Common caravan mistake drivers are making amid 'explosion' on Aussie roads
Many drivers towing caravans have no idea their vehicle might not be roadworthy and it could cost them their safety.
With a surge of caravans hitting Aussie roads in recent years, there's now more emphasis than ever on drivers doing the right thing. But there's a common mistake among many motorists that could have a catastrophic impact if left unchecked — and often, caravan owners are completely unaware.
At a caravan and trailer safety awareness day held in NSW last week, "a hot topic for the day was found to be the age of some tyres fitted to caravans," said NSW Police, who attended the information weekend.
"The sole aim of [the event] is to ensure a greater safety travelling public," John Eggenhuizen, owner and the chief instructor at Getabout Training Service told Yahoo News Australia.
Between 2018 and 2022 there were 201 crashes involving a vehicle towing a caravan on NSW roads where someone was injured or killed. Sadly, these crashes resulted in the deaths of 24 people, while 87 others suffered serious injuries.
What are the rules around tyres on caravans?
During the two-day event, a collaboration between Transport for NSW and the caravan training provider, Getabout, up to 40 caravan combinations were "comprehensively checked". One issue that arose was vehicles having incorrect tyres, not fit for safe road travel.
The recommendation from the Australian Tyre Industry Council is that tyres must be changed after 10 years, "but beyond 5 years they must be inspected by a professional every 12 months", Eggenhuizen explained.
According to Transport for NSW, each tyre has to have at least 1.5mm tread depth, and must be free from deep cuts, bulges, exposed cords or other signs of carcass failure. Vehicles with tyres in these conditions are usually issued a defect notice and require an inspection to clear the defect notice.
While it's "not illegal" Eggenhuizen said it's a matter of keeping safe. "By the time a tyre gets to 10 years of age, its life is done anyway. Over time the rubber will perish making them unsuitable for driving," he said.
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How can caravanners best protect their safety?
Another issue is tyre pressure, Darren Anderson from Weigh Your Rig, a service which helps caravanners ensure their vehicle meets compliance laws, told Yahoo previously.
"The majority of caravanners have their tyres underinflated normally," he explained. "When you're towing a caravan, if it's not up at the right pressure, it can cause the caravan to start swaying on the road."
At the very least, an under-inflated tyre is likely to blow, leaving drivers stranded or forcing them to attempt to change the tyre at the side of the road which is "not terribly easy". He said a general rule of thumb would be somewhere about 50 PSI pressure.
A significant amount of caravan drivers doing the wrong thing
Eggenhuizen said there's been an "explosion of caravans travelling within Australia" in recent years, and while there's still significant number of people doing the wrong thing on the roads, "the awareness of caravan weights and caravan safety has certainly increased."
"The thing to remember is that we only see the people who want to be seen and who are inquisitive about their combinations," he explained, so it's not surprising to see the number of errors pretty low — as was the case of this event.
In a statement to Yahoo, a Transport for NSW Spokesperson said that of the 40-odd caravans tested over two days, "three of these vehicles with trailer/caravans exceeded the permitted weight limit, however, around half were almost at full capacity when weighed with only a basic load".
Meanwhile, "five of the towing vehicles on their own also exceeded their permitted weight limit which shows the importance of considering the weight of not only the caravan/trailers but the vehicle as well," they said.
Despite this, there are still "opportunities for improvement" across the board, Eggenhuizen said.
"Unfortunately, there's still a number of people out there who are probably well aware of the fact that they're overweight and don't want to be seen, but are still out there flaunting it out on the road," he explained. "To me, that's the greatest tragedy of the lot.
"It's the fact that people have a very easy opportunity to educate themselves about their combinations, and yet they're still choosing not to."
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