Wind gusts from a passing truck are believed to have potentially played a big part in a terrifying caravan rollover in Queensland.
The Cairns Post reports that a heavy vehicle heading towards the caravan may have caused it to shake uncontrollably before swerving off the road in the state’s far north.
The caravan and the bronze Isuzu towing it were left upside down and badly damaged following the incident last Thursday on the Mulligan Highway.
Inside the Isuzu when it went over about six kilometres north of Lakeland were two grandparents and a four-year-old child.
The three were examined at the Cooktown Hospital and, miraculously, none of them were injured.
Emergency services attended the scene of the accident. PIC: Queensland Police
The child’s parents had been travelling in a separate vehicle, and had watched in horror as the van went over.
Mum, Caitlin Green, told the Cairns Post of the awful moment when she thought she may have lost her family.
“I jumped out of the car before hubby had stopped it and fully ran to the car yelling for my daughter,” she said. “Once I knew she was okay, I turned my attention to my parents.”
The family was reportedly on a three-week holiday to Cooktown and had just stopped at the Lakeland Roadhouse for lunch before the incident.
Ms Green tod the Cairns Post that she owed a debt of gratitude to the many people who stopped to assist.
“We wanted to thank people involved and anyone who helped out and stopped to check everyone was okay,” she said.
Glad everyone is OK
Wait for it – a mandatory towing license would have prevented that. Sometimes stuff happens and no amout of regulation or experience will prevent it.
And if the tow vehicle was heavier than the caravan, correctly loaded and well balanced, it is unlikely that it would have fallen over.
“Tail wagging the Dog” comes to mind.
Common sense and a basic understanding of physics shows that it is critical that the weight on the wheels of the car should be at least 10% greater than the weight on the wheels of the van if safety is of any concern.
Fact.
And lack of towing experience is another major contributing factor.
Regularly we see Ma and Pa Kettle, who have never driven anything bigger than a Corolla, buy the big 4wd and oversized van, pack it up to the hilt with stuff they don’t really need, and set out on the Big Lap.
They then wonder why their car and van falls over. Derrr
This often ends in tears because they have no idea how to prevent or control yaw, a major cause of towing accidents.
Despite regularly passing and being overtaken by Quads, Roadtrains with 4 trailers, my 6 metre caravan never moves off line because it is loaded correctly. Simple stuff really.