RV MAIL
LETTERS FROM THE ROAD
Note: This is a letter sent to Queensland roads
minister Mark Bailey by a GoRV reader. It has
been lightly edited for reasons of space.
ACCIDENT WAITING TO HAPPEN
I write with utmost concern re the state of a
section of the Gregory Development Road south
of Greenvale, North Queensland.
I have been towing single and dual-axle trailers
for over 48 years and currently a caravan.
Approximately 30km south of Greenvale, the two-
lane road changes to a single-lane right on the
crest of a hill. The road continues to change from
two to one lane several times over the next 30km.
The speed limit for this section is 100km/h,
but I felt 70km/h towing a van was the safest
maximum. As I entered a right-hand corner, I
slowed to about 50km/h and kept left. To my
horror, a road train was coming straight at me,
with the third trailer taking up the entire road. I
braked and moved as far left as possible.
The road train did not appear to slow at all. It
moved to the left but completely enshrouded us
in dust and light gravel, reducing visibility to zero.
It is my view that the single-lane sections of this
road need urgent upgrading. In the interim, the
single-lane sections should have a maximum limit
of 60km/h for all vehicles.
Before a fatality occurs, I hope you will take
some action.
Peter Thackeray
STEAMED OVER ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Regarding your article (Tomorrow’s Tow Vehicles,
GoRV #28) displaying a Tesla vehicle, I don’t
know how much you journalists are paid to push
electric vehicles or whether you’re blind to the
potential problems down the track!
Did I hear correctly that a new Tesla battery
will cost around $40,000? As we all know with
batteries, they don’t last forever. A new battery
will give greater performance than an older
battery. A new battery in a vehicle may give
a range of 500km but very soon, two to three
years, it will only be giving 380-400km. I’ve heard
the talk-back shows with people who have hybrid
vehicles telling us their woes!
Time and convenience is of the essence and
nothing electrical (at this stage) will beat or
replace our petrol/diesel engines in this regard,
no matter how hard you want to push them.
Stuart Wraf
Via email
Thanks for your feedback, Stuart. We have
no interest, financial or otherwise, in ‘pushing’
electric vehicles. We featured this article because
a) this is the direction in which vehicle technology
is travelling, and b) we believed it would be of
interest to our readers.
TOMORROW’S TOW VEHICLES
Via email
If you have an opinion or thought about the RV lifestyle, or about this digital
magazine, we’d like to hear it! Email your feedback to [email protected]
4 \