Article: Australia's towing laws are ridiculous

[Franco Cozzo]

When well-meaning authorities and pressure groups call for reduction of the road toll it’s surprised me that no one mentions the criminally negligent situation that different lawmakers tolerate across this so-called Commonwealth.

I’m talking, of course, about the ludicrous licensing laws that allow a person with a car licence to buy a light truck with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of 4495kg and couple to it a braked trailer weighing 7000kg.

Yet that very same person cannot drive a light truck with GVM greater than 4495kg, unless he or she has a light-rigid-truck licence.

Can someone please explain how that anomaly can be logical, legal and safe?

That would be a bad enough scenario, but it gets worse.

https://www.carsales.com.au/editoria...culous-119239/

[Charliewool]

True that..

[vztrt]

Because ACA/TT hasn't done an exposé on it?

[cheap]

There is no anomaly. GVM concerns the mass of the singular vehicle and GCM is the combined mass of the vehicle and what it is towing.

I take your point to there being a perceived issue with inexperienced drivers hauling massive GCM’s but having been towing for many years, I like the authorities do not have an answer.

Why does someone driving a Mini Moke have the same license standards as someone driving a 4.495T F350/Dodge Ram? Why is 4.495T the threshold and not 8T or 2T?

I would urge caution and clear thinking as to what you ask for as the nanny state has the capability to stuff things up for everyone.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by cheap

I would urge caution and clear thinking as to what you ask for as the nanny state has the capability to stuff things up for everyone.

I agree - lets remove all the rules and regulations and let natural selection sort em out and make it Saint Peter's problem.

I'll see all you degenerates in hell, I'll bring the beer.

[BlueBear]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

I agree - lets remove all the rules and regulations and let natural selection sort em out and make it Saint Peter's problem.

I'll see all you degenerates in hell, I'll bring the beer.

You have an interesting religion..
You believe in evolution (natural selection) and God at the same time (St Peter)

Cheers,

[BlueBear]

As a grey nomad myself - my wife and I live in a converted 11mtr coach, I agree with the article in entirety.

However I take great exception to your final line.
It also brakes the forum rules. Please remove it.
Makes you sound like an over opinionated, narrow minded fool...

Yes many grey nomads are like you, always believe they have the RIGHT to do what they want, and forget about our responsibilities to others, especially on the road.

The issue at hand though is even more complicated than that article shows.
Vehicle manufacturers are advertising ridiculous towing weight capabilities.
Many with 3 tonne towing with a vehicle weighing less.
They don't mention that to tow that weight you have a very limited tare weight on the vehicle itself.
In many cases if you add the tow ball weight, fuel, driver and passenger you are already at the limit of it's capability.
But they advertise them as I tonne or more capable - just forget to mention that you can't do both, load up your 1 tonne and tow a 3 tonne caravan.

Also nearly every new motorhome and/or caravan is overweight when loaded for a trip.
Many leave the factory with 100 - 150Kg load capability, fill up the water tank and what else can you fit.
All done to stay under the magic 4495Kg rule, and 3 tonnes is the magic number for caravans.

And yes, specific drivers licences should be mandatory for any towing greater that a 1/2 tonne box trailer.

[GCRXR6]

How about a young person, loading up the 3 tonne van, with food for a month, clothing etc for the family of five, then put a 500cc bike and spare wheels, tyres, engine and fuel into the Hi-Lux for a journey out to the Alice? Sounds way over weight to me.

I guess that's fine as he is only 40 something.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by GCRXR6

How about a young person, loading up the 3 tonne van, with food for a month, clothing etc for the family of five, then put a 500cc bike and spare wheels, tyres, engine and fuel into the Hi-Lux for a journey out to the Alice? Sounds way over weight to me.

I guess that's fine as he is only 40 something.

Not so sure about grey, but certainly bald.

If I've decided to buy a big *** SUV and put a 25ft caravan behind it to play Bingo 3000km away on the opposite end of the country, driving at 75km/h and refusing to move over to be courteous to other drivers while they all bank up behind me for kilometers on end - then give me the needle.

And we all know the only places worth visiting are Melbourne and Sydney anyway - see huge population growth of these two cities

[jpd80]

Anyone who has ever towed with a fifth wheel will know why they are so popular in the USA
and why they are just so much safer than a conventional trailer tow ball set up.

Larger vehicles towing larger weights would seem to be at odds with safety until you realise that the extra width on vehicles like F250/ Ram2500 actually helps stabilize towing heavier loads. Larger vehicles and larger trailers all have better brakes so everything is in proportion and probably much safer than someone towing overweight in a smaller combination.

