Is it expected we tow our camper at the speed limit??

[Bird]

Nanango to Kilcoy yesterday, towing the Q on the speed limit. Young miss y-gen screaches to a halt at a side street, thankfully realising that she wouldn't make it onto the highway without me T-boning her.

She then proceeds to overtake me across double white lines, leading to a sweeping left hand bend that she couldn't see around.  And then overtook the car in front, again across double white lines.

And they say bikers are temporary Australians! 

She gets around. She was on Colouredburn road this morning texting while taking up 3 lanes in a....... MICRA! And I got the glare from her when I pulled up alongside her... 
If anyones loking for a secretary, judging the speed her fingers were texting at, I'd say easily 120/wpm.

[Bird]

I found a solution - anyone over 60 and ALL caravaners needs one of these fitted

 

[barneys]

the posted sign is the limit not the challenge

[Brumbypt]

A mate just got back from america and he said there is a minimum and max speed limits over there. So they have a  speed envelope to drive in..


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[hairymick]

I have a old falcon panelvan and a home built trailer that i put electric brakes on.
I drive slower for a few reasons.
-My panelvanvan has 380 000 odd thousand k's on the orig motor, so she sometimes doesnt have the steam for some hills
-My van has ancient braking system so i like to leave a gap in front of me that i can feel comfortable with, if anyone has driven and old falcon they know what i mean.
 (and damn you little car drivers thinking that gap is for them....)
-If i cant do the signed limit i am the first one to call on the UHF and let anyone know i will pull over for them to pass once safe and i do pull over and wave people through. (not to many replies though on uhf i must add.)
-Also the fact i love my van, she goes everywhere and doesnt let us down too much for all i put it through.

I now live on the road full time and am loving it, need to get me some Myswag stickers so least you know who your yelling at for holding you up.
But i am not going to stop seeing this amazing country of ours!


Gecko

Good on ya mate!

We have a Kimberley and a Navara D22 with a little 2.5 litre motor. Any hill will slow the rig down and many force change downs to 4th or third or even second on some occasions.

We routinely sit on around 85 to 95 on the flat and let anybody who wants to pass do so when safe. If some impatient basterd can't wait five minutes or so for us to get over the hill or find a safe place to pull over for them, then they can just piss off.

I am rapidly approaching 60. My reaction time is not what it once might have been and I think many of the caravaners  are in the same boat. They drive at speeds they are comfortable with. Sure not all are blessed with courtesy or good manners but then again, neither are all trailer campers.

The speed limit is the maximum speed allowed, not the speed at which every driver must travel at.

Please take a word of caution from an old goat. Slow down a bit, enjoy the ride. The destination is only part of the journey.

[Bird]

A mate just got back from america and he said there is a minimum and max speed limits over there. So they have a  speed envelope to drive in..

In reality its the same here.. you can get fined for going too slow here - apparently... I'd say that would never have happened EVER though.

[Barry G]

In reality its the same here.. you can get fined for going too slow here - apparently... I'd say that would never have happened EVER though.

A gazillions years ago, in the days of MPH and unrestricted speed limits, a copper pulled a woman over for doing under 60mph on the Geelong - Melbourne road in peak hour and gave her a warning for driving slowly, "don't you realise people need to get to work?" he asked.  Gave her a warning and sent her on her way.
Of course, back then the road was 2 lanes each way, no Maltby By-Pass etc.

[DRB120]

I had a Police Officer walk into work this morning and asked the question"Can you get booked for going too slow?" His reply was yes if it is a safety issue or causing large delays, he mentioned in 22 years of policing he has only written 1 ticket for driving too slow and that was for a young P Plater that was doing 60Km/h on the Bruce Highway heading towards Rockhampton and holding up alot of traffic for no good reason at all.

So it does happen, but must be relatively rare.

