Police in the East Gippsland area will be out in force over the holiday period to educate road users on caravan safety.

As part of the current Operation Roadwise, police in the East Gippsland area will be out in force over the holiday period to educate road users on caravan safety.

Local police, with the assistance of VicRoads and the Sheriff, will set up a site at the Newmerella Rest Stop on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th January from 9.30am where, amongst other tasks, they will educate travellers about caravan and tow vehicle weights, general safety around towing and how to manage fatigue on long journeys.

Acting Sergeant Graeme Shenton said the objective is not to fine every driver with a caravan that may be overweight or non-compliant with vehicle standards, rather they want to use this opportunity to educate and generate discussion around towing safety and road safety in general. Obviously, if there are any major issues with your registration, road worthiness or if you have any outstanding fines, you can expect a little more than a discussion.

We also understand representatives from various media outlets, forums, magazines, clubs, blog sites and Facebook Groups will be on site to provide first hand reporting on the operation itself. This open approach will ensure that an ongoing positive discussion about towing safety takes place in both mainstream and social media.

Again, we would encourage travellers not to avoid the area but to take advantage of the opportunity to find out whether or not they are, in fact, legal. It is rare that you can openly discuss towing safety issues with the officers who are actually tasked with enforcing the law. It will certainly be better than some of the advice and opinions shared on forums and social media.

Victoria Police will release a small media piece on the morning of the 4th on their news website and their Facebook page with further details about the Newmerella operation.

When will this take place? On the 4th and 5th of January 2017.

Where will this take place? At Newmerella rest stop. See Map http://rveethereyet.com/caravaners-subject-police-safety-operation/ .

Will you be there? If you are caravanning in the area, do take the opportunity to undertake this safety check, and understand more about various aspects of caravanning safety. Your life, and the life of other road users could depend on it.

From Facebook

Please share original on your Facebook page and on any caravanning groups you belong to.

The cops have been weighing rigs along the Princes Hwy in East Gippsland for at least the past 7 months. They also set up a roadblock on the Princes Hwy near the McKenzie River ( Bemm River Scenic Reserve ).

We saw a few rigs pulled right over to the side after obviously weighing too much, their owners were not looking happy as they were ''assisting police with their investigations''. That was back in May this year.

On another occasion this year they were doing the same thing just outside Cann River.

Also watch out for an over enthusiastic Highway Patrol near Genoa Travellers Rest Area. BOOK BOOK BOOK. Particular people driving around unhitched with their towing mirrors still attached.

-- Edited by Desert Dweller on Saturday 24th of December 2016 07:57:51 AM

Gday...

An excellent initiative. Remove ignorance with education.

However, why pick Newmerella  It really is a 'remote' location. 

Sure the Princes Hwy is chocka with vehicles between Xmas and into January with holiday makers.

However, most will be families only in vehicles and many with boats in tow - some also with small campers and caravans .. but the 'GN caravanners' will be few and far between.

Also, given the volume of traffic during the period of their 'helpful blitz', and the size of the Newmerella Rest Stop, combined with what appears to be a lengthy (but informative) lecture on the rights and wrongs of towing, they will only be able to have maybe six or seven rigs stopped at any one time. 

Each stop will take some minutes and in that time 200 vehicles will have skated pasts unaware of what they could have learned.

Anyway, as I said, it is an excellent beginning. Perhaps a better, and larger, site nearer to known caravanning/boating centres would get the message across.

I guess it is like booze-buses ... they seem to never set up outside the pub .. always some distance down the road (and not always on the road of the pub).

I do remember one time about two years ago, the Gympie constabulary and other relevant authorities, set up the scales and what-not on the road from the Rainbow Beach Van park to the ferry to Fraser Island. They had about 80% of the vehicles with boats being towed stopped off on the side of the road.

A considerable injection to the consolidated revenue was had by all I would be fairly certain. Targeting action in an area where it was most likely to find offenders - and teach lessons.

Cheers - and Merry Xmas to all - John

Motherhen wrote:

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Acting Sergeant Graeme Shenton said the objective is not to fine every driver with a caravan that may be overweight or non-compliant with vehicle standards, .....

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 Bulsh!t.

That is exactly why Police anywhere do anything like this. $$$$$$$

Forgot to say that we only have a smallish caravan that weighs 1600kg & our 2015 Nissan Navara is rated to tow 2800kg. When we went through the road block they decided not to weigh us so they breath tested the driver. They were quite rude as well.

We felt extremely sorry for the grey nomads that were obviously being booked for being overweight. Their rigs did look like they were loaded to the ''max plus'' though.

We travel the Princes Hwy often & the stretch between Sale & the VIC/NSW border is a hotbed of cops. If you head that way don't expect a smile & some friendly advise from the authorities, it'll be full on revenue raising time.

This initiative is all about education rather than enforcement so if you are in the area with your rig it is well worth a visit.

Merry Christmas to all.

Montie

montie wrote:

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This initiative is all about education rather than enforcement so if you are in the area with your rig it is well worth a visit.

