Two slightly injured in caravan rollover on Bruce

Published: June 26, 2018

Two people have been taken to Maryborough Hospital with minor injuries following a caravan rollover on the Bruce Highway near Tiaro.

The Gympie Times reports that the crash involved one car towing a caravan that appears to have left the road four kilometres south of Tiaro.

Paramedics and Queensland Fire and Rescue officers attended the scene around noon today.

The accident temporarily closed the northbound lane of the Bruce Highway.

There has been a spate of caravan rollovers in recent weeks as the roads fill up with grey nomads heading north for the winter.

The cause of the most recent accident is being investigated.

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Ok so it’s being investigated just like every other van roll over on that highway for quite a few years when will we see some information on the common factors in relation to all these “accidents “

I agree but i am impressed at the condition of the van as we have seen other reduced to a flat pack just for laying on its side. Could be that the car is a bit lite for the size of the van.

Ford Everest. 2 tonne tow with ESC

Correction to previous comment. ….Everest is 3 tonne tow

Everest 3000kg towing capacity

3.2 ton charlie

One thing that is often not known or understood is that the electric brake controller can be pressed to bring on the caravan’s brakes. Sometimes the accidents are caused or added to the caravan trying to “overtake” the towing vehicle. If the brakes are applied on the caravan it will correct the van. Unfortunately, often people apply the towing vehicle brakes which is more likely to increase the problem and likelihood of an accident. In different countries it is a requirement to have a license to tow anything big enough to require brakes. Often, not always, but often, driver experience/knowledge could prevent these accidents.

Yes I agree

For some reason, the Bruce highway is a bad one for caravan incidents and roll overs. I can’t help but wonder how many of these accidents are speed related? Not saying they’re exceeding the speed limit… Simply trying to travel too fast while towing.. That and poor loading/weight distribution seem to be the common denominators. Along with drivers not knowing how to handle a swaying caravan or trailer.

The reflections on does accidents repeat themself to often. I am sure that there are an other 1000 reasons for it.

First glance at picture appears to be a bit of a mismatch between van size and towing vehicle . Immediately prior to roll overs vans often develope the sway which gets progressively worse until the flip. Reaction braking can only accelerate the issue. Drivers need to practice applying their van brakes manually as soon as the ‘ sway’ happens. This action if activated early enough will quickly straighten out the connection. Poor weight distribution in van will also esasberate the problem.

Vehicle manufactures have to reconsider their towing weights.
It would also be prudent given the cost of new vans all should be supplied with individual wieght certification and not just generic plates.

It’s cause the caravans aren’t loaded properly,To much weight at the back of the caravan will make unstable.

It never ceases to amaze me that most caravaners never question the speed. Its just a blind acceptance that doing 100 k is fine . It has to change

Well said John….

Hi John we got abused by a truckie today on the Bruce Hwy .we were doing 85-90klm the roads are so bumpy & traffic had built up due to the road works ,that didn’t help either. My husband is always pulling over to let traffic go but its very hard when there are NO places to pull over we can only do our best. I understand they’re on a time frame but our lives are come 1st .The pressure from truckies doesn’t help

Yes unfortunately there are drivers of all types of vehicles on our roads who are like “your abusive truckie”.. I’ll do my best when towing to allow those wishing to travel faster than I do to pass when it is safe (usually max 80 kph being a single axle/ max. speed to the road conditions) by activating my offside blinker and I usually get the appreciative ” blinkers response after they have safely passed Also I use my HF radio to let those wanting to pass to let me know when they have enough “passing” speed and distance to pass. ALSO I would like to say that when travelling in a group, stay at least a kilometre distance from the vehicle in front, so that the road trains and heavy trucks get enough “room” to pass. TOO often I see 2 – 6 “grey nomads” and their vans ” up each others bums”, giving no chance for the “long & heavies” to pass on 2 lane highways

Today heading east from Uluru only twice today did we see vans with a respectable space between them, What is wrong with the rest no more than 2 car lengths between them, are they frightened of getting lost or do they all have a mutuant gene and shouldn’t be allowed to breed?

I was the driver, we were in a 100zone travelling at mid 80.

The towing capacity of the tow vehie is only part of the equation. It used to be an accepted guideline that the trailer should weigh no more than 3/4 of the GVM of the tow vehicle. That’s been thrown out the window with the introduction of the larger vans

GVM…. Not the one to worry about, it is GCM of vehicle that most exceed

Absolutely right. The new problem is the consistent promotion of towing capacity for Utes ( in particular)
The first and critical number IMO is the GCM of the tow vehicle.
Subtract from that the ATM (assumed to not to have been exceeded) for the towed vehicle and that leaves you with the “adjusted” GVM which must then include the kerb mass, passenger mass, luggage mass AND the TBM (tow ball mass, generally accepted to be 10% of the ATM)
Do the numbers for some of the popular SUV’s and they simply cannot comply for the towing masses promoted. The 10% TBM then can be easily exceeded by poor loading of the towed vehicle.

