Safe Speed Forums

Now winter is with us, we are spared (here in Cumbria anyway) the usual excess of caravans on the roads.

Caravans! What is the point?
You pay a fortune to buy them, tow them (excess fuel), site them, and have little privacy through the paper thin sides, and it takes a lot longer to get where you intend staying!
For the same amount of money you could stay in a really good guesthouse two or three times a year, and drive a reasonable sporty saloon, instead of a Citroen, or Volvo!

Cooking on a gas stove means always ensuring you have enough gas - even if the bottle you are on is nearly empty. You have to fill up with water, and empty the chemical toilet (or trudge through the rain to the toilet block!)
Finally you spend every day checking it has not been stolen off your drive by somebody equally as sad, but less inclined to spend THEIR own money on a caravan of their own!!
Some caravans are a liability, spending too much time on the drive, and not being MOT'd as your car would be.

Tax (same rate as articulated lorries) and MOT's on caravans as soon as possible would go someway to easing the pain of being stuck behind one from Skipton to Kendal please, and thank heavens for BRAINIAC, for the statement: "You can never blow up enough caravans!"

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

OK, I can feel a tirade coming your way from the caravan fraternity, perhaps thats why you posted it . Perhaps this would have been better off in't soabox lad

With low cost airfares and cheap package holidays to sunnier places I can't see the attraction of spending 6 hours on the M6 only to sit in a field while it rains. But if that's what floats your boat then who are we to argue? Then again, we don't have such a caravan pilgrimage to Burnley, so it's ok for me.

Hanging baskets. What's the point?

Personally I wouldn't choose to tow a shed on wheels the average 35 miles which caravanners travel (according to practical caravan magazine a few years back). And having borrowed one for a few days this "summer" I think a tent is more practical.

But.

Everyone is different, as far as I am concerned caravans don't cause any more problems on the roads (even in Cumbria) than the usual tourist who wants to see the scenery without stepping out of his or her car.

So. Live and let live.

They do require a little more space to pass safely - and some are too impatient to wait.
However, in my post I mentioned the lack of maintenance.
Last year when I went to France, I saw two caravans on the road, who had lost wheels!! I cannot remember when I last saw a car with a missing wheel, although I am sure they occur!
And surely you must have all seen drivers towing who could really do to take a test with their rig!
I used to live and work on a caravan site - so I know what to expect having seen such a concentration of poor driving skills!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Ernest - "You can never blow up enough caravans!"
Myself , prefer to see the caravan on it's roof.
Seriuosly
Would be interesting to see how many accidents are caravan related - poor driving by caravaneer, poor maintenance of caraven, and low speed of those forced to follow for miles on, causing degradation of attention span.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I have often wondered. Und camping as well. You read a certain cycling forum und ist all about transport tent on bicycles und camping in wild ...

Cannot see the pleasure ...as you say cooking on tiny gas stove, sleeping bag (insects if camp site ... ), trudge in wet to loo, emptying chemical loo und finding somewhere to empty it... und the matter of storing caravan or tents.....

Am cat of creature comforts und if Ted does not provide me with hotel with en-suite, mini-bar, room service with all other luxuries ...ist war

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Greatest love & Greatest Achievements Require Greatest Risk
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Me?
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There's nothing wrong with caravans. They're lovely provided you get room service, a decent restaurant, shoes shined when you leave them outside the door, a nice bar, half a chance of a nice view and so on. Okay, in other words I'd rather spend my time and money on a hotel and feel like I'm on holiday rather than in purgatory. I've been on a caravanning holiday and the best thing I can say about it is that it was more fun than being hospitalised. However it was less enjoyable than any other holiday I've been on including Butlins in the 70s.

Still, horses for courses and all of that. I can't understand the appeal of soccer or soaps either, and I'm fairly sure I'm in the minority there. I'm equally sure that I'll never get on a bicycle without wishing I wasn't, but there's plenty of cyclists on these forums who'll tell me how much they enjoy cycling and that if nothing else the exercise would do me good. Fair play to all of them, and that goes for caravanners too. And I can hardly have a pop at the practicalities when the same can be said of my car and its vestigial boot, its 2+2 seating (or about 3 and 3/8 in real terms), its mediocre fuel economy etc etc. Besides, I like boating holidays and a boat might as well be a caravan that floats.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Very true. I'm sure some people would question the fun in driving 1000 miles to the south of France in a 24 year old car when it's cheaper to fly. My girlfriend was one of them.

