitment, so your statement above that responsibility should be on the caravan owner is one of the silliest things I have heard this side of a politicians promise.
It’s a good idea to check the solar panels before each trip as I have once before noticed that the fixing screws were loosening when washing the caravan.
All solar panels should be fixed with with mechanical fixings not just glued.
Adhesives do and will fail with exposure to the elements.
They do flex a lot on the roof of caravans with temperatures fluctuation
You do realise that most caravan bodies, car panels, and also aircraft skins are attached with adhesives nowadays?
Adhesives have come a long way in just the last 20 years. If the correct adhesive was used, and applied correctly, the caravan roof would have failed before the adhesive.
The surface of the van would need the right preparation, not just glued to the paint.
My fixings to the panel were loose. Inappropriate type and size of screws. Van was near new. Only discovered this on a step ladder cleaning roof around the panel. The panel and anything else on the roof needs to be able to take a whack from an on coming truck, the wind blast can be enormous. The brackets should be a standardised type with the right fixings and flexibility allowing for the temp growth of panel frame.
Cannabis testing is faulty, The man could have taken the cannabis a week before the crash and it would still be positive in his system, Even tho 3 hours after taking cannabis, He would be unaffected by the Cannabis,
You know better than the coroner.
As this was a fatality the testing would have been carried on multiple tissue samples and analysis performed by Mass Spectometer, the levels in his system would have been made available to the coroner, who would be well aware of what constitutes trace quantities.
My solar panels on my RV are bolted down and then glued as well,
I have the same set up on my offshore boat, The panels got hit with 8 metre waves in 70 knot winds, The panels got broken, But did not come unstuck in any way from the boat,
You do realise that 70 knot winds is at the top of the Beaufort scale? Hurricane force. You were boating in that?
It’s very sad what happened but the guy was stoned and the all 3 killed weren’t wearing seat belts and he had 8.4Kgs of drugs in the boot, I think a typo because 8.4 grams fits a pocket seriously its 2 teaspoons.
At the time the story came out I was fitting new solar panels to my van and I bonded them with Sikaflex at each corner, however I do clean the roof of the Van and inspect the mounts a week before travelling.
It’s like anything else check TV aerial mounting and seals on top, It’s pretty sad that this bloke killed his daughter and Aunt, but the panels shouldn’t come off it’s a maintenance thing.
As for compliance checks every 6 months, are you not Governed enough! can just see some SWJ grabbing that one and then you’ll be booking into an inspection station paying $43.00 or more because Australian Safe Work Practice requires a harness, work platform or caged lifting platform above 1.5 metres so your going to be paying about $300 plus twice a year and failure to comply will suspend or cancel Registration.
there’s sikaflex and sikaflex. you have to use the right one
The total fix for this issue in the future is a no brainer, regulate the Caravan Industry & you fix all these issues & potentially save lives, Hello Police Dept.
You are ignoring a far bigger issue ….. drugs have nothing to do with caravanning
A terrible accident, whether it be a solar panel, a box from a poorly loaded trailer, a kangaroo jumping into road, all never planned for. Wearing no seat belts I cannot believe that practise still goes on.
Very sad outcome ‘solar panels flew well over his vehicle’. we are all taught (or should be) not to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid cats/dogs/other objects on the road. It amazes me how many drivers are using cannabis and will all claim it does not affect them! No seatbelts adds to the tragedy
Unfortunately my first rooftop solar panel came off our van a few years ago in Tasmania. I now use portable fold-up panels. The panel smashed off the edge of the road, not in traffic luckily, I went back and cleaned it up.
While I sympathise with everyone involved in this tragic accident I would like to give praise to the editor of this publication.
It’s a rare occasion that the findings by a coroner of these accidents are actually published.
Hopefully the editor will publish more of these so we get a better insight into how these events where created
Sadly something that legislation won’t fix, many items are affixed to vehicles poorly, towing mirrors, roof racks, push bikes even wheels. In the end its not the governments job to regulate, its time the owner/operators take some responsibility and check them, if one doesn’t have the ability then don’t use it or find someone who has…………….. had enough nanny state.
The solar panels coming off any vehicle can easily kill someone.
In the first instance it is the fault of the installer of the panels and the owner of the van.
The cannabis is secondary in this tragedy..
Is there now a law that states solar panels must be fixed to the top of caravans in a certain way?.
My glued semi-flexible panels failed after less than a year. They were so strongly glued that I had to cut them into thin strips to rip them off and they took the colourbond off the aluminium roof when I ripped them off. Impossible for any wind loading, hurricane or otherwise to move them. Unfortunately, these sort of panels typically only last a few years in Australia due to the heat buildup if no air gap underneath them. The rigid frame units can be mounted easily with an airgap and could last 10 to 20 years easily, if good quality. The problem is that you cannot glue them down easily. They are usually screwed down via a support frame, to ensure a good 50mm air gap. This method of securing them leaves us at risk of water leaks and they are subject to much more force than if they were of the flat semi-flexible type. So on the one hand, if we want longevity, we are at more risk of them being sucked off the roof, but if we want to reduce this risk by using the low profile semi-flexible type, expect them to only last a year or two. Too many ignorant do-it-yourself people out there who think they know what they are doing. A good quality commercial adhesive for example, uses 3 chemicals and a 4 step process. If done right, nothing short of a bulldozer can remove panels, I know, I’ve tested various Sikaflex products using a locomotive with bulldozer blade on railway tracks.