I agree with the comments in regard to the investigations. We need to KNOW WHAT THE RESULTS of the investigations are. Then we will be able to attempt to fix the problem. Insurance companies would have access to this information but they wont do anything about it other than to raise premiums.

Maximum speed when towing a van should be 95km.

We travel at 104 kph any more and you get a sway up my fuel gets guzzled a little quicker. My speed reduces when the condition of the road gets a bit ordinary or there if there winding hilly conditions

I tow with a manual diesel Nissan Patrol. 85km is fast enough. Truckies do not own the road – most are friendly.

Speed has to be a large factor. I tow around 80/ 90 depending on road and a lot of vans just fly past irrespective. Have to be right on the limit if not over.

Totally agree with Ken speed and loading is big factors.. My husband an I are currently on the road last 9 weeks and have seen that many van wrongly loaded all the weight in the back , and for speed we sit between 85 -90 kmh or depending on road conditions we have seen some ridiculous speeds withcvans. The big vans being towed with Hyundais rvs or similar.. This should be illegal to tow with anything under 3 Ton tow. And speed no more than 90 kmh .

It’s all these new vans with low ball weight and,high centre of gravity.
They put esc on a lot now to compensate.just saying.

It’s a lot of factors that contribute towards a roll over.
Understanding when to reduce speed for road and weather conditions is a major issue.
There are roads that are fine at 100kph if the weather is good and the rig is loaded correctly and then there are others that are not safe at 50kph with a large van on the back.
It’s being bright enough and experienced enough to recognise this and your own abilities and adjust accordingly.
Unfortunately there are an awful lot of what I call spacers out there, just filling the space between the wheel and the seat, and they are not all towing vans either.

Unfortunately,we do not see what the driver is doing.We only see the rear of the caravan swerving.Maybe it is not the van size or car.

Why do you all assume that any of your opinions were a factor in this, whatever the reason let’s just hope they are ok and don’t have to put up with some over opinioned experts! This can happen for many reasons!

Ah, someone who doesnt think they are an expert on these matters and needs to comment on the accident without any idea of what actually happened! How refreshing.

It is becoming more common in EU & UK for vans to be fitted with electronic stability control. Watching the promo video convinced a friend of mine to purchase a Swift(UK built) van.

Has any body heard of esc? It can be retro fitted to older Van’s as well as ordered on brand new Van’s I’ve been in the caravan industry for 12years and fitted many an esc unit to all brands of van, it’s also a lot cheaper and easier than the hassle of replacing your van and car plus destroyed belongings plus the ruined holiday of it happens at the start of your trip, small price to pay for safety

Hi Adam.
I am planning to go on a trip soon.Can you please tell me what esc is.

Hi Anna esc stands for electronic stability control which when fitted to your caravan it will automatically apply the caravans electric brakes to pull the caravan back into alignment with the tow vehicle without applying the tow vehicle brakes there is a video on you tube made by Dexter trailers it shows how the esc pulls the trailer into line even with very aggressive driving I recommend watching this video you will see the difference it makes

That particular stretch of road has a major accident (involving all sorts of vehicles) on average once a week. I live in the area and it’s been a problem for years. Many people drive most of their lives in major urban areas, and have never been taught how to negotiate a less than perfect country highway at 100 kph. The road after Gympie goes from 110kph smooth divided freeway to the “old” Bruce highway – hills, corners narrower bridges, bumps and limited overtaking opportunities. Throw in the factor of not being used to sitting behind the wheel at highway speeds for hours on end. Also never taught to overtake on a 2 lane highway. I tow at 90 kph and slow down at overtaking lanes to let traffic passed. Yes, remember to CONSCIOUSLY slow down, not speed up as many unwittingly do because the road has suddenly widened. Please just drive to the conditions.

In reply to the commment above by J…

People are invited to make a comment about the subject heading and photo.
With that comes peoples replys, ideas, awareness, assumptions and as well helpful hints for all of out there on the road travelling this great country.

Its a free and open site for comment, feedback and opinion. If dosnt mean you have to agree….. but its helpful not to criticise.

It’s all very easy to blame the poor fellow or some times the lady driving the towing vehicle but as a Queenslander I will put in my tww bobs worth. The overtaking lanes are too few anf far too short to allow any more than one or two backed up vehicle to pass safely. They need to be at least three kilometers long to ease this problem and frustration of backed up vehicles. Caraveners are very considerate drivers but there are those that are wanting to overtake them that will prevent them from merging back onto the single lane at the end of the overtaking lanes. This is a major problem and concern for all caraveners. Queensland has very few Rest Areas compared to other states as well and this needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Happy travelling … John White

Google “bruce highway caravan” There must be a problem with the highway around the Sunshine Coast area. Message – slow down and drive defensively.

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