With grey nomads very much on the move, sadly there has been another couple of nasty caravan rollovers in recent days.
Early yesterday morning, two people were injured after a vehicle towing a caravan rolled over on the Bruce Highway south of Townsville in north Queensland.
The Queensland Ambulance Service said both patients were transported to Townsville University Hospital where they remain in a stable condition
The accident happened at Cromarty at about 6.40am and the highways was closed in both directions while emergency crews worked on the scene.
And a day earlier, a Toyota LandCruiser hauling a caravan ended up on its roof on Picton Road in the NSW Illawarra area.
The caravan rolled near Cromarty on the Bruce Highway. PIC: Queensland Police Service
Police said the occupants claimed a severe wind gust caused the vehicle to lose control and roll, leaving it jackknifed with the van still on its wheels.
No injuries were reported, with the occupants of the 4WD managing to climb out.
With so many motorhomes and caravans heading north, police are once again warning grey nomads to take care on the roads and to make sure their driving skills are up to scratch.
Sergeant John Ridgway from the Mareeba Highway Patrol said towing was very different from everyday driving – it requires additional driving skills and safety precautions.
“Cornering and the braking performance of vehicles are affected when towing,” he said. “As a driver, you have a legal responsibility to ensure the towing vehicle, trailer and its load meet all legal and safety requirements.”
Both vans independent suspension with
a) no anti-roll bar linking both sides, and;
b) cranking angles on the dampers that stop them working at full bump.
Count how many solid axle four-leaf rockers go upside down. Never happens.
Modern van suspension design is behind a lot of these crashes.
So true
Both great points, Pete. Veryfew,mif any, understand that axle steer is what upsets most vans, and is inherent in all suspension designs. After the initial sway is started ever subsequent sway is greater because of the axle steer, so it all will end badly. Cheers
Maybe yes, maybe no. Take a look at the Simplicity (inverted leaf spring based) load sharing dual wheel system which is also extensively used by military operators around the world. My take is operator malfunction more than natural occurrences.
Can you show the source of the facts that 4 leaf rockers are never involved in accidents?
Pete did you make this up mate? Could there be another reason for these accidents? I certainly hope so cause I’ve got a modern van, done 30k kms with it and no issues. I firmly believe that speed has a lot to do with it. Maybe modern van owners feeling safer speed more?
When you see some of these newer vans they are up to 19ft long and have independent suspension and are way to high for the length and width. The centre
of gravity makes them an accident waiting to happen
Having towed both single and double axle caravans over a period of 20 years, from Darwin to Hobart and all areas in between, I found the extra safety factor, more stability with the double axle, the main difference between the two.
25 years ago travelled on the plenty hwy. My good old Land Rover with a good old dual axle Hallmark. Halfway we lost one axle – broken mounting point. The Landy kept on towing untill I noticed a too big cloud of dust behind me . “I better stop” I said , “something is wrong”. The rear axle was being dragged lenght-wise behind the chassis , only held on by the handbrake cable. The wheels were square. A passing by Swiss mechanic in a Unimog had a ton of tools.We cut the axle free , and radioed to a nearest station. 150 km . They had welding services etc. So I took it very slow on the singe axle. Stopped every 30 minutes to check bearings. The caravan was soon on the road again so and for another 10 years , it is now an onsite van but a crack in the cork floor still remembers us of that wicked event . But also proof that dual axle is the only way to go.
People should back off their speed and also not drive on days where high winds are forecast, also should learn to use the brake controller as manual braking, brake the van and it straightens up then you can apply the vehicle brakes to stop and check your underwear.
Hear, Hear. I’m surprised at the number of caravanners who are unaware of the existence of the emergency anti-sway button on the brake controller.
A good reason to have a special licence to tow, if only so caravanners are taught this and other safety measures.
Just wondering what brand caravan the roll over at Cromarty was, we are looking at small vans or hybrids to tow. Currently have a campertrailer so a bit concerned about the possibility of an accident.
I’ve heard 2 different stories regarding this roll over. 1) It was caused avoiding a roo. 2) It was caused at the end of an overtaking lane where a young driver cut them off not allowing them to merge back in at the end of the lane. Not sure which one is true. I have one and it does get a bit of sway happening from time to time which can apparently be fixed with a few mods including better shocks than the factory used to supply. The factory has changed suppliers on the new models and apparently they’re a LOT better
If I feel thatnthings are going south I call (scream) ate the wife” Brakes” and she punches the brake controller. Fortunately we have only had to do this once not in practice
As an addition to this comment, mounting the van brake controller IN EASY REACH of the passenger is very important because the driver is very busy , along with the heart rate increase, trying to avert a tragedy…..
