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AUGUST 2022
     

'Road Safety Starts With Me!"

Cops scale up their campaign on caravan weights

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QUEENSLAND police are organising a special road safety week for caravan and motorhome owners following claims that nearly half of all crashes in 2020 and 2021 involved a vehicle towing a caravan and were caused by either the caravan or tow vehicle losing control.

Special RV weighing sessions will be held from August 22 to 26, with the theme Road Safety Starts With Me.

"With travel on the rise and the south still feeling the impact of winter, we are experiencing an influx of motorhomes and caravanners taking advantage of our fabulously warm weather here in far north Queensland," a spokeswoman said.

"Knowing the limits of your vehicle is important. It can have real consequences for you, your passengers and other road users."

She said that not all roads in the far north were two lanes and sealed with bitumen.

Driving on unsealed roads could be more difficult than driving on bitumen, especially when towing a caravan or camper.

Senior Constable Aleda Day, Crime Prevention Tablelands, said a common mistake was that drivers were unaware they needed to comply with three different weight categories.

Motorists needed to be aware of their vehicle's gross vehicle mass (GVM), their 'van/trailer aggregated mass (ATM) and their combined Gross Combination Mass (GCM).

There could be serious consequences for failing to comply with all three weights, potentially resulting in traffic crashes causing serious injury to the driver, passengers and other motorists.

"If your vehicle and towed camper or caravan are damaged, this could leave you stranded without a vehicle," Senior Constable Day said.

"If you are unsure of how much your caravan and car weigh, drop into a weighing specialist and have it weighed correctly or drop into one of the free caravan weight days being held around the far north in the coming week," she added.

Checks will be held at Walkamin Truck pads on the Kennedy Highway on August 22 between 8am and 1pm and at Rotary Park, Howard Kennedy Drive, Babinda, on August 26 from 8am to 1pm.

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