I have just spent the last four months driving through a number of countries in Europe, and was amazed by the number of vans on the roads and not one of them over 16 foot. When in Austria I saw a large caravan park with plenty of vans so I stopped and wandered in, where there was a group of people enjoying a happy hour.
I politely asked if I could discuss something that was puzzling and I was made very welcome, I asked why there were no vans larger than 16 foot and they told me there are two main reasons 1. larger vans require the driver to have a truck licence people who travel in caravans especially in the United Kingdom couldn't negotiate the extremely narrow and windy roads with a van greater than 18 foot, I did see a number of Motor Holmes that were larger in size but again I was told you must have a truck licence.
I told them about our great Grey Nomads forum and left a number of them with the web address and the happy hour group asked me to say Gday to our members with an aussie accent so "Gday everyone".
Also noticed that nobody used torsion bars when towing no matter how small the car and the tow bar looked much less substantial than the tow bars we are required to use here, there is no such thing as a break away braking system but most vans did have a single chain between drawbar and tow vehicle. all of my driving was in a 9 seat Fiat van as we also had other family members with us, we had a fantastic driving holiday over four months but now back and heading down the coast with my van to sleep and fish.
Ozzie_Traveller said
09:28 AM Sep 24, 2016
G'day Guru
A most interesting post and your observations are beaut too
You describe their style of driving as being much different from ours - roads? speeds? bumps? and maybe it all affects the legal side of things
ps- I know from years ago, my dad when visiting UK at age 72 was refused a rental vehicle as "he was too old to be a competent driver", even tho he told them that in Oz he was driving 15,000km per year up & down eastern Oz. The people over there could not comprehend anyone except a professional truckie even doing more than 5000km per year
Phil
macka17 said
01:47 PM Sep 24, 2016
And MOST other country's stipulate a truck licence.
Specially for old farts with 50 yrs of a Holden and 6x4 to the dump.
Some of these (a LOT of). Modern vans,
are quite a lot bigger than small trucks.
ALL of which have to have truck licence.
Again.
What makes US any different to ALL others on the roads????.
It HAS to change. for safety's sake alone.
I reckon anybody towing a van more than say 18ft body length.
Should have to take a light semi licence test. or truck/heavy truck licence
depending on size/weight of trailer.
ALL 5thers should have a Semi Licence.
It IS one.
The shortest Semi tray is normally 20 ft.
Shorter than a lot of caravans.
The law is starting to clamp down on weights and safety of rigs.
Licencing WILL be next.
Get ahead of them, or a lot will be selling caravans (bigger ones anyway)
Peter_n_Margaret said
02:27 PM Sep 24, 2016
In Australia, a car licence is OK for vehicles up to 4.5T GVM.
In Europe a car licence is OK for vehicles up to 3.5T GVM.
A very big difference.
Any vehicle over 3.5T GVM is limited to a maximum of 80kph on all roads (including those without general speed limits in Germany) in most of Europe.
4WDs are a rare requirement in most of Europe.
Toll fees and ferry fees escalate rapidly if the vehicle is long (over 6M) or over 3.5T GVM.
I have just spent the last four months driving through a number of countries in Europe, and was amazed by the number of vans on the roads and not one of them over 16 foot. When in Austria I saw a large caravan park with plenty of vans so I stopped and wandered in, where there was a group of people enjoying a happy hour.
I politely asked if I could discuss something that was puzzling and I was made very welcome, I asked why there were no vans larger than 16 foot and they told me there are two main reasons 1. larger vans require the driver to have a truck licence people who travel in caravans especially in the United Kingdom couldn't negotiate the extremely narrow and windy roads with a van greater than 18 foot, I did see a number of Motor Holmes that were larger in size but again I was told you must have a truck licence.
I told them about our great Grey Nomads forum and left a number of them with the web address and the happy hour group asked me to say Gday to our members with an aussie accent so "Gday everyone".
Also noticed that nobody used torsion bars when towing no matter how small the car and the tow bar looked much less substantial than the tow bars we are required to use here, there is no such thing as a break away braking system but most vans did have a single chain between drawbar and tow vehicle. all of my driving was in a 9 seat Fiat van as we also had other family members with us, we had a fantastic driving holiday over four months but now back and heading down the coast with my van to sleep and fish.
A most interesting post and your observations are beaut too
You describe their style of driving as being much different from ours - roads? speeds? bumps? and maybe it all affects the legal side of things
ps- I know from years ago, my dad when visiting UK at age 72 was refused a rental vehicle as "he was too old to be a competent driver", even tho he told them that in Oz he was driving 15,000km per year up & down eastern Oz. The people over there could not comprehend anyone except a professional truckie even doing more than 5000km per year
Phil
Specially for old farts with 50 yrs of a Holden and 6x4 to the dump.
Some of these (a LOT of). Modern vans,
are quite a lot bigger than small trucks.
ALL of which have to have truck licence.
Again.
What makes US any different to ALL others on the roads????.
It HAS to change. for safety's sake alone.
I reckon anybody towing a van more than say 18ft body length.
Should have to take a light semi licence test. or truck/heavy truck licence
depending on size/weight of trailer.
ALL 5thers should have a Semi Licence.
It IS one.
The shortest Semi tray is normally 20 ft.
Shorter than a lot of caravans.
The law is starting to clamp down on weights and safety of rigs.
Licencing WILL be next.
Get ahead of them, or a lot will be selling caravans (bigger ones anyway)
In Europe a car licence is OK for vehicles up to 3.5T GVM.
A very big difference.
Any vehicle over 3.5T GVM is limited to a maximum of 80kph on all roads (including those without general speed limits in Germany) in most of Europe.
4WDs are a rare requirement in most of Europe.
Toll fees and ferry fees escalate rapidly if the vehicle is long (over 6M) or over 3.5T GVM.
Cheers,
Peter