Caravan crash in WA
Submitted: Thursday, Jun 01, 2006 at 22:32
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V8Diesel
Just drove past a nasty van crash this arvo between
Badgingarra and
Eneabba. A new gold coloured Jeep Cherokee Sports and what was left of a brand spanking caravan upside down and very written off lying in the middle of the road. The skid marks showed it got out of control around a downhill bend and went from one shoulder to the other quite a few times before flipping. Scary stuff. Cops and distressed friends in attendance. I was waved on by a cop and didn't want to rubberneck so that's about all I can tell you. Hope they are all OK.
Please be careful out there folks and if you tow, take it seriously. Mightn't be popular here, but I think you should have an endorsement on your MDL to tow anything. This huge van towed by tiny vehicle fad worries me too.
Glad I stopped for lunch in
Geraldton on the way down. Without that 20 minute break, my trip may
well have turned out very differently.
Reply By: traveller2 - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 08:10
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 08:10
Reminds me of the time we came across a caravan towed by a Magna (front wheel drive) just west of
Fitzroy Crossing on the way to
Derby. The driver had dropped the LH wheels into the dirt when faced with a 3 trailer roadtrain coming from the opposite direction, then lost it, the truckie pulled to the left off the road in attempt to miss them, the whole rig ended up on its side 50 yards off the road with the car and van underneath. Somehow the people in the car survived but it was about a foot high. The truckie was very bleep off to say the least.
Why aren't people towing vans required to have the same licence qualifications as heavy vehicle drivers?
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176270
Reply By: Willem - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 09:32
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 09:32
Yep crashes happen
A certain percentage of us will be involved in a road crash sometime. Thats life.
Licences for towing? Hmm......
Must I have one for the 6x4 as
well?
Will this stop people towing vans at 110kmh?
Will this stop people from loading vans incorrectly?
Will this stop people from overloading vans?
Will this stop people from towing large vans with small vehicles?
Will this stop the towing nomads from driving close together?
Will this stop people from using common sense?
I doubt it.
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Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 09:55
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 09:55
Valid point (unfortunately).
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Follow Up By: seqfisho - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 10:39
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 10:39
I'm with you Willem
A license and posted speed limits doesnt mean that everyone is still capable
You cant legistate for common sense
Some have got it and others
well...........
The
Darwin theory
Glen
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Peter - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 20:20
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 20:20
Bit concerned when we start calling for special licences. When Scruby mentioned this for 4wds there was all sorts of outcries. Where would we draw the line? Would you need a special licence if your van exceeded 12' for example? What would the appropriate size be? Many
well setup camper trailers would weigh as much, or more, than smaller vans such as a Reo. What about people who load their 6x4 trailer up with rocks or sand/soil? It's possible to get a licence in a 2 door coupe and then sell that and hop into a people mover carrying 8 people with no extra training or restrictions.
Only a couple of caravan mishaps have been reported here. So far this year the Fire Service in
Brisbane has responded to in excess of 5000 motor vehicle accidents (I work for QFRS). To my knowledge none of those accidents involved caravans. Why then if there are only a few caravan incidents do we ignore all these other accidents and mention the odd ones? Maybe 'normal' drivers need better licencing regulation?
Yes I do tow a caravan. I'm in the process of upgrading from a 15' to a 21'6" van. Having driven trucks with trailers in the Army I'm aware of the differences in vehicle handling etc. When travelling with the new van I probably won't be sitting on 100kmh a lot of the time. I will drive to the conditions, no doubt because of that I will be accused of causing traffic chaos and driving a '
road block'. So be it, I would rather arrive alive than not at all
Peter
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Reply By: Scubaroo - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 09:38
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 09:38
Saw a Jeep Grand Cherokee and 20+ foot caravan in an accident in California on a steep winding descent - came across the accident maybe 2-3 minutes after it had happened - about five other vehicles had stopped to offer assistance, and the family of four were still sitting in the Jeep looking VERY shocked. What was left of the caravan was upside down and flattened, but the Jeep had done a complete rollover judging by the side and roof damage - but was back upright.
The impressive thing about the accident was that the Jeep was an obvious rightoff after the rollover - but the passenger cell was totally intact and still "straight" - everyone was still in their
seat wearing their seatbelts with dazed looks on their faces. Have seen plenty of pictures of other 4WDs where the roof has been flattened to to tops of the drivers seats in rollovers.
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Follow Up By: seqfisho - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 10:41
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 10:41
Still something to be said about older technology and lots of steel
Glen.
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Follow Up By: Member - ROTORD - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 11:46
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 11:46
and cargo barriers which perform like roll cages
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Reply By: Motherhen - Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 15:20
Friday, Jun 02, 2006 at 15:20
Common sense - yes, that reminds me of an accident a few years ago. We saw remains of a caravan on the road near our south coast property - it happened on a very windy day, when going across a bit of a valley; the caravan had just blown over. Some eastern stater's dream was bleep tered, and the local shire ending up by burning the wreckage so passer bys wouldn't think it a new accident as cars stopping was adding to the traffic
hazard. I don't think bad driving played a part - just perhaps they should have had the common sense to park for a day or two instead of driving in severe winds. I don't know what sort of caravan it was - i saw it after it was burnt and pushed right off the road, and feeling for the owners, didn't want to take a closer look.
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