Caravan overturned on M5 on Good Friday
Comments
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Thought the following guidance in using slip roads to enter a motorway is interesting. The reality is that those in lane 1 must adjust their speed to allow merging traffic to enter and while those on the motor way have the right of way the reality is that
blocking a car or caravan from entering the motorway at speed is very dangerous. I find that HGV's are usually very good at this especially when towing:"Motorways may be joined from a roundabout or a main A road. Joining the A road or roundabout to the motorway is the slip road. The slip road is used to adjust your speed to fit in with the traffic already
on the motorway. It’s important that you do not impede the traffic on the motorway in any way as this increases the risk of accidents.As you enter the motorway slip road, try to assess the condition of the motorway you wish to join from as early as possible. Keep a keen eye for slow moving traffic that could indicate congestion at some point in the motorway. If the traffic seems to
be free flowing, they will be driving at speeds of around 60 to 70 mph and this is the speed you will need to reach in order to join safely. Ensure you do not enter the motorway at a slow speed. This may seem safer for a nervous driver but is extremely dangerous.Whilst accelerating down the slip road, again, as early as possible, look at what traffic is approaching in the left lane – the lane you are going to join. You will need quick glances over your right hand shoulder to gain a good view of the approaching
traffic, along with frequent glances ahead to keep a check on where you are going and also into your right hand mirror.This can seem difficult to all fit in due to the high speeds but constant, frequent and quick glances in all these areas are essential. The key is to keep assessing the traffic flow as you are accelerating down the slip road and to ‘mark your spot’.
Try and find a gap with plenty of room to fit your car in. Once you have marked your gap, you may need to accelerate more or slow down slightly to fit in. If the motorway is busy in the left lane, traffic will see you approaching and will often either slow
down to allow a bigger gap for you to enter or they may move over a lane to let you in.Try to avoid at all costs stopping at the end of the slip road as it can be highly dangerous trying to enter the motorway from a stationary position."
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Thought the following guidance in using slip roads to enter a motorway is interesting. The reality is that those in lane 1 must adjust their speed to allow merging traffic to enter and while those on the motor way have the right of way the reality is that
blocking a car or caravan from entering the motorway at speed is very dangerous. I find that HGV's are usually very good at this especially when towing:"Motorways may be joined from a roundabout or a main A road. Joining the A road or roundabout to the motorway is the slip road. The slip road is used to adjust your speed to fit in with the traffic already
on the motorway. It’s important that you do not impede the traffic on the motorway in any way as this increases the risk of accidents.As you enter the motorway slip road, try to assess the condition of the motorway you wish to join from as early as possible. Keep a keen eye for slow moving traffic that could indicate congestion at some point in the motorway. If the traffic seems to
be free flowing, they will be driving at speeds of around 60 to 70 mph and this is the speed you will need to reach in order to join safely. Ensure you do not enter the motorway at a slow speed. This may seem safer for a nervous driver but is extremely dangerous.Whilst accelerating down the slip road, again, as early as possible, look at what traffic is approaching in the left lane – the lane you are going to join. You will need quick glances over your right hand shoulder to gain a good view of the approaching
traffic, along with frequent glances ahead to keep a check on where you are going and also into your right hand mirror.This can seem difficult to all fit in due to the high speeds but constant, frequent and quick glances in all these areas are essential. The key is to keep assessing the traffic flow as you are accelerating down the slip road and to ‘mark your spot’.
Try and find a gap with plenty of room to fit your car in. Once you have marked your gap, you may need to accelerate more or slow down slightly to fit in. If the motorway is busy in the left lane, traffic will see you approaching and will often either slow
down to allow a bigger gap for you to enter or they may move over a lane to let you in.Try to avoid at all costs stopping at the end of the slip road as it can be highly dangerous trying to enter the motorway from a stationary position."
...As you say traffic in the nearside lane if the M/way is Busy May slow down or Move over to let you enter,not Must as that is the problem
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The problem is that while MAY is correct the reality is if motorway is busy (nose to tail) then surely it becomes MUST otherwise a dangerous situation develops with vehicles stopped on the slip road
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That is correct but in those conditions speed is not the problem,its when m/ways are"free" flowing that the problem of "drivers"entering with no consideration of traffic already on the m/way, and as you must be aware its dificult to see on a lot of sliproads
traffic on your left0 -
A lot of the problem is caused by people driving far too close together. If an appropriate space was left, such as defined by the chevrons that they have in some places, where two should be visible between vehicles, there would be no problem in slotting a car and caravan into the space. There is no real excuse for driving too close, but little in the way of enforcement seems to happen. Plenty for speeding but how often have you seen reports of someone being prosecuted for tailgating, which is also an offence.
