Last week I left my home in Kent and had a week's holiday over in North Devon. I used the A303 as the main route, rather than the M4. Remember it was a Bank Holiday on Monday and it was also school half term.
What struck me noticably was there were plenty of caravans on the roads, but none were being driven slowly and holding up traffic. On main A roads they were being driven quickly, about 50 mph on two way roads and close to 60 mph on dual carriageway sections.
We all moan at being held up by caravans, but last week I was pleasantly surprised - so I have to ask are there 2 types of caravan drivers? Those with young children who have places to go, rather than the older ones with time on their hands who are oblivious to other road users needs.
What do you think?
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Given my oft stated position on dragging a shed around to the annoyance of others I would agree with AD. One of the villagers has a massive shed on wheels, reassuringly he is an E46 driver (and makes progess when on the open road) and he uses a 4x4 to tow it, he is a normal considerarte human being and would imagine he tows accordingly. Unlike many others he has it serviced annually. But I honestly don't know what the attraction is....
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"the older ones with time on their hands who are oblivious to other road users needs."
Oy, watch it! I think I might be "one of the older ones" though probably disqualified via the "time on hands" bit.
I think you are right about "types of driver" but it is a) those who have a well balanced car and caravan that can keep to (or even exceed by some margin if it was allowed) the NSL even up quite steep gradients who are also considerate drivers who use their mirrors well and will position themselves well and leave space for overtakers. This can include pulling into laybys/passing places when a few cars are behind (say on Scottish single track roads) to allow others to pass, or even (and this could be open to criticism) slowing slightly where you can see a clear straight stretch of road ahead and giving a couple of flashes of the left hand indicator to indicate that overtaking MAY BE possible, or not overtaking yourself on motorways when it would cause a "mobile road block" etc
b) those who drive too slowly for the conditions in overloaded (for the car's power)"rigs" and have no consideration for their fellow road users.
Neither condition is anything to do with age!
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Phil
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Have found that caravans these days cause fewer hold ups,think this is mainly due to inceased HP of towing vehicles compared with say 30yrs ago,my pet hate these days is Motorhomes some much too large for the owners,and some under powered conversions on old chassis.
ndbw
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They were all being towed by modern diesels instead of the traditional petrol autos. ;-)
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I followed a motorhome being driven rather sedately today. What's ironic is that most of them are based on vans - Ford transit, VW Transporter, Mercedes Sprinter etc. Yet drivers of such commercial vans are usually complained about because they go too fast, not too slow!!!
I like the idea of having a caravan but we've got nowhere to keep one and if I got even a modest sized caravan I'd only want to tow it a with a 4x4 such as a Discovery. I looked into trailer tents, and normal family tents but I'm coming round to thinking the best solution might be a motorhome (van shell rather than one of those unwieldy looking 'coachbuilts', together with one of those special awnings with a sleep tent inside and also a luggage trailer for bikes etc.
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Many of the 'white vans' are lightly loaded as they are usually delivering or couriers and can therefore quite safely press on at, hopefully no more than, the speed limit.
OTOH a motorhome is invariably up to and sometimes over the maximum weight permitted by the chassis manufacturer ( the reasons for this are many and varied, and not really relevant to this thread ). Therefore these need to be driven with a little caution especially as the centre of gravity may well be higher than that of the van that the conversion is based on.
There is also the consideration that a new motorhome owner may have never driven anything larger than a Micra before in his life!
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One mans junk is another mans treasure
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Quote: >>Many of the 'white vans' are lightly loaded as they are usually delivering or couriers and can therefore quite safely press on at, hopefully no more than, the speed limit.>>
For every lightly loaded speeding white van I'd guess there's another one with a good load on board - urgent deliveries from printers, catering crockery for a big do somewhere, a load of booze from Calais..... etc. etc.
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dox got in one Modern td's are revalation for towing i can average easily 50MPH on a motorway/dual carrageway with our Rov75 ctdi it's a lot harder with any petrol i've had in the past, no matter what size of engine
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On my weekly commute from and to the coast the thing I find is a problem is people in front of me who won't overtake and at the same time won't leave enough space between themselves and the vehicle in front of them for me to be able to safely overtake a string of vehicles one at a time.
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L\'escargot.
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I didn't know that it was possible to drive a caravan!
You get all sorts...but over the past few years, the average speed of a car and caravan combination has increased. Many, if not most, are doing way over the 50mph that they should be.
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"50mph that they should be"
60 on motorways and dual carriageways. 50 on single carriageways (assuming no other lower limit)
www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.htm
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Phil
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Are there 2 types of caravan driver?
Yes: slow and very slow.
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IanS
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>>>>Are there 2 types of caravan driver?
Yes: slow and very slow.<<<<
Which would you be, Round-the-bend, if you absolutely had to drive a car+caravan?
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absolutely had to drive a car+caravan?
I can guarantee that would never, ever, ever happen.
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"Are there 2 types of caravan driver?
Yes: slow and very slow."
Yes and lorries and horse boxes and many many old codgers in cars.
Lets face it. A caravan & car can't go as fast as a single car. So what? Neither can many other modes of road transport.
In answer to the OP's question I think that caravans have sped up because the old generation has decided to give up through age. This same generation drive like that when not hitched up. The 'newer' caravanners are regular modern drivers.
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with better towing vehicles ?
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Yes, ridicule me, I drive a big 4*4 and tow a caravan. Oh the shame, horror of it all.
I don't hold up traffic, in fact with my big 4*4 diesel I wish some drivers (particularly those Rover drivers in ironic Racing Green with AA badges on the front) would get a move on as you are holding me up!
Everybody behind me thinks it's a caravan holding up the traffic, but it's you slow solo driver.
One particular pleasure I have while towing is racing the Chav's in the lowered Saxo's and Corsa's with ridiculously large and unnecessary down forcers. The look on there face when they can't keep up with a caravan is worth the usual ridicule of towing. I hope the draught from my caravan causes there the downforcer to flip the car off the road and on to it's roof, therefore keeping the road free of your unnecessary nuisance.
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