Apparently, 90% of caravans are overloaded in QLD.
New Caravan owners also don’t know how to tow.
I’m not one for unnecessary legislation, but at some point, we have to ensure that people appreciate that they are in control of 7 tonnes of moving vehicle.
I think that classes of heavy vehicle licence should be introduced; Light Combination and Medium Combination.
Light Combination would include using anything outside the factory dimensions of the vehicle; bike racks, roof racks, unbraked trailers.
Medium Combination would include anything requiring electric brakes.
The problem is that caravan/trailer manufacturers would be very unhappy about these restrictions to their customer-base.
https://www.qld.gov.au/transport/licensing/driver-licensing/types
https://www.mylicence.sa.gov.au/my-heavy-vehicle-licence
https://www.transport.wa.gov.au/licensing/upgrade-add-a-licence.asp
bike racks, roof racks
Eh, I wouldn’t be supportive of this.
I’ll admit I’ve never actually driven with either, but because they don’t have their own separate contact with the ground, and the added weight is extremely low (less than the weight of a child), it doesn’t require any extra knowledge to be able to actually drive it safely. So there’s no case to be made for requiring additional training and licensing.
I have seen plenty of clueless drivers with roof racks, awnings, roof-top-tents, etc. who are not qualified to drive with these additions.
Customers smash sunroofs, drive into underground car parks, mount 120kg roof-top-tents on vehicles with a 50kg maximum dynamic roof load.
There are even hard-core off-roaders who don’t understand that when a vehicle is driving on uneven terrain, that you can’t carry the same roof load as on flat paved roads.
Other people carry 130kg dirt bikes on hitch bicycle trays on towbars with a 75kg ball weight.
There needs to be a minimum level of training for people to carry anything outside the footprint of their vehicle. GVMs need to be included in basic driver training.
If you can’t understand the Mechanics of why all of the cases I have described are bad, you are in the class of people who need more training.
There has to be a minimum level of training in order for anything outside the standard footprint of the vehicle.