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oh my... Pictures like that really make you think... what so many drivers fail to realise is that anyone towing needs room to turn and to brake. Equally anyone towing needs to think further ahead and be prepared for pretty much anything to happen... Chances
are at some point on your journey you won't be disappointedI followed Hb home after our break this weekend and had to put my car in the way to stop some idiot squeezing down the offside of the van I got shouted at but if I hadn't the swing off the van would have taken him out and Hb eouldnt
have seen him being impatient as was completely in his blind spot despite towing mirrors... Certainly since we've been towing regularly I'm a lot more aware of the needs of anyone towing anything!!A couple of miles further on we were both overtaken on a single carrridge road, despite not dawdling... guess some see s white box and become convinced that we will hold them up... (I also had someone pass me while I was towing it only to discover that it
wasn't the white thing being slow but the Maserati in front of it that was delaying things... I lifted and flashed him in as there was an oncoming car by that point... He did raise a rather sheepish hand in thanks much to my amusement )Perhaps actually making all drivers learn to tow might make everyone all a bit more considerate??? i guess like someone said previously when a caravan is involved in an accident it goes everywhere, but if the same accident happened with two cars alone
then often bar a bit of lads and dented panels it is cleared pretty quickly...0 -
Here in America we dont have towing corses lie you have in the UK so pepole tow at thair own risk tayr bean a few crashes when speed played a part and muppets at the weel only if thay had tow cars naimed Kitt the roads will be safe
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It's amazing the number of drivers who seem incapable of adjusting their speed when joining from a slip road. They come trundling down at 60mph and, although it is apparent they are on a collision course with the vehicle on the motorway, they do not either
slow down to slot in behind or accelerate to get in clear ahead. Most cars have sufficient oomph to accelerate out of potential trouble yet motorists seem singularly reluctant to utilise a bit of extra power to get out of the danger zone.0 -
It's amazing the number of drivers who seem incapable of adjusting their speed when joining from a slip road. They come trundling down at 60mph and, although it is apparent they are on a collision course with the vehicle on the motorway, they do not either
slow down to slot in behind or accelerate to get in clear ahead. Most cars have sufficient oomph to accelerate out of potential trouble yet motorists seem singularly reluctant to utilise a bit of extra power to get out of the danger zone.I totally agree.Nowadays i will only give way too hgv,s and coaches because they cannot get out of trouble so easily and this is because of an incident i hade a few years back.I moved out of lane one towing the van for a car joining from a slip road but
when i increased my speed to get back too lane one the car just kept pace with me i looked across at the driver and he was totally oblivious too me and by now i,m doing 65mph so i had too ease of and let him pass on the inside before i could rejoin lane one.That
total lack of perception is very poor driveing IMO.peter.
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It's amazing the number of drivers who seem incapable of adjusting their speed when joining from a slip road. They come trundling down at 60mph and, .....
.... and they do so in the outer lane of the slip road too causing everyone else behind them to have to do the same thing ..... unless you undertake them
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Gale force sidewinds don't help.
I've been on autobahns in Germany where some distance from a slip road traffic in lane 1 is steered into lane 2 by arrows on the road followed by a hatched area which leaves lane 1 empty for vehicles joining from the slip road.
It did cause congestion though at the approach to the slip road because the autobahn was effectively reduced from 3 to 2 lanes for a half a mile or so.
...So they do not get it right over there either but it did slow it down,
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The new bit of not so Smart motorway from junction 28 - 31,on the M1 does not help safety in my opinion. Unlike the bit round Birmingham, where the near side lane is a hard shoulder, unless it is busy, this section seems to have four lanes open all the time and no hard shoulder. As a result the slip roads are terminated by a traffic lane with fast moving vehicles, there is no hard shoulder you can abort onto if you are unable to join the traffic. I thought it was safer as it was before.
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It did cause congestion though at the approach to the slip road because the autobahn was effectively reduced from 3 to 2 lanes for a half a mile or so.
Lucky them that it was only for half a mile. Where the M62 climbs to where roses are white, the motorway is 4 lanes wide, and due to the fact that HGV's are are allowed in lane 3 they do so while trying to overtake those in lane 2 while they try to overtake
those in lane 1. Net result is that lanes 1, 2 & 3 are bumper to bumper with HGVs with a differential speed of 1/2mph, just leaving lane 4 free for the rest of the traffic. No idea of the actuall distance, but it does seem like forever when you're stuck behind
them all with a trailer/caravan on the back.0 -
I was returning home last night without the caravan and travelling from the M40 onto the M25 heading in the M1 direction; a car moved onto the hard shoulder before the sliproad started and drove the whole way round the junction on the slip road! It was a
good job there was nothing stopped on the hard shoulder as it was a blind bend. No wonder there are accidents.0 -
This is a very worrying topic. I am only in my second season of towing and twice now I have had two potentialy collision sittuations caused by the vehilce joining from the sliproad not giving way. I have decided in future that despite having the right of
way, I will adjust my speed when possible to avoid a collision. I am not the worlds greatest driver. I also drive HGV and it happens to us all. As a caravan tower and HGV driver the one thing that is not available due to weight is the possibility of rapid
acceleration, therefore even more caution is needed.0 -
Sometimes when I see that "juggernaught" behaviour I wonder how much of the blame lies on cruise control devices maintaining a speed no longer appropriate for changing traffic conditions. No-one (in this country anyway) has had to pass a test involving the
correct use of such a dangerous piece of kit.0 -
.... of such a dangerous piece of kit.
that must be a different cruise control than I've had in my cars ....... I can just use the brake pedal to knock mine off. But there are even cleverer versions of mine .... they use RADAR to 'look' at the car in front & maintain what ever gap you've selected ....... maybe that's the dangerous kit you mean
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I have never had problrms using Cruise Control with any of my cars and would not consider them dangerous as they could be overridden at any time. The one in the Lexus RX that I drive now is the simplest bit of kit that you can get in my opinion. I do think when towing that the more grunt you have with the engine the better Cruise Control seems to benefit you. But I stand corrected,it is only my opinion.