I won't even begin with 100Kg towball weight of European regs, if you want to risk a tank slapper situation with insufficient weight to stabilize a heavy trailer, then go right ahead...

[roKWiz]

franco, one of y little trucks is a 4495 GVM and is only allowed to tow its own weight.
Sitting here in this caravan park I watch this everyday, overloaded caravans, motorhomes and campers rolling in.
Scares the c**p out of me when I see a large 5th wheel (30ft+) being pulled by a twin cab ute or this new wave of single rear wheel axle (no dual wheels) type of motorhome.
Blowing a rear tyre on a dual is not a problem but I would hate to see what happens on these

I agree with jpd80 the 5th wheelers are more stable combination especially behind the bigger, longer WB F's, GMC and Dodges particularly duallies.
.
Most of the bus conversions look great to me and well set up, though I have come across a few who own them thinking they can drive them on a light truck licence.
NSW north coast had a few blitz on overweight caravans and I reckon it will become a more common occurrence. Thank god.

I did notice recently more weight stations have lowered the GVM to 4.5T (not 8T previously) for vehicles that must enter.

[prydey]

for all the carry on that these articles and threads generate, it is all largely theory and sensationalism.

as a percentage of vehicle accidents, towing/towed vehicles are a very very small minority.

the biggest critics are often those who look in from the outside as well.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by prydey

for all the carry on that these articles and threads generate, it is all largely theory and sensationalism.

as a percentage of vehicle accidents, towing/towed vehicles are a very very small minority.

the biggest critics are often those who look in from the outside as well.

We will see, when we see more roadside inspections being carried out especially up north on the major caravanning routes.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

We will see, when we see more roadside inspections being carried out especially up north on the major caravanning routes.

we will see what?

if they did roadside inspections of all vehicles on the road, those in the towing category would still be a minority.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by prydey

we will see what?

if they did roadside inspections of all vehicles on the road, those in the towing category would still be a minority.

But they're not targeting every vehicle, just caravans and motorhomes due to the new GCM law that came into effect last year.

[hayseed]

Originally Posted by prydey

for all the carry on that these articles and threads generate, it is all largely theory and sensationalism.

as a percentage of vehicle accidents, towing/towed vehicles are a very very small minority.

the biggest critics are often those who look in from the outside as well.

My Wife has an uncle who recently retired as the Surgeon at Broken Hill Hospital. He tells us that Grey Nomads Putting their kids Inheritance "Base over Apex" was the single biggest source "customers" followed by Farm Quad Bikes..

Personally I think that all Dualcab Utes should only be allowed to Tow 2500kg Max, this 3.5 Tonne ****ing contest they've indulged in needs to be reversed.

Speaking as someone who has Owned & Operated Semitrailers for 29 years,& Has to dodge 'em on a Daily basis. i don't know what the answer is.

One thing I do know though, Bad driving isn't limited to people towing Caravans..

[XR Martin]

Even the Ram's 1500 4.5t tow limit is a bit of a joke, towing that much you have less than 100kg payload before you're over the gcm.

[jpd80]

Originally Posted by XR Martin

Even the Ram's 1500 4.5t tow limit is a bit of a joke, towing that much you have less than 100kg payload before you're over the gcm.

The trick there is you throw all the payload into the trailer (except passengers)
anyone who has seen the size of a 4500 kg trailer will be chuckling by now...

We often talk about this on US sites and it comes out this is the standard tow rating,
some versions can tow up to 12,000 lbs which is 5.5 T, getting pretty big for a 1500.
Move to a HD2500 truck and you can tow up to 18,000 lbs with plenty of payload

[Crazy Dazz]

Meh, the rant about licensing and trailers is an old one,

but it presupposes that somebody with a HR or HC licence is in some way better qualified than someone without.

Bottom line is that there are a lot of ****wits on the road. This includes people who are just plain stupid, those who are inattentive and careless, people who don't understand physics or worse adhere to various old wives tales, and yes, those with an overinflated sense of entitlement.
Unfortunately these ****wits are spread evenly across all user groups.

[Nikked]

I'd rather a "grey nomad" who has spent the kids inheritance on a impressive towing set up, over blokes towing cars in there falcodores who probably haven't checked their tow rating...

[JasonACT]

I hope my 79yo mother spends everything she has in/on enjoying the next 31+ years I hope she has on this planet.