German safety......they still have ferry accidents, train accidents, co pilots who flip their lid and fly into mountains. I don't think they're any better than most of Europe or the western world.
Special Towing Category for driving licence.
- Thread starter Bank of Dad
- Start date
Ha. Thats why a have caravan .... i cant afford the river cruise (plus you cant have a camp fire)
What worries me is the obvious overloading of many vans.
Some seem to think that If it fits...on a frame, inside, on rear bar or wherever..then it must be ok. There is blatant disregard for tow ball weights and GVM etc and how they can think they can chug along with huge loads is beyond me.
Many van sales seem to emphasise what you can add, not what is necessarily safe and within the allowable engineered limits. The same seems to be applicable for towing vehicles and I'm amazed at how many are loaded to the gunnels.
And the roof.
My preference would be an annual certificate or similar to state what measured load is for tow vehicle and for towed unit (van).
And for travellers to be prepared for inspections.
Some seem to think that If it fits...on a frame, inside, on rear bar or wherever..then it must be ok. There is blatant disregard for tow ball weights and GVM etc and how they can think they can chug along with huge loads is beyond me.
Many van sales seem to emphasise what you can add, not what is necessarily safe and within the allowable engineered limits. The same seems to be applicable for towing vehicles and I'm amazed at how many are loaded to the gunnels.
And the roof.
My preference would be an annual certificate or similar to state what measured load is for tow vehicle and for towed unit (van).
And for travellers to be prepared for inspections.
And how many fatal cargo plane crashes have we had in Australia in the past decade compared to fatal crashes involving towing vehicles?
I think comparing the airline industry to a section of road transport is almost ludicrous
That's right Dobbie.
I'm buying a Ranger XLT. The bumpf says it can tow 3500 kg and carry a 1 ton payload.......no, it can do one or the other, but not both. Then there's the bulbar and canopy I'm adding, so its Tare is no longer 2200 kg but closer to 2500 kg. GVM is 3200 kg so payload is now 700 kg or so. Add me, Mrs BoD, two dogs etc, car weighs in at 2800 kg. Add 200 kg tow ball weight, it's now 3000. GCM is 6000 kg, so 6000 - 30000 = 3000 I can tow.
I'm not keen on sharpening my pencil that much so I've worked on towing 2800 max. 3000 + 2800 = 5800 so a healthy margin and they're not conservative estimates.
Most don't care or understand this.......maybe the scalies could educate them?
I'm buying a Ranger XLT. The bumpf says it can tow 3500 kg and carry a 1 ton payload.......no, it can do one or the other, but not both. Then there's the bulbar and canopy I'm adding, so its Tare is no longer 2200 kg but closer to 2500 kg. GVM is 3200 kg so payload is now 700 kg or so. Add me, Mrs BoD, two dogs etc, car weighs in at 2800 kg. Add 200 kg tow ball weight, it's now 3000. GCM is 6000 kg, so 6000 - 30000 = 3000 I can tow.
I'm not keen on sharpening my pencil that much so I've worked on towing 2800 max. 3000 + 2800 = 5800 so a healthy margin and they're not conservative estimates.
Most don't care or understand this.......maybe the scalies could educate them?
Both covered by the ATSB? Should we change that too?
60 tonne B Double Truck.....same weight as a medium transport aircraft, 6 tonne total load puts you in the airline world as well.
60 tonne B Double Truck.....same weight as a medium transport aircraft, 6 tonne total load puts you in the airline world as well.
If I wish to drive a vehicle with a mass of greater than 4.5t then I need a special licence, an MR, yet I can drive a car weighing in at 3t towing a trailer (caravan/boat etc) weighing in at 3t, total 6t on a car licence, a fair discrepancy in the law
And you need a special licence to drive a 60t b double. I think you are clutching at straws. We will have to agree to disagree on this one
Not going to change, the caravan world has influence. Courageous politician who dabbles in this.
Just so long as Marg and the other idiots at Caravan and Motorhomes aren't regarded as an authority.
when getting my semi licence had to reverse a long way inside two white lines any wheel came out fail , was tricky on the day now a semi is not that hard to reverse but this kind of thing in a test cant hurt , many people haven't grown up around mechanical stuff and have no interest in how things work and don't have a mechanical mind some people have to be taught , I have learnt so much from this forum that I didn't know now dads gone who do I ask about the little things? other people with experience I must say thank you to all on expandas downunder this forum is fantastic so much to be learnt your never to old to learn and if someone thinks they know everything trouble will find them one day I use that at work
Only in NSW and Vic no problem towing in the rest of the country
Many good points brought up. Especially @Crusty181
I have retrained many a fella who has spent a couple of grand getting his/her HR licence as well as some who had the licence but didn't pass the test to drive for us, they were just too scary and they are still out there in a heavy, so a bit of paper doesn't prove a thing.
Getting all and sundry to do a Decca style course is impractical and would allow it to be another pink bats debacle besides even with a training course the idiots would still be there, the cost for such a course would be out of reach for many, a semicourse can cost a few grand.
A day on a skid pan would improve many skills, absolutely terrifying.
Some sort of awarness training is needed though.
This explains it better.
I have retrained many a fella who has spent a couple of grand getting his/her HR licence as well as some who had the licence but didn't pass the test to drive for us, they were just too scary and they are still out there in a heavy, so a bit of paper doesn't prove a thing.
Getting all and sundry to do a Decca style course is impractical and would allow it to be another pink bats debacle besides even with a training course the idiots would still be there, the cost for such a course would be out of reach for many, a semicourse can cost a few grand.
A day on a skid pan would improve many skills, absolutely terrifying.
Some sort of awarness training is needed though.
This explains it better.
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