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It like all devices of this type, they are not inherently dangerous. It is how they are used that determines this. I certainly think that some are loath to nock cruise off and therefore edge closer and closer to the vehicle in front, until they are able
to move out. One with radar to stop this would be great. One day of course all cars will have devices that limit gaps, just as ABS is now fitted to all vehicles. Until that time we have to depend on the driver and there of course lies the problem.0 -
At least 12 vans gone over or been in serious incedents this weekend according to the news reports
That doesn't surprise me with the amount of times i've been cut up by other caravanners on the M5 pulling in too soon "look at me and how fast I can tow" muppets
Write your comments here...You must be looked on as a "target" as in all the year of towing thats one thing I have not had by c/vans or m/vans, "rep type" yes "white vanman" yes, hgv sometimes,most problems are caused by entry to m/ways by "drivers?" who
cannot judge speeds or think that eveyone should move over for themPerhaps I am, twice last October returning from our holiday in Somerset, I'm off down on Saturday, I'll put the clicker on.
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This morning I was towing South down the M6 and had just left Tebay services joining the motorway in front of an approaching caravan and following an artic. A few minutes later approaching a downhill section, the following caravan decided to pass me and
the artic in one go. Obviously our speeds were increasing with the descent and whilst he was alongside the artic, probably around 65mph ( I was showing 60 on my speedo) his caravan was starting to sway but only by a small amount but suddenly he moved from
Lane 2 to lane 3 in a couple of seconds. Luckily nothing was in lane 3 at that moment but it must have frightened him. Why do some towers not realise down hill overtaking is an absolute no-no0 -
... Obviously our speeds were increasing with the descent and ..
My speed stays at exactly what I've set cruise at ..... up hill or down dale
..... but I get your point 
especially on some of the proper French motorway hills.As a mtter of interest, what was the size & type of tow car was it compared to the size of the caravan? My caravan never moves no matter what, but it's a big car and relatively light caravan
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"Why do some towers not realise down hill overtaking is an absolute no-no"
I think you miss-spelt 'towers'. Close, but no cigar.
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As a mtter of interest, what was the size & type of tow car was it compared to the size of the caravan?
I would have said it was a smallish caravan ( 14ft in old money) with a normal saloon car. No problem with size but simply going to fast at the wrong moment
Do you not find that "cruise control" wastes fuel by increasing throttle to climb hills and slowing down when going down hills ( if only by a few mph) whereas maintaining almost a constant throttle would save fuel?
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Do you not find that "cruise control" wastes fuel by increasing throttle to climb hills and slowing down when going down hills ( if only by a few mph) whereas maintaining almost a constant throttle would save fuel?
When your towcar does low 20s mpg towing you don't notice the odd increase in fuel consumption going up hills
..... my cruise keeps the set
speed, it doesn't alter what ever the hill ...... 375lbft helps though0 -
It seems to me from a very unscientific look at on-line photo's that one very common factor in overturned caravan incidents is the presence of a chunky 4x4 on the other end of the tow-ball.
We tend to travel at truck speed on motorways and dual carriageways, just because it's less stressfull. Over the Easter weekend we lost count of the number of 4x4 + caravan combo's that powered past us at speeds approaching 70mph (or in the case of one
Audi Q7, probably nearer 80).And all with the benefit of absolutely no rear visibility, extension mirrors seeming to be an option box that isn't ticked on a great many of these big SUV's.
I'm not saying it's all 4x4 drivers by any means, but there really does appear to be a lack of understanding on the part of a great many of these drivers (who I'm sure aren't club members). They need to understand that just because they can go fast doesn't
mean they can stop or steer when they have over a tonne of wobbly box on the back.Tin hat now firmly on for incoming!
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You are not wrong jake. We were passed by two such rigs tearing round the Cirencester bypass at crazy speed. It was a few minutes to 12, so I can only assume they were wanting to get there as close to the magic hour as possible. They were still waiting in
line when we arrived.0 -
So they 'are' club members then?
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It is that reluctance of drivers to stop the cruise control that makes them dangerous kit. Whether button, brake or clutch would disengage it, the driver just keeps on going. It saves effort, you see, in having to push a button to engage it again.
Nice to see a few people reporting that their vehicle under cruise control does not speed up when going downhill. The systems must have been refined to apply brakes as they used to just run faster and faster.
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