RV OPINION
"LET'S NOT PRETEND THAT RVERS ARE THE ONLY
MOTORISTS WHO DO THE WRONG THING ON OCCASION."
and caravan combos on our
roads would easily exceed
this threshold. So why the
discrepancy in licensing?
However, missing from
this 2017 report were words
such as Gross Combined
Mass, electronic stability
control, towing capacity,
load distribution – the words
we might expect to appear
in any thoughtful discussion
concerning whether
caravanners should require a
licence to tow. Rather, viewers
were shown shot after shot of
caravan rollovers.
But credit where it’s due.
Ron Chapman of Caravanning
Queensland was given the
chance to speak up on behalf
of RVers, stating that
caravan accidents accounted
for less than .01 per cent of
road accidents. An interesting
statistic.
Bruce Gow, self-confessed
‘baby boomer on the road’,
said he was concerned about
A Current Affair’s most recent
report. “It casts a negative
light on our lifestyle and on
something that I love.
Sensationalism is how these
programs improve their ratings,
that’s a given, but this was a
little too close to home.”
He believes social media
has become a platform for the
escalation of the differences
between caravanners and
truck drivers.
“What we need to do is
find a solution to the problem
as we are common users
of the national highway
systems,” he said.
“Driver attitudes are
formed by three things:
patience, tolerance, and
mutual understanding. A little
more of this would be helpful
from both sides (caravanners
and truck drivers).”
THE FUTURE
In amongst the footage
of jack-knifing caravans
and name-calling, some
newsworthy facts have been
forgotten: the RV community
is taking steps to improve
road safety and compliance.
gorv.com.au
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