Merry Christmas to all.

Montie

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Gday...

It is definitely a good initiative Monty ... but let's hope Graeme was misquoted in the above article -

"Acting Sergeant Graeme Shenton said the objective is not to fine every driver with a caravan that may be overweight or non-compliant with vehicle standards."

Or - I wonder what he meant by that. 

Cheers - John

Maybe you are happy now and even an apology woudnt go'astray. NOT one driver was booked for overweight most were found to be over in some ways.

Why was it done here. Simple The organising officer is based from Orbost also an avid caravanner like us

The results are in. Hereunder a summary of Sergeant Shenton's report on this very successful event.

Firstly, keep in mind this is just a snap shot in time. Any figures I give should not be taken as scientifically analysed in anyway. Just raw data collected from those that were weighed or spoken to over the two days.

Next, the actual going out and weighing of vans was carried out to try and alter the perception (well founded) that police do not target caravans for compliance. That perception was to be altered by allowing various members of social media forums, Facebook groups, written magazines, radio and so on to witness the activity first hand and report on it. The object being to spread the word as far as possible that the chances of being weighed have now increased. This was then going to drive conversations and discussion across social media to encourage more caravan users to think about their situation and start to make some changes. Hopefully, they themselves would then help and encourage new entrants into the market to consider weights and safety BEFORE buying their van, not after and realising they had stuffed up!

There is so much anecdotal evidence on the internet about all these big overweight vans tracking up and down the highways. I wanted to test that evidence and get some real facts. I also wanted to get an idea of how much your average caravanner knows and understands about ratings and weights

The operation was setup to coincide with a very busy period of traffic passing through the East Gippsland town of Newmerella near Orbost. Caravans were to be brought in at random to be inspected and weighed. Some did come down voluntarily after hearing about it on social media.

What happened?

Of the 80 plus caravans that passed through the site, 71 caravans were weighed. Only 1 motorhome surprisingly.

All were asked several questions

1. Do you actually know what your ratings are?
2. Have you ever weighed your rig?
3. Do you know what you weigh right now?
3. Can you provide an estimate of what you think you weigh right now?
4. Do you know where your compliance plate is?

Only 2 drivers knew all their ratings
Only 3 drivers had ever weighed their rigs
Only 3 drivers knew what they weighed at that moment.
ALL (except the 3 above) underestimated their weights as at that moment.
All knew where the compliance plate was. Two didnt have one attached.

Caravans were then weighed by my friends from Vic Roads. This was done by way of portable scales, all fully tested and certified.

GTM was measured hitched up.

Caravan was unhitched.

Ball weight was measured and ATM calculated.

These were then compared to plated ratings for the caravan and tow bar.

41 caravans were overweight in 1 or more category.

Most were within 10% of plated ratings.

5 were 20% over their plated ratings.

ATM was the most common issue, followed by actual ball weight and then tow bar capacity.

Highest over rating on ATM was 2880 kg on a plated ATM of 2600 kg.

Most over rating on ball download was 400 kg on max of 280 kg

Most over on Tow bar loading was 400 kg on max of 300 kg

Most ATM offences were in the 1500 kg to 2500 kg size vans. Camper trailers were the worst offenders. Loaded with bikes, kayaks, generators, tool boxes etc. Most of these had maximum ATM around 1650 and were consistently 100 plus kg over. These were also being towed by the smallest cars, many of them sedans that did not have the capacity to tow those weights. These were generally families of 4 or 5 and the car was also loaded up to max.

We did not have the time to weigh tow vehicles. However, those that were obviously an issue were given further advice. Overloaded tow vehicles are not included in the 41 offenders. If they had been I estimate at least another 15 or more offences against GVM and GCM would have been recorded.

Several with tinnies on the roof were weighed and none were significantly over on van weight. GVM/GCM may have been an issue.

Most notable tow vehicle offence was an older model Colorado towing a 5th wheeler. The 5th wheeler went to 3.5 tonne. The rear axle on the Colorado went 2.1 tonne. We did not unhitch. The Colorado also had boxes of tools, fuel and a generator in the back. They were full timers on the road and we had quite along chat.

Where possible, I had a look inside those vans that were overweight. The common issue here was that if you had placed items on the floor, under beds, on chairs and so on, then the van was overweight. If everything fitted into a proper cupboard and was not loose somewhere in the van, they were generally less likely to be overweight. One customer who was 350 kg over weight plead innocence as to how he could possibly be overweight. Then I opened his door and the first item at the door was an old steel 4 burner BBQ. 4 bikes to add to the 2 on the back, tents, swags, inflatable boats and lots of bags of clothes. He estimated he had 350 kg in his van. He had close to 700 kg if Tare was right.

Almost all were very surprised at what they actually weighed. Some just did not believe the scales.

Some of those using WDH believed that they allowed them to load more than ATM into the van because it would be transferred to the car via the hitch.

