23-09-2014 6:36 PM
23-09-2014 6:43 PM
When we used to tow a caravan when the children were young, we usually travelled overnight. Much less hassle with traffic hold-ups, plus the children used to sleep most of the way.
23-09-2014 7:06 PM
Sounds like a very good idea. Especially down here in the West Country.
24-09-2014 9:27 AM
Perhaps we should turn that on its head and ony allow lorries etc. on the roads between 7pm and 6am to reduce the volume of traffic during the day.
Folks towing caravans are no slower or more of a problem than many of the idiots on the road. Why should they be restricted. Can you imagine the difficulty of trying to find a strange campsite in the dark, especially at night with few folks about to ask directions. What of the campsite owners, having to be up all night to deal with folks arriving. What of the folks already on the campsite, trying to sleep and being disturbed by new arrivals.
24-09-2014 10:05 AM
All good points Stroppy. I hadn't thought of that! lol
24-09-2014 10:34 AM
We used to time it so we arrived at a reasonable time in the morning, say 8 am. You could usually drive in and pitch up before the office was open if necessary. Another ploy was to pull into a layby a few miles before where we were heading and either have a kip (him, not me, I don't sleep on any journey) or even put the legs down and have breakfast.
Of course things have probably changed in the 30 plus years since we used to do it.
24-09-2014 11:19 AM
24-09-2014 11:48 AM
Perhaps we should turn that on its head and ony allow lorries etc. on the roads between 7pm and 6am to reduce the volume of traffic during the day.
You probably wouldn't be so keen if you lived in close proximity to a main road and were trying to get to sleep.
Perhaps the answer is not to use a car unless it's really necessary, over a third of car journeys are of a distance that the average person could easliy walk and two thirds are for distances that could be walked or cycled.
24-09-2014 11:53 AM
24-09-2014 2:36 PM
@bankhaunter wrote:Perhaps we should turn that on its head and ony allow lorries etc. on the roads between 7pm and 6am to reduce the volume of traffic during the day.
You probably wouldn't be so keen if you lived in close proximity to a main road and were trying to get to sleep.
Perhaps the answer is not to use a car unless it's really necessary, over a third of car journeys are of a distance that the average person could easliy walk and two thirds are for distances that could be walked or cycled.
Good one, except you don't know why the journeys are being made. EG I can walk to B&Q and back but not carrying what I want and not without risking my life(as many people do every day) crossing the motorway slip road.
Not all of us have the time to walk everywhere. I was going to the bank last week but things happened, the cheques are still sitting there waiting. Not driving at the moment but by car it is 15/20 minutes + any shopping time. On foot or by bus it's an hour + without shopping which I wouldn't be able to carry. Time is money when it is business and a couple of low value cheques don't have that much priority.
The best answer to caravans is, regrettably, training - how to load, how to tow and how to brake would be good.
24-09-2014 9:57 PM
Talking of some of the idiots on the roads these days, there's one who lives near me and the fastest he can drive his car is 25 mph. It can cause just as many problems as people driving too fast.
25-09-2014 10:57 PM
Come live with the lunatics, Books. Round here people do struggle to understand that if I am doing 20 or 30 then it is almost certainly because the car in front of me is doing that speed as is the car in front of him and the car in front of him...................................................... Well actually on most of our roadsat the moment you'd be lucky to crack 20 in daylight hours!.
26-09-2014 9:59 AM
Where my daughters lives the entrances to the side roads were made sharper to make it easier for pedestrians and to slow down vehicles entering from the main road.
One of her neighbours had a caravan and had real problems getting it out on to the main road.