[Burga]

In WA you can get booked for going to slow. Not that I know anybody that has been booked. 20/kmh below the speed limit on a freeway is an offence I was told by a police officer (old mate of mine)
My Nana still drives but my grandad has handed his licence back some 15 yrs ago. She drives slower than the posted speed limit but does not travel on any freeways, just down to the local shop for groceries and maybe out to lunch occasionally. She is 84 yrs young. 
They have owned many ct's and caravan in their time and she still travels at a speed she feels comfortable with. They were the reason I got the camping bug at a very young age.

My opinion is you drive to what you are comfortable with, towing a ct or not. Obviously observing the maximum speed limit (you don't want a speeding ticket on your holiday)
I will be towing our ct between 95-100. My main reason is fuel economy. Less fuel........ more 

Enjoy the drive..........your destination is not going anywhere.
 

[dungee]

Everyone is in a rush these days, take a minute and enjoy the trip.   I sound like an old fart!

[_Gecko_]

diggin old thread i know....
But i just did Mount Tamborine with our full load and trailer, wow, yep the old panelvan felt all of her 380 odd thousand k's on her clock...
We were sitting at 35 in the steepest parts, but i was smart enough to wait till a truck came to follow it up. Makes it look like he was holding us up hahaha.
Now we hit toowoomba and coming up the range we sat between two trucks and just took our time with them.
The only bad part was the lack of fresh air up the range for the radiator... and we now have a hole in the rear core plug.
Still ticking along, just havent done the radiator cap on tight and let the water flow and we dont lose too much.
So far we have had to replace the radiator, all coolant hoses, the core plugs in the side of the block and have the final one in the glove box and a new water pump in the trailer for just in case.
loving this country from tassie all the way up.
Gecko and Dex.
Living on the road 16mths and counting.

[Blueroo]

Be mindful of what is stamped on the trailer compliance plate. They have a maximum speed on the plate. I used to tow the camper trailer at 110km/hr in 110km/hr zones thinking I was legal. Checked the plate and it had a maximum speed of 100km/hr. Bummer. 

With the van we drive to conditions with a very well set up rig and sit on 95 to 100km/hr (except for the big hills and depending on wind) and find slow car drivers to be a problem. particularly the clever ones that speed up when they come to overtaking lanes.
Cheers
Stue

[doc evil]

What pi$$es me of is the clowns who insist on towing their tajmahal modconned block of flats slap bang in the middle of their bit of road. You come up on 'em and they won't budge over to the fog line (or shoulder if no fog line) so you can see past them to overtake. Nor do they have any concept of the unwritten law of the road with the indicator flick to pass. Then after you have had ya head outta the window to try and see past em, spotted ya gap, they still don't acknowledge that you are overtaking them, the rotten sods drift toward the centreline as if it's a crime to overtake............hence I try to do most of my driving after 4pm, thru the night until 9am. Their off having tea and scones or taken up some road side stop for an overnighter.........

[speewa158]

1st rule of CT towing
   Whats behind you doesn't matter its history 
l call it " Butterfly Netting get 4 or 5 behind you them pullover to let them pass , sometimes you cal collect the same clown twice . That's part of the journey 

[#jonesy]

or do they have any concept of the unwritten law of the road with the indicator flick to pass.

I hate that one.  I don't see it much these days I got caught out years ago when I thought it was for me to overtake, but it was a late I'm turning right.

Last time it happened was a few months ago on the Sturt Highway.  I was just moving out to overtake a caravan whose speed was up and down. I got the "flick" from him so I pulled back in, in case I missed something.  Hate it.  Just move over to the left of the lane and let me decide when to overtake

[chester ver2.0]

I hate that one.  I don't see it much these days I got caught out years ago when I thought it was for me to overtake, but it was a late I'm turning right.

Last time it happened was a few months ago on the Sturt Highway.  I was just moving out to overtake a caravan whose speed was up and down. I got the "flick" from him so I pulled back in, in case I missed something.  Hate it.  Just move over to the left of the lane and let me decide when to overtake

Agree the indicator flick is to open to interpretation Unless there is a two way conversation on the UHF then it is bad luck

[Bird]

What pi$$es me of is the clowns who insist on towing their tajmahal modconned block of flats slap bang in the middle of their bit of road. You come up on 'em and they won't budge over to the fog line (or shoulder if no fog line) so you can see past them to overtake. Nor do they have any concept of the unwritten law of the road with the indicator flick to pass. Then after you have had ya head outta the window to try and see past em, spotted ya gap, they still don't acknowledge that you are overtaking them, the rotten sods drift toward the centreline as if it's a crime to overtake............hence I try to do most of my driving after 4pm, thru the night until 9am. Their off having tea and scones or taken up some road side stop for an overnighter.........

run them off the road.

