Caravans being towed over the speed limit
Comments
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When I first started towing I thought that driving at 60 with the caravan would drive me mad. In fact I found it far more relaxing driving at that speed rather than 70 or more and having to keep swapping lanes to overtake, plus the time differentail was
negligable and the mpg far better. I thought caravanning was supposed to be a leisure activity after all. Your outfit might be really stable at 60+ but you get some idiot do something stupid right infront of you, as has happened to us before, and it's not
going to end well. The total disreagard the for law is astonishing.JD, an excellent post. I found the same and as I said much earlier in the thread, you feel much more relaxed when you arrive. I wish our speeders would just try it- it might change their driving habits for good!
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+1. As i said earlier there is absolutely no logic in saying 61mph is dangerous and will Bring wholesale death on the roads but somehow 60mph makes the roads safe. I accept what the law states and i do not intentionally break the speed limits but sometimes
the law is also an ass.0 -
Speed limits can, at best, only be a compromise. Not only are the technical parameters which determine whether a vehicle or outfit is safe at any particular speed specific to that vehicle or outfit, but also the prevailing traffic and weather conditions, not forgetting ability of each individual driver, so why not just accept that and, for the benefit of the money in one's own pocket, stick to the set speed limits?
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If a 5mph difference in speed tips you over the edge from relaxation to a bag of nerves, perhaps a retest is advisable. I still arrive perfectly relaxed at an indicated 65mph thank you.
Write your comments here...good post, similarly if you find it hard to get out if second gear whilst Towing and hold everyone else up which causes more frustration and force others to overtake in places maybe they shouldn't also causes accidents , maybe more!
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60 is fast enough for me, sometimes I prefer 45 to 50 mph.
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It's the towed units traveling near 60 mph or above on single carriageways that baffle me! Do they not know that their legal national speed limit is 50 on these. Some don't realised that the law changed some years ago regarding this!
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If a 5mph difference in speed tips you over the edge from relaxation to a bag of nerves, perhaps a retest is advisable. I still arrive perfectly relaxed at an indicated 65mph thank you.
But it's those extra stopping distance, (considerable more when towing and chance of wipe out jack knifing) which comes with just that extra 5mph. Hopefully folk do arrive safely and perfectly relaxed but some don't! What's worse is when it effects others
and their lives! Maybe a retest is advisable for those that don't know this!0 -
I suspect many do not but sometimes I have let the speed creep up without realising it. Breaking the speed limit is one thing however driving too slow and hindering following traffic is just as dangerous - in some parts of the country (Scotland on the A9
comes to mind) there are signs about holding up traffic. The main problem of course is those who ignore the speed limits are also unlikely to be reading this forum or any other media which addresses the issue. The worst journey I had where I observed excessive
speeding by caravanners was driving home from Devon last summer, some outfits were being driven as though their pants were on fire.0 -
Have towed at greater than 60mph in France, as if I recall you can go up to 80mph if under a certain weight. Granted, the motorways are better there, but it felt fine. Requires the good sense to slow down if windy etc. Had I been going at 60mph, I would
have probably caused an accident.0 -
Have towed at greater than 60mph in France, as if I recall you can go up to 80mph if under a certain weight. Granted, the motorways are better there, but it felt fine. Requires the good sense to slow down if windy etc. Had I been going at 60mph, I would
have probably caused an accident.Write your comments here...Have you tried the German autobahns?
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I have three friends who have been caught doing more than 34mph in a 30 limit, one of them twice. I have another who got into trouble for doing 65 on a dual carriageway in a VW transporter van, he thought wrongly that the limit was 70 same as a car.... It's
an expensive business.... So good luck for those who break the legal speed limits......
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Mickysf repeats the point here. Look, no one is denying the fact that caravans can be towed at much faster speeds than the national speed limits. Of course they can. They test them for stability on test tracks and I'm sure when they do it's by itself on the track where nothing will happen to impair progress or cause the driver to brake hard. But Micky touches again on a point made much earlier. Reaction and braking distances. You have to drive for the unexpected. As long as everything is going great and 70+ is being maintained, all is fine and dandy but then it happens! A blow out on your vehicle or someone else's. Someone swerves or even something drops from a lorry or car. A myriad of things can happen and at 70+ or even 65 and that could be the difference between safety and disaster had you been travelling at 60. It's that simple. Slow down, stick to the limit or below and give yourself, your family and others the best chance.
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Have towed at greater than 60mph in France, as if I recall you can go up to 80mph if under a certain weight. Granted, the motorways are better there, but it felt fine. Requires the good sense to slow down if windy etc. Had I been going at 60mph, I would
have probably caused an accident.Write your comments here...Have you tried the German autobahns?
Write your comments here...and when accidents do occur I am told they are spectacular!
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I suspect many do not but sometimes I have let the speed creep up without realising it. Breaking the speed limit is one thing however driving too slow and hindering following traffic is just as dangerous - in some parts of the country (Scotland on the A9 comes to mind) there are signs about holding up traffic. The main problem of course is those who ignore the speed limits are also unlikely to be reading this forum or any other media which addresses the issue. The worst journey I had where I observed excessive speeding by caravanners was driving home from Devon last summer, some outfits were being driven as though their pants were on fire.