Maybe if people realised they do not need to tow a bloody heavy, overweight roadblocker with a suv or twin cab they will be safer. Good to see police cracking down on overweight rigs. Sooner a towing licence is introduced the better.
I agree definitely need a towing license or at least a heavy duty license
Licencing is rather impractical, but better education is essential. You are right though, the towing of 3t plus vans with dual cabs, LCs and Y62s is lunacy. Cue, the LC & Y62 owners saying no dramas, yet they account for a significant number of disasters. Only have to look at all the crash posts by Claytons Towing to know this.
I live at the edge of Warrumbungle National Park in NSW. There are a few campgrounds and several caravan parks around. So we get our share of passing-by caravans. It always amazes (read annoys) me how many of those caravanners are in a hurry. Often drive faster on the winding roads as I – being a local – would dare without towing anything. Once there was a simple (maybe unofficial) rule : Towing a big trailer ? Max speed: 80km , but now with almighty turbo diesels many in the caravan herd think (do they think?) “If my car can do it I will go fast to get behind my TV and beer asap…. Comon folks the journey is part of the joy of travel !
In New Zealand if you’re towing the rule is you have to go 10kph under the speed limit, better for safety of those towing, but annoying as heck for other road users, especially trucks who have a reason to rush. I’ve often felt pushed on to drive much faster than I’d prefer to by a grumpy truckie sitting on my butt and making them overtake you not only causes a whole different danger on the roads, but can also cause “wind tunnel” sway on the van as it sucks the van towards the truck overtaking you. To avoid this I drive as far to the left as possible whilst being overtaken, but wonder how many of these crashes might have been from drivers feeling slightly “pushed” to go faster or not knowing how to cope with the wind suck factor when being overtaken.
I tend to cruise at 90kph mainly to save on fuel costs on my 1971 F100 , but I also take mainly the back roads and if I’m on a major highway or in a city area I drive at the limit so other driver’s don’t get aggro and create a dangerous situation.
I’ve been towing caravans for over 10 years on huge trips all across America and Australia and New Zealand and before that horse floats, so have learned a lot along the way, but still think there should be an initial towing test/licence system similar to getting a driving test to get your licence before being allowed out there without that essential knowledge.
Loading knowledge should be part of the test too! At a recent caravan club camping event at a caravan park I was staying at for a brand of new caravans they had a mobile weigh bridge guy come to test everyone’s weights and out of all of the rigs, only 2 passed! That’s scary as it was just a weekend event and yet they were all overloaded or towing with cars just not heavy enough. Simple rule of thumb: Despite whatever the manufacturer’s stated towing capacity is, the loaded weight of the van should never exceed the weight if the towing vehicle!
Lisa ,don
t know where you get that rule of tow 10km under speed limit from ,ive been towing in nz 28 yrs and that statement is rubbish ,We do however have a max speed limit of 90 km. hr. for all trailers and heavy goods vehicles.Totally agree,but I think a lot of van towers feel.a bit of pressure about all the negative comments from truck drivers and would be experts
When are people going to slow down it’s not a race, we are all going to die why be in a hurry to get there. Every day we see people do stupid things and risk not only their own lives but also those of inocent others. So selfish!
DSC should be mandatory on all vans – as it is for cars.
Download weights also need to be mandatory, with the coppers checking this as well as GCMs. EG: how many people do not know that you cannot tow 3.5tonne with a Nissan Patrol if you use 10% download? Nearly all utes in the same situation.
So many nomads are not doing their homework on weights and stupidly believe the marketing spin from both car and caravan manufacturers. Caravan industry must be regulated – it is still a cottage industry.
Bollocks, DSC plays absolute havoc with the oem trailer braking system on my MY12 2500HD Chev, and all the other older yank tanks. The new ones have a built in control to disable this alarm detection, keeping in mind this fault trips the vehicles traction & stability control and disables the oem brake controller too. Absolutely no need for caravan ESC towing with a 2500HD pickup. The oem trailer braking system is far superior to any aftermarket brake controller, the issue is it detects power on the brakes as a fault, unless it has powered them itself.
Excessive sway, also known as fishtailing or tail wag is caused by a number of things. There are volumes of literature on this subject that should be read and understood before “hitting the road”.
There are numerous aftermarket accessories for controlling sway, fishtailing, and tail wag.
Electronic trailer (caravan)-sway products are far more efficient than the delayed reaction time to press the brake controller. Pressing the brake controller is by far the best method if electronic trailer sway equipment is not installed. Just a tip, do not hit the foot brake otherwise it could be a disaster.
Most stable van I ever towed was my big 30ft tri axle, leaf sprung solid axle No sway like driving a semi. Our 16ft Windsor independent suspension could be induced to sway with undulating roads. Probably right about no torsion bar link I never thought about it before.
