If grey nomads ever needed a reminder about the dangers of driving an overloaded caravan, then a recently concluded court case in Tamworth certainly gave it to them.
The Northern Daily Leader reports that a jury there took less than an hour to find Stephen George Russell guilty of driving dangerously by towing a grossly overloaded caravan when a horror highway crash killed his wife and stepson in 2019.
The details of the crash were revealed in an almost three-week trial in Tamworth District Court, which ended on March 14.
The Northern Daily Leader reports that the trial heard Russell had stuffed the caravan with possessions like a freezer, barbecue, photo albums and linen when his family went to relocate from Tamworth to the coast on January 3, 2019.
The court was told the caravan was more than 800kg heavier than its maximum weight when Russell got behind the wheel of a Toyota Prado and towed it along the Oxley Highway.
According to the Leader, Russell began a descent about 40 kilometres past Walcha that afternoon but, when he tried to slow down, the caravan swayed uncontrollably, jack-knifed and the Prado slammed into a tree.
Lynette Russell, 72, and her son, Stephen, 38, were killed. A third passenger was left with serious injuries.
The Crown case was that Russell essentially used the caravan as a moving trailer, an allegation he denied in court.
However, a jury of 11 found Russell guilty of two counts of dangerous driving causing death, and one count of causing grievous bodily harm. He was found not guilty of intending to pervert the course of justice.
The Leader reports that Judge Deborah Payne thanked the jury for their diligence under difficult circumstances.
Russell is on bail and will be sentenced in May.
This is a very tragic reminder to all of us, people be very aware that caravan makers put the axle to the rear of the centre of the caravan and then put two 8.5 kg gas bottles,1 or 2 batteries in the front boot and 1 or 2 water tanks in front of these axles, then you could have a bed, fridge,air conditioner,stove which all could put a lot of weight on your tow ball. So who in australia controls this problem ?. I also believe we should have some sort of caravan handling licence system.
I believe the manufacturers do make caravans that are properly weighted.
And then, the owners get hold of them and the accidents happen.
not necessarily the owners…..The Dealers as well….When I ordered my new van I asked for an extra battery, grey water storage so I could be self contained, slide out bbq in the front boot & a few internal additions, which were all done by the selling dealer so the factory had no idea these were additions..Pick up my brand new van and the compliance plate weights no longer match what I just took out onto the road & my ball weight was over the manufacturers recommended limit……I was illegal the day I drove out of the yard with a $68,000.00 van but didn’t know it until I got educated. Still,..with full water tanks and just the basic clothes, food, drinks, chairs etc on board…..I am not legal……unless I want to pay even more money to an “engineer” to re-certify it as safe……the system sucks.
Some thing you will never see at a caravan show is a new van fitted with all the new fangle must haves sitting on scales under each wheel and tow hitch, The compliance plate is a legal requirement in all states and must match the van it’s fitted to , just getting the weights right over the axels and tow ball is only half the problem it can still be illegal, the weights also need to be balanced on both the left and right sides of the van, try getting away with loading a truck with too much of the load weight on one side even if the load is within or under the legal loaded weight of the truck.
It’s My opinion that if caravans were randomly required to pull in to truck safety stations for log book ,weight and safety checks the caravan industry wouldn’t be able to get away with this type of deception, and those that are over loaded or have defects
get put off the road or fined or both. Just for the Gathering of statistics it would be an invaluable asset towards road safety and more than likely self funding with fines and penalties.
Your not wrong. I dont believe any built in VIC get inspected prior to first rego. Its just a phone call and numbers off the plate and rough weights are used, only they say when giving weights “The Weigh Bridge Certificate” says ,,,,,,
I was there, I seen it with my own eyes
Spot on ,dead right.
Think would have made 2 trips ?
better safe than sorry.
Bit late now.
I am surprised these extras were not fitted at the factory as I believe this extra weight would have/should have been included on the compliance plate. A reputable manufacturer would ensure this extra weight, if acceptable, would suit the chassis or had it reworked to allow this ( possibly at extra cost).
About nine years ago I ordered my first caravan. The dealership in Perth had a standard order with the factory that all its vans came with ESC, two AGM batteries and a larger fridge, which was obviously reflected in the price. I checked with the manufacturer who confirmed these extra items were all included on the compliance plate. They said the second last thing they do in the production process is weigh the van with empty water tanks and gas bottles (hot water tank full for testing) and then the last thing is to stamp and fix the compliance plate.
In saying this I have come across the odd person who claims their compliance plate is not a true reflection of the van weight coming out of the factory?
Buyer beware – maybe we should all insist the dealer takes the new empty van over a weigh bridge , preferably in your presence, and produce a valid certificate, before money is handed over and it is transferred to you.
