Is the dashcam vehicle an LGV?
When overtaking an artic I can feel the turbulence tugging at the 'van. And that's with an outfit well within the 80% rule. The effect increases exponentially with speed. With a combined weight under 3500kg I can legally tow at 130 kph in France, outfits over that are limited to 90.
My nerve won't let me go over 100. 110 max on the level in zero wind/nil traffic.
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With correct tyre pressures on car and trailer, and proper loading (movable loads near the axle if possible and attention to hitchload) it's very difficult to have an unstable oscillation at 60mph or less, 60 being the limit for towing on a motorway/dual carriageway.
Possible that he has had a puncture, but I'd guess most accidents of this kind are a combination of speed and the factors above given that quite a number of people I have spoken to don't seem to pay much attention to them. It looks as if the camera was in a LGV, and if that was at anywhere near 56mph then the Passat was well over 60.
There also appears to be a gusting wind from the right. Caravans in particular can be very sensitive to aerodynamic disturbance. Passing of LGVs, and especially car transporters which for some reason cause the worst effects, needs to be done with care, always.
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I can't tell how fast they were going, although it didn't look very fast to me.
however, the car gets out of line first, not the caravan. A puncture maybe?
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He looks like he turned in too sharply and the van pushed the back out.
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A trailer of any sort will try to go in a straight line if you brake when it is not in line with the towing vehicle or turn too sharply for your speed. The trailer pushes the rear axle of the tow vehicle sideways with eventually a loss of traction and a jackknife.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Tue 24 May 16 at 12:27
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He's probably beyond point of no return by time he's visible on the camera.
My guess is that the caravan was upset by airflow effects, slipstream and/or cross wind, and driver lost it trying to correct. The textbook, at least for beginners, says that if 'van starts snaking then feet off everything and don't steer to correct as risk is you'll make things worse.
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Well that's one less Tupperware Tower on the roads.
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The car/caravan may have been unsettled by something, perhaps the camera vehicle's bow wave, but what is really obvious is that the car driver seems to have forgotten he is towing a big caravan, and is swerving about rather violently even for a car on its own, losing its grip and flinging the caravan into the weeds.
It's hard to tell what the reason for all these things is. The driver of the towing car was either undergoing some sort of physical crisis or had completely lost attention while going much too fast. But everything is going slightly pearshaped right from the beginning of the clip. Could be the caravan tower was being intimidated by someone pressing in the outside lane. Looked a bit like that.
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He was swerving because the tail (caravan) was wagging the dog (car) AC, it's quite common with any towing vehicle, even artics if it's loaded badly and the speed doesn't compensate for that.
Pat
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I get all that of course Pat. But as the clip begins the car/caravan has just overtaken the camera vehicle - a lorry perhaps - and is cutting in in front of it. Perhaps backing sharply off the throttle as it does so, causing the caravan's inertia to start pushing the tail of the car wide. Straightening the car in emergency fashion causes the caravan to lose adhesion - awful damn things they are - and after that we all know what happens.
A very sober gait with caravans, and attention to tyre pressures. Even so they are still dangerous if anything untoward develops.
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Tail wagging dog I think. (Edit Pat posted same conclusion while I was looking up Passat weights).
As AC says it's a biggish caravan, though still single axle. Older Passat and impossible to determine exact model. Most though have a kerb weight around 1500kg. I'd say laden mass of that van would be close to 1500kg too.
Pat would probably call me a wuss but caravan 100% of kerb weight is beyond my risk margin.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 24 May 16 at 16:06
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>>
>> Pat would probably call me a wuss but caravan 100% of kerb weight is beyond
>> my risk margin.
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Not at all Bromp, 90% was always beyond our risk margin knowing what happens with 44 tonnes behind you wagging the dog!
Pat
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Does that weight include the 'thousand quid's worth of Wedgwood'?
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Anyone suggest why the date and time are inverted in the top LH corner of the screen?
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The camera is mounted upside down in the windscreen, and the video has subsequently been inverted.
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Saw a Mondeo plus caravan get very out of shape coming down the A1 in Yorkshire the other day. All the surrounding traffic dropped back to leave plenty of space for it to tip over, but by slowing down to around 40mph the driver managed to keep it together. Literally, as well as figuratively.
I've towed at well over 100% with a triple-axle car trailer behind a 4x4 Shogun or such like. The outfit doesn't like being overtaken by speeding Luton vans very much.
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I've towed a lot of old trailers and caravans with old vehicles over the years, and I am very very cautious, and am pretty sensitive to the glimmerings of the beginning of a snake.
It requires full concentrated attention all the time - not like driving a car where you can drift off into autopilot quite safely for a lot of the time.
Anything can happen at any moment - wind eddy, slight imperfection in the road, bit of debris.
And as I well remember from once clipping a gatepost with a long boat trailer, it's awfully easy to forget for a vital second that you have a trailer behind.
I'm especially wary of pulling a horse trailer, and try to get out of that chore whenever possible. All the above points apply, plus having a half-ton horse making sudden movements or going into a tantrum. My daughter's admirers seem to love helping out now, so I gratefully leave them to it.
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I have a 6'x4' trailer, which I only used occasionally. I once forgot it was attached... Pootling down the A65 roof down with a load of sand in it. Must have been doing well over the NSL overtaking lines of mimsers and caravanistas and pulling a steady 85/90 on the dual carriageway. The load of sand didn't affect the performance mutch but shortly afterwards I fitted a ladder rack onto the trailer so that it was more visible.
Really stupid of me but got away with it.
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Dragged the 17ft shed back from a few days in Lower Wyresdale this morning. Steady as a rocky rock, even at an indicated 65, which I briefly hit . I normally cruise it at under 60 and I'm not really bothered about speed or overtaking anyone. My mate, who came independently of us did experience some snaking briefly. That was with a nearly new Jeep Grand Cherokee and a 19ft Bessacarr. Not enough noseweight, he thought.
Apart from when in slow traffic, I only overtook one vehicle in the 50 miles....a Micra sized mimser cruising along at 50 on the M6 and getting in everyone's way. Earlier, a car had hooned past me in the overtaking lane at close on the ton, I estimated. Trouble was, he was towing a woodchipping machine which was jumping from wheel to wheel...No dampers probably.
Don't they ever read the rules ?
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Did he forget - - Pat