When will governments mandate that caravans install electronic sway control devices on caravans. Unlike manual brake controllers they do not require training to use or anticipation.
Governments have required new safety features be installed in cars and I wonder if or how much of these automatic braking features are degraded when towing caravans.
After all 2 to 4 tons of caravan being dragged behind a vehicle change the behaviour of the vehicles braking dynamics.
It appears that the van causes the towing vehicle to roll over because the tow hitch on the van is fixed and does not swivel as is the case with dedicated off road hitches.Before electric brakes all tow hitches could swivel,why not now!
I used to think that but after seeing video of a roll over it became obvious that the caravan lifted the rear of the car completely off the ground violently. If your wheels are in the air I suspect it wouldn’t matter if the hitch swivelled or not.
If your caravan goes over onto its side its coupling would then be a metre or so above the road surface…..and so will the bum end of the car . No amount of swivel in a coupling can prevent this situation so get this myth right out of your thinking. Swivel type hitches are designed for undulating horizontal travel, not for a caravan at 90 degrees to the towing vehicle…
Hey, just take your time. It’s better to take a bit longer to get there, than to not get there at all.
I have just read these comments and find it hard to believe these people are not joking. Anyone who thinks there is time to reach across and press the brake button has never been caught in a real sway. I have and at next opportunity invested in ESC. In a really serious situation there is no time just nightmares if you are lucky to get out of it unscathed. Balance your van properly, put your hand in your pocket and install some sort of ESC. You don’t go without insurance. Think of it as insurance without all the problems of a company.
That’s a good comment. If things go pear shape you won’t have time to do much except hang on. Avoidance is the best policy and speed is probably the main cause.
Or perhaps buy a suitable smaller caravan for the tow tug you own. Or buy a bigger truck to tow the monster van. ESC is yet another bandaid for a poorly designed, built, loaded or chosen combination.
I agree, the chance of reacting fast enough to hit the panic button is highly unlikely
Is it just me or is there an awful lot of caravan rollovers going on now?
A hell of a lot more “all the gear and no idea” on the road!!
That step or drop off on the side of the bitumen will do all sorts of weird things to a caravan or trailer being towed,
It will certainly get a big sway happening if your not carefull,
I’m a bit fascinated by some of the comments here. My van is not overweight. I have antisway technology installed. I drive under the speed limit. I have an excellent hitch system. BUT I still had a serious sway incident. There is no doubt that I had no time to do anything but try to manage the process and I did get the whole thing under control and get off the road – although I lost my batteries and my aerial. This was a REALLY dangerous incident and I was so grateful to the other cars on the road who all backed off and gave me room to get things under control. It turned out that one of the tyres on my car had lost a bit of air – not enough to set off the alarm but enough to make it impossible for me to manage a sudden gust of wind that I wasn’t expecting. Stuff happens. I was definitely lucky. The rest of you seem to be a bit smug. I put more air into my tyre to even them all up and no more incidents.
All we seem to be doing is highlight caravan rollovers as if they are the only accidents on the road.Have a look at the amount of car and truck rollovers and
caravaner accidents pale in comparison.What about reporting the amount of caravaners that safely complete their holidays without any problems.I am currently travelling Australia and have travelled with a caravan in tow for years and the amount of times I see stupid acts by impatient car drivers passing on double lines , blind corners and crests every day
maybe we should look at them more closely
macca
That certainly highlights this vans off road capability, impressive, the Toyota not so good, certainly stuffed the resale value.
Any one noticed how high the on road clearance is? At a moderate foreward speed of 25knots and a 15knot cross wind underneath and pushing on the side of that van, no Toyota even with sway bars is heavy enough to keep it on the ground in a straight line, That’s a huge sail area on the side of that van,
The Toyoya is the fore sail and the van the main sail, that’s why on a yatch the pointy part of the sail is at the top and the widest part is as close to the wet stuff as possible and you have winches to pull the sails around with force gauges reading 500kgs to 2500kgs on the winches get it wrong and you find out why a boom is called a boom.
I know it’s not a sail boat but the wind dosn’t care.
I am impressed with the towing hitch What brand is it?
Tony Cochrane Rollingstone.
I have been truck driving for 40yrs from a 4 ton to triples all over aust and first thing i found was that is was a lot different to control car and van at 100k,s an hr than road train so start off steady and get the feel of your van and watch out for the unexpected like wind and poor road conditions.
Keep Safe People.
I only wish people would listen to the police. Slow down people. A lot of these accidents are preventable. Just slow down. We are grey nomads. Hubby and I drive to conditions and give way to trucks n cars on the slow lanes.
Basic physics. Cars are too small and the vans are too big/heavy.
Manufacturers should be brought to heel over their max tow ratings.
Also too many van haulers forget. Vans are for touring, not racing or posing off being faster than the person in front.