[dazzler]

Then after you have had ya head outta the window to try and see past em,

Don't sit so close.

Drop right off them and read the road ahead (tree line , power lines, centre road markings).  When you know the road is going to open up and you could overtake if clear start accelerating so you catch them as it opens with steam up. 


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[doc evil]

Don't sit so close.

Drop right off them and read the road ahead (tree line , power lines, centre road markings).  When you know the road is going to open up and you could overtake if clear start accelerating so you catch them as it opens with steam up. 


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Getting past speed wise ain't the issue, it's what's coming at me...........
anyways, you'd have to be 5km back to see past the clowns as they have the drivers wheel of the tajmahal on the centreline..............

[jillybean]

 

l call it " Butterfly Netting get 4 or 5 behind you then pullover to let them pass.

+1 - Patience & consideration does wonders for stress levels

I happened to be looking through my vehicle manual for some info last weekend and re-read the section where it says that if I am towing an unbraked trailer (which my old aussie swag is) my speed should not exceed 80kph.  Towing at 80kph on the flat wouldn't make me too many friends but if something did happen I assume there may be some insurance problems if I was exceeding this speed. 

[wilson79]

I hate that one.  I don't see it much these days I got caught out years ago when I thought it was for me to overtake, but it was a late I'm turning right.

Last time it happened was a few months ago on the Sturt Highway.  I was just moving out to overtake a caravan whose speed was up and down. I got the "flick" from him so I pulled back in, in case I missed something.  Hate it.  Just move over to the left of the lane and let me decide when to overtake

I used to be a fan of the indicator flick but no more.

I was driving an Iveco bus for work which has the Indicators and wipers switched around, I had a bloke up my clacker wanting to get around and it was raining, I had moved over to the fog line and was going to give him the indicator flick to come around when the coast was clear when I decided to flick the wipers on to clear the windscreen from the rain and you guessed it I hit the bloody indicator. Well old mate come flying around me and there was a car coming the other way, luckily he realised in time and ducked back in and when he got around me he gave me the good ole death stare and middle finger.. I felt like absolute S*%t about it and now no longer do the Indicator flick if I need to travel slow I just keep hard left and back off when they come around, or pull over completely..

[Dingo0163]

In the MPH days didn't you have to flash your headlights at the car in front of you to show you intend to overtake them? That's in Vic. 

[briann532]

I've been reading some of these posts and agree with most, but they still all suggest its ok to drive under the limit and people should just slow down and enjoy the ride.

Yes that's true, but what if people choose not to?
They are legally allowed to travel at or just below the speed limit and have the right not to be held up because someone else wants to go slow.
I know when I head away somewhere, the first few hours are just driving on the boring highway to get the heck out of dodge and I don't want to go slow and enjoy the scenery.
Streams of mundane cars along the Hume highway is not that exciting. Or perhaps I missed something???

As others have already posted - YES, its ok to drive under the speed limit, but just be considerate of other road users.

As with most posts on this forum the logical answer is to just we aware and considerate of others.
(smoking, driving, camping, noise, and almost anything else in life.......)

I was always taught to treat others how I want to be treated, and I live to that, but these days it seems to be a one way street.

I'm starting to think about becoming a hermit. (near a pub of course)

Brian

[HEM19X]

I used to be a fan of the indicator flick but no more.

Ditto, If someone wants to overtake me, I let them make the decision... I try to make it as easy as possible [fog line etc] BUT I won't confuse them as I have also been caught out with on coming cars.

[gurules]

100ks is nice normally in no hurry when towing and ya can all pass
rub your ears and go emmmmmmmm emmmmmm it works