"THERE'S A LOT OF UNFAIR ATTENTION GOING TO MANUFACTURERS WHEN THIS IS A
FAR MORE COMPLEX ISSUE AND JUST BECAUSE OF A BIT OF DASH CAM FOOTAGE ...
THE WHOLE INDUSTRY IS PUT UNDER REVIEW."
STUART LAMONT, CIAA
BACK TO THE STATS
Con Tsobanopoulos, CEO of one of Australia's
leading RV insurers, Ken Tame, says of all its
caravan claims in the last calendar year, 50%
were vehicle damage relating to an accident
where the driver was at fault.
Another 23% were windscreen damage or
glass claims and 12% awnings. The remainder
were vehicle damage where the driver was not
at fault or theft claims.
"From my personal perspective and based
on statistics, a fundamental issue which
needs to be addressed, is driver education.
Unfortunately, regardless of the number of years
driving experience you may have with a motor
vehicle, when towing a substantially heavier
vehicle behind you everything changes" says
Tsobanopoulos.
"From the control of your vehicle, through
to breaking distances and your reaction time
to remedy a situation, the dynamics change
dramatically, then there’s things like ensuring
you have the right tyre pressure when towing, as
well as distributing the weight evenly amongst
the caravan – these are absolutely vital for
safety.
"An under inflated tyre or an unevenly
distributed payload are a disaster waiting to
happen. These are simple messages which are
often forgotten with all of the excitement that
builds in preparation for our long awaited road-
trip."
Tourism Holdings Limited (THL) CEO Grant
Webster agrees, saying the majority of accidents
SAFETY