ROAD SAFETY AND TOWING

OPINION: Australia Needs a Towing Licence

The result of unqualified towing

Words By Joseph Van Woerkom

Australia needs a towing licence. It’s time.

Did you know that an ordinary car licence allows a person to legally drive a vehicle with a GVM of 4.5 tonnes while towing a trailer of 9t GVM? This means that a person with an ordinary car licence can be in charge of a vehicle combination with total weight of up to 13.5t.

By comparison, to legally drive a rigid truck of this weight a person needs to move up two licence classes, from light rigid (up to 8 tonne GVM) to medium rigid (over 8 tonne but limited to 2 axles). In doing so they need to learn how to correctly load and drive these larger vehicles and then pass a knowledge and practical driving test before they are allowed to drive unassisted.

Given that a car and caravan combination is inherently less stable on the road compared to a rigid truck it would seem reasonable to me that drivers towing heavy caravans should also be similarly licensed.

The instability of car and large caravan combinations is largely due to caravans almost universally being of the ‘pig’ trailer design, with one or two axles placed near the middle of the caravan body. This axle placement makes the caravan prone to pivoting on its wheels in both the horizontal and vertical planes.

Pivoting in the horizontal either causes the rear end of the tow vehicle to sway from side to side or causes the caravan to sway. The longer the trailer the worse this effect becomes due to leverage effects. Heavy masses placed at the rear of the caravan exacerbate the problem.

Pivoting in the vertical causes the tow vehicle to ‘porpoise’ as the rear of the vehicle is alternatively pushed up and down, producing an uncomfortable ride and unsafe handling.

Making matters worse is the fact that large caravans also place large downward loads (ball weight) on the towbar of the tow vehicle. Due to simple physics, this can also remove significant weight from the front wheels of the tow vehicle. If too much weight is removed the vehicle can become unstable with light steering and poor braking.

Finally, the braking systems of caravans are well behind in technological terms compared to modern tow vehicles and even the best caravan systems aren’t integrated with the vehicle’s braking system. This results is less than optimum braking in emergency conditions.

Towing a large heavy caravan is more difficult and dangerous than driving a light rigid truck – that’s a fact. It’s logical and reasonable that if a special licence is required for a light rigid truck, it’s even more necessary for towing large heavy caravans.

Do you agree with me that a special licence should be required for towing heavy caravans? If so, under what conditions? Drop me a line at tech@candm.com.au to give me your thoughts.

Richard says all countries should have a towing licence. Many amateur drivers get into difficulties when towing trailers that are badly loaded. Some drivers just have no idea that they are dicing with death when they haul caravans, boats, builder's materials and other loads without proper training, testing and licencing.