Calls for caravan towing driver training in wake of pandemic popularity boom – report
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Major organisations are joining the call for either additional driver training or a special licence to tow a caravan with the number of people doing it – but not knowing how to do it right – increases.
Demand for motorists towing caravans to undertake mandatory training or have a special licence is growing, with two more major industry bodies throwing their weight behind the call.
The National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) has called for additional driver training for people wanting to tow a caravan, after a boom in sales and holidaying at home kicked in with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On the road isn’t the best place to learn the skills that you need to safely travel,” NTRO safer infrastructure leader Emily McLean told the ABC.
"[An] option might be to have that training as an endorsement on an individual’s licence.
“Any sort of licensing scheme would have to be put in place at the state or territory level, but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be a national agreement or endorsement around what that looks like.”
The Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) has also backed the need for extra guidance for drivers not used to hauling another vehicle, offering a course to help motorists tow safely and stay within weight limits.
And Australia’s largest caravan and RV industry body, the Caravan Industry Association of Victoria (CIV) too wants a nationally-recognised towing endorsement for Australian drivers.
While many new caravans are being fitted with modern safety technology like breakaway braking systems, anti-lock brakes (ABS) and even sway mitigation systems, there is still no compulsory training requirement for drivers to be endorsed before hitching up a load.
"Caravanning is a multi-generation Australian way of holidaying, however, over the past decade caravans and RVs have increased in both length and weight," Daniel Sahlberg, Chief Executive Officer of the CIV, previously told Drive.
"The five-metre pop-top vans of the past have been largely replaced by vans measuring almost 10 metres and weighing over 3500 kilograms.
“Just as greater driver skills and knowledge are needed to tow these longer heavier vans, regulation needs change to keep pace with the ever-evolving – and growing – caravan market."
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