Aussie man's $800 caravan 'steal' highlights contentious driver's licence debate
With more caravans on the country's roads, there are inevitably more accidents. And some enterprising Aussies are taking advantage.
One person's loss is another person's gain. That was the case for Western Australian man Colin Ahearn who scored himself a busted up caravan for the tidy sum of just $800.
The caravan was bought at an auction after it was written off in an apparent road accident.
"I paid $800 for this one, which is a steal," Colin told Yahoo News. "It was in Geraldton and not Perth so it went cheaper based on location."
He has previously repaired and rebuilt damaged caravans that can be brought back to road worthiness.
"What they call a repairable write off," he explained. "This one can't be."
The particular model would have cost about $100,000 brand new, with secondhand models found online for about half that. But despite its current state, it does still have plenty of useful parts.
"Call me crazy, but I am pretty chuffed to see the value and gems that is still in this van, pretty excited really," he said, sharing his purchase with friends online.
From the appearance of wreck, it looks like the caravan badly rolled, leaving most of the roof caved in.
"This is the worst caravan I've seen in terms of seeing anything inside it. It's just an explosion," he said. "I'd love to know the story behind it."
At least part of that story is what some say is the growing danger of inexperienced caravaners on Australia's roads as more retired Aussies, as well as young remote-working families, embrace the nomadic lifestyle.
With caravan sales on the rise, authorities have sounded the alarm about the rising number of caravan-related incidents, with a spate of bad accidents in recent months. In July an elderly couple towing a caravan were rushed to Perth hospital after an accident on the Kwinana Freeway at Baldivis. The same month a caravan crash closed the Bruce Highway in Queensland while days earlier a man died and two others were injured in a crash involving a caravan, truck and ute north of Brisbane.
As international borders closed during the Covid pandemic and many people turned to domestic travel, the Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia (RAC) in 2021 revealed a 50 per cent jump in caravan collisions.
"It is crucial caravan owners prioritise learning how to safely maintain, load and tow their vans," RAC claims manager Glen Walker told Yahoo News on Friday.
"It’s also critical to keep the caravan balanced, with the correct weight on the tow-hitch, by distributing weight evenly when packing," he added.
Calls for driver's licence change amid rising caravan popularity
Certain rules do apply to drivers towing a caravan, Walker notes, which include not overloading the cars towing limit, keeping 60 metres behind other caravans on roads outside built-up areas and ensuring speed doesn’t ever exceed 100km per hour.
"Even though the maximum speed limit for towing is 100km/h, it can be safer to travel below the posted speed limit in some situations," he said.
However road safety advocates have been calling for states and territories to introduce mandated training or a new licence class for motorists who tow a certain size of trailer.
Retired Victorian nurse and proud grey nomad Edna Bonuda — who recently returned from a trip to Cape York — thinks it's a "jolly good idea" after what she and her husband have witnessed on the road. "These gentlemen, they work in an office all their lives, retire and go and buy a caravan and hit the road. And they've got no experience at towing," she told Yahoo this month, complaining about some of the dangerous driving she has seen.
Unsurprisingly, the Caravanning Industry Association of Australia has been steadfastly against the push. It argues there have only been 50 caravanning fatalities in the past five years, contrasting it to the roughly 1,200 road fatalities every year.
"Many incidents occur due to a lack of knowledge or driver error rather than an absence of specific licensing," it says on its website. "Education and awareness campaigns prove far more effective in delivering safer outcomes on our roads."
However the industry does recognise the dangers with research previously done by Retreat Caravans positing that 80 per cent of caravan accidents resulted in a total loss of the trailer.
"Caravan mishaps are more devastating than car accidents. One wrong manoeuvre and the repercussions are magnified several times over," it said.
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