Towing experts talk road safety in Port Stephens

TOWING experts shared potentially life-saving road safety advice at a community workshop in Raymond Terrace on Sunday, 22 March.

To ensure the sizeable population of campervan and caravan users across the region is properly informed of best practices for towing vehicles, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) funded a series of workshops around the Hunter.

On Sunday at the Raymond Terrace Senior Citizens and Community Hall, Port Stephens Council’s Road Safety and Traffic Officer Anna Brown and towing experts John Eggenhuizen (Tow-Ed) and Graham Cummings offered an informative presentation explaining all the dos and don’ts of towing safety.

The talk spanned a wide range of topics, from mirror position and plate visibility to speed and weight limits.
The presenters also answered practical questions and cleared up potentially dangerous misconceptions.

“It’s an absolute minefield,” said Mr Cummings.
“We’ve seen over 2000 vans in the last four to five years, and about 48 percent of them are over their maximum allowed weight.
“That’s the worst we’ve ever recorded.”

The presentation also involved a model demonstration utilising a miniature towing vehicle over a treadmill, showing how incorrect weight distribution can very easily cause severe swaying.
With respect to issues like vehicle swaying, Cummings said relying on common knowledge without the proper experience can very easily prove to be a dangerous, if not deadly, affair.

“If you’re like me, you’ve been told by your father that when your trail is swaying you should speed up,” he said.

“And that’s great, if your goal is to demonstrate the most spectacular accident.”

Anna Brown of Port Stephens Council expressed the hope that the success of this series of workshops will lead to increased funding for road safety, so that similar projects can be organised in the future.

“It’s all about creating safe environments on the road for everybody,” she said.

By Nico LOMBARDO