One person calculated what his payload could be by loading his van to ATM, then adding on what he measured his ball weight as because that came off the ATM when hitched. So ATM 3500, load to 3850 because the 350 kg was going on the tow ball and viola, back down to rated ATM. That was another long chat.

Of most concern was that most drivers had little idea of what they actually weighed. The fact we only had 41 offenders I think was more by luck than any sort of planning by the driver.

A number of those passing through were given some help in re organising their payload distribution to bring them closer to ratings.

All drivers were given a handout produced by Colin Young from the Caravan Council of Australia. This explained each of the ratings and how to weigh the rig at a weighbridge. We tried to keep the information simple to avoid info overload. Just concentrating on the van helped and when I experimented with talking tug weights, eyes would glass over and I lost them, so that was avoided.

The conversations had with drivers, co-drivers and family were far more valuable than the weight data collected. It gave an insight into how the average man thinks and what he understands about weights and safety. All expressed a desire to be compliant.

Most knew where to find the information they needed, but unfortunately complacency was apparent. The social media campaign was paramount in making this operation successful. The responses to these posts was nothing short of amazing. 100,000's of hits on each article released. Of note was that many of those reading the articles on various sites went on to click other tags that led them to caravan specific safety articles. Police media released their article on the morning of the operation. In the next two days, it was viewed over 52,000 times and over 400 comments left, mostly positive. New pictures were uploaded to police media during the two days and these continued to boost hits.

I also did 3 ABC Radio spots, 2 recorded and 1 live from the site. Local media also attended. I have either written or been interviewed by several other big caravan publications, and had calls from TV shows and other interested stakeholders from around the country. So more publicity is still to come. In essence, we have reached many 100,000's of people genuinely interested in being safe. And all we did was talk to around 80 people towing a van and post some pics of it happening.

Checks in addition to caravans

Two tickets were given for inadequate mirrors, one towing a caravan. There were tickets for unregistered, unlicensed and unroadworthy issues too. One failed drug test but no drink drivers from over 1700 tests.

The Sheriff had a massive couple of days executing over 600 warrants and collecting or arranging payments in excess of $200,000. None from caravanners.

Where to from here?

It is apparent that there is a knowledge gap amongst caravan users. This will be addressed with more of the same. More weighing, more social media. Caravanners seem to have a thirst for information and appear very receptive of advice.

We are exploring how we can get this information into the hands of new buyers in particular.

Continued focus on education for a further period of time. This will eventually have to go into enforcement but there are a whole load of issues that would need to be ironed out before that happens.

Vic Roads have signposted a change in direction and are now happy to collaborate in helping to educate caravan users. This is a change and a fair commitment from Vic Roads as obviously a large proportion of their time is taken with the heavy vehicle industry.

Looking at how to get some sort of (compulsory) towing course built into the sale of new caravans. I know some have already tried but the cost seems to be an issue, so that needs to be explored.

That course could lead to maybe a licence endorsement of some sort. However, this is a huge can of worms and has no end of pitfalls and considerations to overcome, but maybe it is time to have a proper look.

Work with manufacturers in relation to Tare weights being correctly plated. This did come up in conversations. Some had looked at the plate, estimated what the payload sort of was and believed they may be close to allowable ATM. I had to agree with some of them that it was fairly obvious the Tare was wrong from day one out of the dealers.

Together with Vic Roads, I am heading to Mallacoota in March for a few days and will be weighing all the ACC members attending the East Gippsland Muster.

My thanks to those who assisted with this publicity.

Sgt Graeme Shenton

Motherhen,

In response to the info about overweight caravans, I had my Jurgens Sungazer caravan weighed, and the actual tare weight was 178 kg more than the weight on the manufacturer's plate. We bought the van new. Up until then I had been weighing everything I put in the van and never exceeded the 300 kg payload limit. However, as the tare weight is wrong, I have been exceeding the ATM.

I have since made many enquiries of caravan repairers, parts suppliers and relevant authorities, and have been told that manufacturers are able to self certify. They are rarely checked. Even the DMT here in Queensland just took the manufacturer's plate at face value.  I should point out the dealer was from Gosford, so as not to implicate the Queensland dealers.

We told the salesman who sold us this (our first) caravan that we wanted to freecamp. He told us we could carry 300 kgs of food and belongings. He did not point out that that did not include water or gas. Innocents that we were, we assumed we could carry water, gas and our belongings. It's pretty hard to camp without water or gas. So we had water and gas and our belongings in a van which could only legally take the reduced payload of 122 kg. 

I can live with reduced water and a smaller gas bottle, but a total of 122 kg instead of the stated 300kg means our caravan is really not fit for the purpose we bought it for.

Yes, you can say we were stupid not to weigh the ATM before a trip, but it still means that there must be many owners out there who are inadvertently breaking the law. It is a huge road safety issue, and a huge insurance issue. I would be very interested to hear from others with a similar problem, and what solutions they have found. In my case Jurgens has said it's not their problem, and won't return my calls. 

-- Edited by Greybloke on Monday 8th of May 2017 07:40:33 PM

The man will be awarded an OAM.