It was a Jayco Heritage towed by a Toyota Prado. As well as normal loading there were four people, two dogs and a cat in the Prado.
Somehow the driver lost control and sideswiped an Armco barrier then struck a tree. Sadly, two people and a dog were killed - the cat disappeared. A photo with the article appears to show heavy braking marks on the road.
By my reckoning the Heritage would be almost on the Prado's limits without loading or passengers.
It was a Jayco Heritage towed by a Toyota Prado. As well as normal loading there were four people, two dogs and a cat in the Prado. Somehow the driver lost control and sideswiped an Armco barrier then struck a tree. Sadly, two people and a dog were killed - the cat disappeared. A photo with the article appears to show heavy braking marks on the road. By my reckoning the Heritage would be almost on the Prado's limits without loading or passengers. Murray
Hi Murray...I reckon youd be right on the money there! Prado has GVM of 2990kg and tares at around 2330kg.Add towball weight of around 235kg (10% of Heritage ATM 2350kg),20kg animals (?),280kg for 4 passengers,150kg fuel (Capacity is 150 litres,I think?).And we are already over our GVM....without luggage,bullbar,weight of actual towbar structure,or any of the other gear usually carried.And we wont even mention rear axle capacity!Unfortunately this occurs with monotonous regularity,as evidenced by a recent free weighing exercise conducted,where 70% of car/van combinations were overweight.As well as the trauma an accident can cause,the driver risks having any insurance claim denied because the vehicle was being operated outside its limitations.Many vans are being towed by cars that are way too light for the job,with the current crop of twin cab utes being in that group.There is absolutely no way known that these 6000kg GCM utes can SAFELY tow 3500kg.NO WAY. Cheers
Following investigations by police from Northern Tableland Crash Investigation Unit, the driver was charged with doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice, two charges of dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. He has also been charged with towing with an inadequate attachment and towing too much weight.
Amongst other things he was charged with towing too much weight.
Following investigations by police from Northern Tableland Crash Investigation Unit, the driver was charged with doing an act intending to pervert the course of justice, two charges of dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm. He has also been charged with towing with an inadequate attachment and towing too much weight.Amongst other things he was charged with towing too much weight.
Thanks for that Montie....I believe that one of the deceased was the wife of the driver? This tragic incident will be no doubt be with this chap for the rest of his life,and at least part of the cause of the accident was the use of an unsuitable car to tow the van. Unfortunately,there are thousands of people out there like him,trying to make their cars do things for which they were not designed.Cheers.
Absolutely right on the money yobarr.
Have just returned home after another lap of the country and some of the sights in terms of illegal rigs, was positively mind boggling, particularly in Queensland.
For instance, a park we pulled into had a 40' van on 4 axles had 3 aircons and 5 power input leads to drive it all. I looked at it thinking that he must have a truck or similar to tow it as it would have to be 4 or 5 tonnes surely, given what my 21' van weighs fully laden. Off he goes with the thing on the back of a BT50. Now I tow with a Ranger which is the sister to the BT50, so am very intimate with its towing limitations and I know for a fact that that little lot should not be anywhere near a public road in combination. My Ranger and van are legal but not by any great margin. I had it weighed before this last trip fully laden complete with wife and self.
The whole trip around though there were no authorities doing weighing of vans that we saw, so the chances of these people getting stopped seems to be pretty slim.
Absolutely right on the money yobarr. Have just returned home after another lap of the country and some of the sights in terms of illegal rigs, was positively mind boggling, particularly in Queensland. For instance, a park we pulled into had a 40' van on 4 axles had 3 aircons and 5 power input leads to drive it all. I looked at it thinking that he must have a truck or similar to tow it as it would have to be 4 or 5 tonnes surely, given what my 21' van weighs fully laden. Off he goes with the thing on the back of a BT50. Now I tow with a Ranger which is the sister to the BT50, so am very intimate with its towing limitations and I know for a fact that that little lot should not be anywhere near a public road in combination. My Ranger and van are legal but not by any great margin. I had it weighed before this last trip fully laden complete with wife and self. The whole trip around though there were no authorities doing weighing of vans that we saw, so the chances of these people getting stopped seems to be pretty slim.
I have towed a 4 room donger and it weighed buggar all, normally when towed there is nothing left in them, maybe a dirty pair of socks
This wasn't an empty donga but a full on caravan complete with bells and whistles.
I don't know how to post a picture on here because otherwise I would.
This wasn't an empty donga but a full on caravan complete with bells and whistles. I don't know how to post a picture on here because otherwise I would.
Thanks Greg....I was going to respond in a similar manner,but decided not to,as it is obvious that some members only look at posts by others,and do not actually read and process the contents.Cheers
PS.Perhaps a more learned member could tell you how to post a picture? I have no idea how to do so,but I would be interested to have a look.
When you start to type in your reply, look at the bottom of the window, you will see a box "Advanced editor" click on that and you will go into a -- of course an "Advanced editor", there you will see "Up-load files" just follow the prompts.
When you start to type in your reply, look at the bottom of the window, you will see a box "Advanced editor" click on that and you will go into a -- of course an "Advanced editor", there you will see "Up-load files" just follow the prompts.
Greg, sounds like you are in Activeboard, the mobile site of GN. You need to go into Full screen mode to see all functions. On a small screen, you might need to Zoom out and pan left or right to view everything.
Just another reason GN needs a true app or use a forum reader service like Tapatalk.
