EC DIRECTIVE 104/13 - SPARE WHEEL CARRIERS
I've been thinking of changing my caravan and, as a current Bailey owner, I've been considering the new Bailey Pagasus GT65. One of the improvements I like is that Bailey has introduced a wind-down spare wheel carrier instead of the standard Al-KO model
that has been specified on nearly all British caravans for quite a few years now. As I've never been very impressed with the Al-Ko wheel carrier, I must say that I think it's a big improvement and I thought I'd check out the new design to see whether I could
have my own caravan modified to accept it, so I made a few inquiries about it.
After speaking to the local Bailey dealer I was quite concerned because it turns out that the manufacturer has been forced to introduce these new spare wheel carriers because of impending safety regulations from the EC. I'm told that the French Government
has been lobbying the EC about the safety hazards posed by the standard model of wheel carrier due to the numbers of British caravanners visiting France every summer. The French are said to be concerned that in the event of a puncture, British caravanners
in particular would be placing themselves in danger because they have to extract the spare wheel from the left-hand side of the caravan, therefore placing themselves in the path of traffic and they have been pressing the EC Safety Agency to ban that type of
spare wheel carrier.
I'm told that the EC has agreed with the case submitted by the French Government and have intoduced EC Safety Directive 104/13, which effectively bans the use of any spare wheel carrier other than the new wind-down type and it also provides that any caravans
found to be fitted with the old type may be impounded by the authorities.
Apparently EC Safety Directive 104/13 is to become mandatory later this year but so far there has been little or no information distributed about it. However the French (as usual) have jumped the gun and they have decided to implement the ban with effect
from 1st April 2013. Consequently, this creates quite a problem for any British caravanners who may be travelling to France this summer because the new type of wheel carrier will have to be fitted before departure from the UK. The trouble is that, (although
I believe the new style of spare wheel carrier is a real improvement) the modifications required are quite significant. I'm told that it requires some modifications to both the caravan chassis and the floor of the caravan and apparently the cost of this work
is likely to be between £800 and £1,000, excluding the cost of the new carrier. Naturally with the summer season rapidly approaching caravan dealers will find it difficult to cope with the numbers of caravans that will need to be modified, so my advice would
be for all members intending to visit France this year to contact their dealers as soon as possible to avoid having to cancel their holiday.
In my opinion this is yet another example of heavy-handed and over-bearing bureacracy from Brussels and why the Caravan Club does not seem to have led the way in opposing this madness is a mystery to me. Of course the trouble is that it's all a bit too
late now since the French have decided to implement the new rules from next Monday and no doubt other European countries will follow suit in due course.