Those signs are frankly dangerous. Noticed them read them, and obeyed them, the first year. Never again. I am leagally allowed to tow at 50 mph on the single lane sections of the A9 and that is what I do. When I noticed a build up of cars, I pulled into a lay-by. It then took me 10 minutes to get out into the traffic again. Same thing happened the second time and you invariably upset who you pull out in front. The A9 is a good width A road with many sections of dual carriageway. Except on the steeper down grade sections it would be safe to tow at 60mph it's full length. If they want to solve the problem they should try increasing the caravan limit as they did with HGV's.
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Have towed at greater than 60mph in France, as if I recall you can go up to 80mph if under a certain weight. Granted, the motorways are better there, but it felt fine. Requires the good sense to slow down if windy etc. Had I been going at 60mph, I would
have probably caused an accident.Write your comments here...Have you tried the German autobahns?
Write your comments here...and when accidents do occur I am told they are spectacular!
Write your comments here...Probably better suited for Porches and Ferraris than towing a caravan!
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The world record for towing a caravan is 141.98mph ,in America in 2012
Write your comments here...Was it an Airstream by any chance?
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Have towed at greater than 60mph in France, as if I recall you can go up to 80mph if under a certain weight. Granted, the motorways are better there, but it felt fine. Requires the good sense to slow down if windy etc. Had I been going at 60mph, I would have probably caused an accident.
Write your comments here...Have you tried the German autobahns?
There for all but German owned 100kph certified caravans, so all non German caravans, is just 50 mph [80 kph].
I wonder how many Brits "dare" crawl along at 50 mph, or decide there to break the law in the hope of being safer by not creating a rolling obstacle?
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Switzerland has a 50 mph limit for caravans. It can be quite frustrating pottering along at 50 and have loads of badly loaded Dutch caravans overtake you. I must confess, however, that the only place on the continent that I got caught for a traffic offence
was about 25 years ago in Switzerland - not for speeding but for overtaking a lorry on a two lane motorway where there was a "no overtaking" sign. Spot fine and much embarassment.One of the plusses of a small motorhome is that you can do 60 - 70 anywhere in Europe on the motorways (I think!).
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Have towed at greater than 60mph in France, as if I recall you can go up to 80mph if under a certain weight. Granted, the motorways are better there, but it felt fine. Requires the good sense to slow down if windy etc.
Had I been going at 60mph, I would have probably caused an accident.Why would it be anymore likely to cause an accident in France going at 56 mph, the legal maximum for most British rigs. The Autoroutes are often quieter than here and although the maximum is 130 kph solo, a considerable number travel at that In this country
on much busier roads. I can't say I ever felt I was causing an obstruction, or in any danger, traveling at the legal maximum.0 -
Cannot comment on German Autobahns, but I used to holiday in France most years, where it was possible then to tow on their motorways at a slightly higher speed than in the UK.
However although I haven't been to France for the past two years, I have been told that the speed limit for caravans and other towed vehicles on the autoroutes has now been reduced. Is that correct?
Given their reduced population density compared to ours, I believe their accident rate has been causing concern. ( I do appreciate that only a small proportion of that will include caravans)
TF
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France is 56mph limit on the Motorways for most caravanners, most outfits like mine exceed the 3.5t gross train mass of the car/vehicle.
If under, the outfit can be towed at the 'solo' limit and this makes nonsense of the law really as a small car and largeish caravan coming in at under 3.5t gross train mass could legally tow at 80mph.
Single carriageways again are 56mph or slightly lower.
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Cannot comment on German Autobahns, but I used to holiday in France most years, where it was possible then to tow on their motorways at a slightly higher speed than in the UK.
However although I haven't been to France for the past two years, I have been told that the speed limit for caravans and other towed vehicles on the autoroutes has now been reduced. Is that correct?
Given their reduced population density compared to ours, I believe their accident rate has been causing concern. ( I do appreciate that only a small proportion of that will include caravans)
TF
I think you will find that with the substantial tow vehicles you like to own, you were even back then breaking French towing laws
The tow vehicle only needs to have a plus 3500kgs GTW plating, then its 56 mph or 50 mph on single carriageways.
Using a less capable vehicle then you can belt along at 81 mph, such for the self accredited "logical nation".
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France is 56mph limit on the Motorways for most caravanners, most outfits like mine exceed the 3.5t gross train mass of the car/vehicle.
If under, the outfit can be towed at the 'solo' limit and this makes nonsense of the law really as a small car and largeish caravan coming in at under 3.5t gross train mass could legally tow at 80mph.
Single carriageways again are 56mph or slightly lower.
On all French single carriage ways, for the +3500 GTW towing vehicle it is 50 mph, as are many dual carriage ways , those not having a "solid" divider. These limits are very widely flouted on nice free flowing roads by the locals and visitors alike. I largely keep to them and display the stickers, but if a lorry is blocking my progress I have been known to overtake it using enough speed not to drag the job out for many minutes.
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SteveL, it is a 'flow of traffic' point in the same way as those doing 40mph on a UK motorway cause accidents, especially at sliproads.
I tended to stick around the 70mph mark on French motorways. It felt very rebellious and I had the club's towing course ringing in my ears. However, I considered it safer - fewer tailgaters and crazy manoeuvres going on behind me. At least UK drivers use
towing mirrors too!0 -
Catsize, Yes I tended to do that too, but I was made aware of the new speed limits by a friend who was fined fairly heavily this year . He, - until that moment was unaware of the new policy of enforcing the lower speed limits now in force.
On speaking to several others recently they wern't aware either. We are clearly sitting ducks for the French Police. They love to target "Foreign Tourists"
TF
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