You should have had a weighbridge cert and checked it against the stated TARE weight before taking delivery of the new van. You are correct, education before the purchase is crucial.
Sorry, I believe you maybe incorrect in your Statement that Manufacturers make Caravans properly weighted. I’m hard pressed to find many Owners whose data plate has been proven to be correct, with a great number grossly understated much to the dismay of these Owners. I’ve been on the Trail for fifteen years..
There are too many incidents of new vans being weighed and being found not compliant with the stated TARE WEIGHT.
A signed Statutory Declaration shoild come with sale of new vans, what happens post that time cannot be controlled.
Very True Brian, we just had weight check come to our home to weigh our single axle van , with full water tanks, all clothes and food , bbq, gen stand anti flap kits.
This was a wake up call.
ATM for the van is 2800 kg
Ball weight was 30 kg over and atm was over by 100 kg, car was under by 460 kg.
So now need some culling and redistribution to take place.
Glad we has the weighing done , towing the van behaved well, but stopping at short notice may have been different outcome.
Me too – On my return from an 8 week trip, before unloading I thought to put the loaded combination over the weighbridge and was gobsmacked to find that my towball weight was almost double what it should be (I have a european tow vehicle which have much lower towball weight allowances) and my atm was also over by about 30kg. When I read about the various inclusions and modifications other people are making to the same van/layout – I wonder how on earth its possible without exceeding the weight limits !
Same here Ray. We had the van weighed at home, fully loaded, before heading off on an extended trip. Tested our commercially bought ball scale and found it to be under by 30Kg. The man had some minor tips on weight distribution which proved effective. Not something that you need to have done every time because after having it done you should have a pretty fair idea on how to load things, however it was the best $350 we spent.
I’ve never seen a caravan manufacturer come out and personally stuff your caravan with one tonne of unnecessary junk. Also additional weight on the towball is usually a good thing, the most problems are caused by people loading rear of the axles and not forward of the axles.
Caravan and car trailers should require lessons and a licence.
Incorrect loading is even more dangerous than excess weight.
Unfortunately lessons and licenses do not stop some people doing the wrong thing. So for a miniscule number of non conforming drivers, the majority (high 90%) have to pay. I don’t think this would do anything to reduce the current outcome at all. Just my opinion.
If you want to drive a vehicle over 4.5 t, you are required to upgrade your license. My Car and Van Gross Combined Mass is allowed to be 6.8t, and often isn’t far off it.
I came across this accident. Memories that I cannot forget, and at the time, I was in an Emergency Service organisation and had attended some horrific accidents. This one stands out still. I was on my pushy with the dog in tow, so really couldn’t get involved, other than to do traffic management.
How often do we see permanent roadside weighbridges “CLOSED”.
Some of these weighbridges (out in the centre)allow anyone to drive onto the scales with their various axle weights on display through a window, when the weighbridge is not manned.
I’ve written to authorities to make such changes but received no reply.
Maybe GNT could lobby them for safety’s sake.
We need to know where these weighbridges are. Someone should publish a list. Maybe more would get added. What a great idea to let us get weighed.
This sort of deception stems from an industry that is self regulated, they are pulling the wool over your eyes, weighing a caravan dry is a joke with empty water tanks and gas bottles, never mind batteries or solar panels , two gas bottles full18kg, a 60l water tank 60kgs full, 2 60l water tanks 120kgs then a waste water tank half full and the list goes on,
Who takes a caravan on a trip with empty gas and water tanks? and where is most of the weight , 18kgs extra on the towing hitch on an already understated tow ball weight being just as critical as the correct tyre pressures and tyre loadings.
The truck checking stations cleaned up the self regulated transport industry, like I said earlier in this post Data gathered at checking stations fines imposed for over loaded rigs being put off the road with general safety checks would be self funding with fines for false
data on Compliance plates, any business that is self regulated is open to corruption or deception and this thread proves how rife it actually is.
I am new to this lifestyle and a first time tower, I did do a tow course and have been on the road from Brisbane to Darwin and then down to Perth. I decided to check my weight wanting to be safe and legal and was told i was 300kg overweight, with full water tanks. I could put 128 kg in the tow vehicle but still had to get rid of 200kg of STUFF this was a wake up call as I now realise that I have travelled all this distance overweight. I still have to loose another 50kg and cant see where I can do that. Now that everything is out of the front boots will i be to light in the front of the van. Thank you TGN i have learnt a lot from reading your publication and the advice from seasoned travellers.
Hi,
What sort of payload were you allowed to put in the caravan?
drdos7
How can this turn into a discussion on caravan building??? Or ball weight? Or even towing training?
The guy was an idiot!
I feel sorry for him, he lost his wife & son.
Probably enough punishment, lucky he didn’t kill some other motorists.