The Costly Mistake Putting Your Life at Risk

G’day,

This week, I want to talk about something that I find deeply concerning. We recently undertook a weigh-in test and I was absolutely flabbergasted that 7 out of the 10 vans tested, were dangerously overweight and had that weight incorrectly distributed through out the van. Now you might find this as equally horrifying, but five of the seven didn’t know what proper weight distribution was, or the safety implications surrounding it.

That’s when it hit me. We’re seeing a lot more accidents involving caravans recently - a huge surge even. More vans on the road means more accidents. But when you can hitch up 3 tonnes of caravan behind you without any kind of licence or qualifying test - how are these people supposed to be aware of the implications surrounding weight distribution? I reckon that in all these dash cam clips of caravans spontaneously jack-knifing before going into a roll, improper weight management and distribution could be a massive contributing factor. And it’s not through stupidity - like our friends at the weigh-in, so many people out there just don’t  consider it.

Obviously the worst case scenario is causing grievous bodily harm to yourself or others, but there are monetary implications as well. Let’s just say you’re driving along, van in tow, but the person in oncoming lane has a micro slip. They wake up in the knick of  time, but scrapes a nice big gash in the side of your caravan. The police don’t hold you accountable for the accident, but after weighing your rig and tow vehicle, they find you’re overweight. You cop a nasty fine AND the insurance company isn’t happy you were towing an overloaded van - all of a sudden making your claim got much more difficult.

There are just so many reasons why everyone should take the time to visit a public weigh bridge to make sure they’re towing within their limits.

As for awareness about Weight Distribution - what are your suggestions? For starters, we’ve uploaded Joseph’s guide which you can read HERE

We’ve also got the most common problems and solutions HERE

Email me your thoughts at [email protected] or leave a comment in the section below.

Cheers,

Fred

*Correction: The accident seen in the image used in the newsletter sent on the 14th of April, 2016 promoting this article was not caused by an overweight caravan. The owner of the caravan and tow vehicle was not the cause of this accident.