Boats are different - you can steer them and tinker with the engine

Caravans - Just hold you up!

As Wildy has already said - her ideas of a holiday is to be pampered in 4/5 star fashion No camping in wild or towing a caravan - though we did once. Shudder! Never again. It rained all the time and she hated the claustrophobic atmosphere.

As for taking a 24 year old car (or any car) to South of France.or wherevver ... it;'s the thrill of the drive and freedom of stopping off and exploring an interesting looking road or sounding place.

And we've hired bikes to do a slow leisurely amble as well.

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safespeed prospers-smiles all round! !
But the real message? SMILE.. GO ON ! DO IT! and the world will smile with you!
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When you have her saying "if I'm not on that beach on Sunday theres going to be trouble" there's absolutely no pressure either!

She did admit that it was quite fun in the end - especially when a French guy came running out of his shop congratulating us on having a "wonderful car".

Definately agree that caravans, and indeed ALL trailers should have to be MOTd anually and have the certificate displayed on the vehicle. As for tax, I'm not so sure on this one. As for tax, artic trailers don't have to be taxed, so you couldn't extend that to caravans.

As for caravans on the road from Skipton to Kendel? AARRGG!! The road isn't straight enough to overtake anything much, let alone a caravan.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

Are Artic.s not taxed higher than rigids? They used to be at one time, as the firm my dad worked for insisted on buying a rigid that could'nt be manouvered in the yard!!
Next time they got it right, and bought a rig which was too big for the yard! Not sure if they are still in business!

I've been trying to find a link for BRAINIAC, or a suitable image - but have failed, other than a shot of a caravan suspended from a crane, prior to being dropped onto a radio cassette player. Dont ask!!!!


They also featured an "Explosive of the week" which was detonated by this bevy of scantily clad women...

...honest - it's NOT just an excuse for gratuitous display of flesh!!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Not more than some of the 20mph weavers I have followed through the lakes on a summers day. You never know what bit of the road they want to be on while they franticly grapple with camera and map.

Ernest - the taxation lass is based on the 'revenue weight' and the number of axles. A 44 tonne rigid with 4 or more axles and a 3 axle tractor unit with a 3 axle semi-trailer rated to 44 tonne are both £1200 for 12 months. Its rather complicated actually - have a look here right at the bottom of the page.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

We have a new hazard now too - drivers with SAT nav syastems or Autoroute Express printouts which search for post codes. The houses are so spread out that the codes often cover large amounts of road. Cue sudden stops to consult the address at the side of the road!! My house on the side of the A591 had the same code as one nearly a mile away!

We also have a succession of rapidly changing limits near Grasmere - 30/40/30/40/NSL, and a radio report that "Safety Cameras" will be on the A591. Cue succession of drivers paying strict attention to the speedo, and scant attention to the changing traffic ahead!
To be fair, Radio Cumbria now introduce the traffic reports, as "Any problems on the road" and Safety Camera locations for the day are included with the problems!!

As I said - I used to live and work on a caravan site (White Cross Bay) and saw MANY 'vans with rusted jacks/jockey wheels, and idiots setting off when they couldn't get them fully up!
Best one was a driver made a left turn on the site, forgetting his 'van behind, which cut the corner to the extent the side of the van was creased by a safety railing, and consequently he could not open the door to get in!!! Luckilly I was able to break in through a locked window without damaging it, and push the door out from inside .

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

All the more reason for a mandetory towing test before being allowed to use ANY trailer.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

caravanners are just dicks! i cant stand being behind them, really makes me frustrated and i just want to put my foot down and get past - i think they might actualy cause acidents by blocking up the roadz

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2 fast, 2 furious!

As the price of accomodation has become relatively low, caravaners seem to demand more and more facilities on sites!

I think for some (e.g. larger families) there is still a price advantage, but for many, I fail to see any reasonable explanation for towing a touring caravan in this day and age - unless it is to somewhere with NO accomodation.

Let's hope Raging Bull's exuberance does not get the better of him if he becomes stuck behind one - a dodgy overtake made in haste can be disasterous! In the meantime, pray for a new series of Brainiac!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Raging Bull. Welcome to the forum, BUT we are not Piston Heads. Statements like that aren't constructive or helpful. We are here to try to improve our roads for everyone, not just insult people.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.