TOW IN THE KNOW
Every year in Australia, more than half a million caravans hit the road. Some are fresh off the production line, pulled by drivers with very little towing experience, many weigh upwards of 3t, and all can be towed across the country without any additional driver licensing or training requirements. This is despite some rigs having a mass and bulk more akin to a truck than a recreational vehicle.
“Many people find out the hard way that they really didn’t know what they were doing, or that towing something is very different to just driving the car"
Towing is a learned skill. A caravan behaves very differently on the road to an uncoupled vehicle. At the lower end of the safety spectrum, drivers need to know how to negotiate a turn without clipping the curve. At the pointy end, they must understand how to avoid being sucked into the side of a passing road train.
“Many people find out the hard way that they really didn’t know what they were doing or that towing something is very different to just driving the car,” said Julie Eggenhuizen, director).
