I've always tried not to hold up other cars too much when pulling a caravan, but last weekend I made a special effort, mindful of recent threads.
My observations for what they are worth are;
1) There seem to be fewer lay-byes on A and B roads than there used to be, and no advance warning. It helps no-one to try and do an emergency stop into a sudden unsignposted laybye.
2) You can't just pull a caravan over into any old space - you have to be sure it has good solid ground and is long enough, so that means slowing down, even if it proves unsuitable.
3) Keeping up a good speed means anticipating hills and trying to get a good run-up. I could pull in at the bottom to let a few people past, but I'd then be condemning a lot more to a long slow slog up the hill.
4) If you tail-gate a caravan you are invisible, so how am I supposed to know you would like me to pull over?
All that said, I don't mind pulling in even for just one or two cars if a suitable place comes up. And it is really nice when someone thanks me!
|
|
Thanks, CP. Some food for thought!
|
|
I try never to hold up anyone and agree with Cliff. I can't count the number of times I've slowed down, indicated left and pulled over to allow those behind to overtake. What often happens? One or two cars, immediately behind, slow down as well and fail to get past. The result is that perhaps one or two cars, behind those, manage to get past. You then proceed with an ever growing queue behind.
|
|
|
|
Well put, Cliff. Exactly the same sentiments from this caravanner. You can only do so much to help your fellow motorist; I posted a while ago that if being held up was such a pain, buy a faster car. If you can't/won't, then tough. There is a culture that rears its head in these threads occasionally of bitter complaint on all sorts of things, but the will to change to cope with the posters' issues seems absent.
Tailgaters; I've no sympathy with you either. This year on my way to Bourton on the Water I was followed by a car that never once appeared in my mirrors in 10 miles and was only detectable by the shadow cast on the road behind the caravan. If the driver of that car wants to check that my number plate is BS 145b, that's fine by me, I'll hardly hear the crunch from 30 feet away, will I?
Hawkeye
-----------------------------
Stranger in a strange land
|
On this subject, ny uncle a caravaner of 30 years has now conceeded that modern tents are every bit as good and a hell of a lot cheaper/easier to lug around. He has made the switch and changed his 4 wheel for an estate as a result.
Just a thought...
|
|
|
|
Well said and done Cliff. I've also noticed more and more ly-bys[1] are "temporarily" closed: either full of road dressing or barricaded against invasion by the great unwashed travelling community.
As with all things in life in general and motoring in particular things run that little bit sweeter if we all try to understand the other person's difficulties.
[1] Interestingly (to pedants at least), my dictionary gives the plural of "lay-by" as "lay-bys" - thus blowing one basic rule of written English out of the water! Still doesn't look right though.
--
Terry
|
I owe the Backroom a lot. Since hearing the views of truckers and shed-tuggers (it's an affectionate nickname!) I've taken a lot more time to view the road ahead from their viewpoint as well as my own. As a result I now can anticipate a situation where a slower, heavily laden vehicle may either wish to maintain momentum and overtake (or perhaps hold back to allow a clear run at a hill) and I driive accordingly.
Since taking this approach I've allowed numerous trucks and caravans out to overtake on the A31 and A34 and this rarely adds more than a couple of minutes to a 70 mile journey.
Better still, I arrive relaxed!
:o)
|
|
Cheers Cliff and the others like him. I always thank people for moving over or pulling in, I'm very sorry that considerate driving like Cliff's isn't recognised.
|
|
Well said, No Dosh, if only there were a few more like you on the roads. The other problem, I think, is the fact that a lot of non-caravanners do not realise that the speed limits for towing are lower than those travelling solo, so the caravanner gets the blame if he/she isn't driving up to the limit on a given road. I think the old circular black-on-white-signs stuck on the rear of a caravan were a good idea, but rarely seen now. I am tempted to use (if I can find them) '50' and '60' signs as an indication to the more alert driver that these are the limits and that I feel obliged to stick to them where the road does not require any lesser speed. Does anyone else have a view about using these??
|
Good points Cliff. I try, as a caravanner, to be as considerate as possible to other road users and pull over to let people past if necessary. However, the right car and an appropriate van can maintain the speed limit on most roads except motorways where we are limited to 60. No prob on the motorways because staying in the inside lane at 60 lets others past in the other lanes and also avoids having to pass/be passed by trucks. What is infuriating is cars that pull out of junctions right in front because they "don't want to be held up by a caravan" and those people who drive slowly enough to hold up the van but too fast to allow safe overtaking by the van. In which case I always allow a good distance between me and the slow car in front so that solo drivers can overtake me and find space in front. I also find that indicating (a quick flick of the left indicator to show that road is clear in front?) is appreciated by many overtakers - probably frowned on by some but I only do it if there is a long clear spell and ease off the throttle if following car shows signs of overtaking.Infuriating are those 'vanners without proper mirrors that they can use to tell them if they are causing a hold up. As usual, it is the inconsiderate few who give a bad name to the rest.
|
Exactly, Phil, particularly your point about cars pulling out right in front of a caravan so as to avoid being held up - or the ovewhelming fear that they might be! Incidentally, don't forget the national limit of 50 on single-carriageway roads - there are plenty of those where 50 is really too low but we still have to observe. (Sorry if that sounds picky.)
Where I am being held up by a dawdler I always try to let the drivers behind see ahead of my outfit by moving over slightly on bends so that they can see it isn't me causing the hold-up!
|
Re: tailgating of caravans or any other vehicle for that matter.
If a driver is stuck right up behind another vehicle (which they shouldn't be) it makes their driving more difficult.
They need to concentrate much more on split second braking.
They are less likely to be able to see properly to pull out and overtake.
They cannot see what's going on in front ot the vehicle they're following (unless they are in a truck, in which case it's easy to literally overlook the car in front and not see its brake lights in time).
They cannot use any spare mental capacity to take in the scenery.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
|
|
|
|
![2021 Nissan Qashqai 1.3 DiG-T 160 [157] Acenta Premium 5dr DCT](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/assets.heycar.co.uk/t_default-export/f_auto/application_assets/vehicles/pictures/da990225dbcac5ecfadc85d8ad4e2654/690936625217cd1efba5c9cdd4bc42f1.jpg)
