Should caravan owners undergo compulsory towing education?

[mikeg]

Maybe the other alternative is to introduce something like the old system of licensing where in the days of yore (remember the old paper licenses?) when if you wanted to drive a vehicle over 2 tons then a Class C (truck license) was required and when driving a vehicle weighing 2 tons or more and towing a trailer with more than one axle then a semi trailer license was needed. There must have been good reasons for those rules back then and I sometimes wonder why the rules were changed, maybe it's because most Toorak tractors are over 2 tons these days and their owners had a lot of pull with the law makers and didn't want to have to get a truck license. Food for thought.

[Mrbolly]

It seems almost all recognise that putting an inexperienced driver into a large vehicle towing a lerge caravan is not the best outcome for anyone, the driver and his/her passengers, other drivers and pedestrians. That said, the problem becomes one of managing a change and what would be the aims and Co tent required for upgrading caravan drivers to give them knowledge and some skills. The thresholds at which drivers education and qualification then becomes the moot point around which many would argue.
For mine, I would think a single axle trailer/caravan would not require additional qualification. The logic being that axle weights etc. will limit the size of van/Trailer that may be towed. Stepping up to a dual axle van has reasonable parallels to moving between an HR licence to a semi with HC.
I believe a knowledge base test which should nclude loading and stability, load security, axle and tow ball weights and certain driving behaviours and on-road courtesy. Followed by a vehicle control practical test including the ability to reverse a van into a nominated space. All of this has parallels to truck licensing and would prevent a lot, not all, but a lot of accidents.

[native pepper]

Should be a real test course for all driving licences, where they are subjected to as many of the scenarios they may come across when driving and towing. Most accidents are caused by inattention, inexperience of certain situations and the resulting panic.

Probably should be a different licence for some driving in cities and rural, they are very different scenario''s. Especially for all the women driving their kids to school or work on their phones, eating, drinking and putting on makeup as they fly down the road at 90-100kph

I drove round paddocks, dirt roads and bush race tracks, had to drive along and put the left hand front wheel between 2 matchboxes on the ground at 20kph 1 inch wider than the wheel, before was allowed to get on the road and had been race driving go karts and stock cars for a couple of years. That was to teach me to know where my left hand wheel was at all times, made a huge difference over the years getting me out of trouble.

Same for heavy rigs, semi and trains, had to learn every trick and take empty trucks along some dicey local roads and pickup places. Found it easier to handle a full rig with a pig on the back, than empty rigs which tend to roll around the road a lot more. One place had a long narrow lane way with a slight bend and the only way to get to the loading bay was to back a 2 trailer rig up it, took me many goes to get it right, much to the amusement of everyone around.

First tried with 3 trailers, got so jammed up had to pull them out one at a time, that's when they informed me no one had been able to back 3 trailers up the lane ever, laughing their heads off. So dropped 2 trailers off, backed one up so they could load it and then mucked around getting the other 2 up connected, as they claimed it could be done. Finally did it and the next day the boss sent me out alone for the first time.

[T1 Terry]

It seems almost all recognise that putting an inexperienced driver into a large vehicle towing a lerge caravan is not the best outcome for anyone, the driver and his/her passengers, other drivers and pedestrians. That said, the problem becomes one of managing a change and what would be the aims and Co tent required for upgrading caravan drivers to give them knowledge and some skills. The thresholds at which drivers education and qualification then becomes the moot point around which many would argue.
For mine, I would think a single axle trailer/caravan would not require additional qualification. The logic being that axle weights etc. will limit the size of van/Trailer that may be towed. Stepping up to a dual axle van has reasonable parallels to moving between an HR licence to a semi with HC.
I believe a knowledge base test which should nclude loading and stability, load security, axle and tow ball weights and certain driving behaviours and on-road courtesy. Followed by a vehicle control practical test including the ability to reverse a van into a nominated space. All of this has parallels to truck licensing and would prevent a lot, not all, but a lot of accidents.

Maybe a better division would be the requirement for brakes on the trailer, if it is heavy enough to need brakes the driver need a licence to drive a combination of that weight class, light combination for single over ride brakes, medium combination for a trailer that has brakes that can be operated independently by the driver, a heavy combination would be where the tow vehicle requires a licence higher than a car licence and the trailer has brakes that can be operator applied or adjusted independent to the tow vehicles brakes. The combination class now replaces the old semi licence to cater for rigid trucks towing pig or dog trailers and I can't see a lot of difference between them and some of the heavier tow vehicle and caravan combinations on the road these days.

T1 Terry

[Mrbolly]

That sounds reasonable Terry, a driver also managing brakes certainly adds another dimension to the towing paradigm

[Mrbolly]

I hope this works, here is a video clip taken as a car and caravan round up a B Double

http://www.youtube-video.info/watch/G_mYqCaaBdU

Sorry the previous link came to nought, but this YouTube video is the same incident.

[Dot]

Page not found is what I got.

[Busman]

It will be buried in the monthly compilations no doubt, maybe Alan would be so kind as to tell us which month ?

[Mrbolly]

This is the video clip I tried posting earlier, I found it on YouTube

http://www.youtube-video.info/watch/G_mYqCaaBdU

[T1 Terry]

This is the video clip I tried posting earlier, I found it on YouTube

http://www.youtube-video.info/watch/G_mYqCaaBdU

The same driver training a truck combination driver receives may well have resulted differently. The car/caravan combination has a trailer manual brake apply the same as a truck/trailer combination, it appears in this instance the car/caravan driver did not have the instinctive knowledge on how to remain in control