Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: miggy on 08 October 2007, 22:32:46
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Lets do a poll,
Lots of talk at the moment in Goverment on Tax, MOTs Testing etc
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2007 Abbey GTS 416 :)
http://www.swiftleisure.co.uk/Caravans/Abbey/GTS/Properties/ModelID-112?scrollLeft=0&scrollTop=0
:)
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Lets do a poll,
Lots of talk at the moment in Goverment on Tax, MOTs Testing etc
Thats cos politicians don't go in caravans or own them ::)..................anything to grab some cash >:(..............thats why I have a tent, lets hope they don't want to tax them next, or Jaime and Timbuk will be paying the highest tent tax in the country ;D ;D
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Lets do a poll,
Lots of talk at the moment in Goverment on Tax, MOTs Testing etc
Thats cos politicians don't go in caravans or own them ::)..................anything to grab some cash >:(..............thats why I have a tent, lets hope they don't want to tax them next, or Jaime and Timbuk will be paying the highest tent tax in the country ;D ;D
What do they have, poly tunnels
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Not against them as such but they should be tested as should anyone who wants to pull one (ooer)
I know given my trade it's easy for me to sit in judgement and many caravanners maintain thier vans and know how to tow/reverse them but thier are as many who do'nt have a clue and these are a danger to themselves, thier loved ones, and others. Not to mention a right royal pain with the delays they cause people when they cock it up bigstyle. A few times over the years i've not made it home through running out of hours due to a caravan accident. Tyres, wheel bearings not checked, overloading, load distribution, etc.
Apologies to those who do it properly but it's only those who do'nt that cause problems.
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Not against them as such but they should be tested as should anyone who wants to pull one (ooer)
I know given my trade it's easy for me to sit in judgement and many caravanners maintain thier vans and know how to tow/reverse them but thier are as many who do'nt have a clue and these are a danger to themselves, thier loved ones, and others. Not to mention a right royal pain with the delays they cause people when they cock it up bigstyle. A few times over the years i've not made it home through running out of hours due to a caravan accident. Tyres, wheel bearings not checked, overloading, load distribution, etc.
Apologies to those who do it properly but it's only those who do'nt that cause problems.
[Serious head on for one moment .....]
I have been "held up" far more often by a broken down, badly loaded/maintained LGV than by a 'van.. trouble is the 'vans get the bad publicity not the LGV's.
Very few 'van drivers sit 18" from the rear of the vehicle in front whilst holding a conversation on CB/mobile phone !! or trying to overtake a vehicle doing 55mph in one doing 56mph.... but you see LGV's doing this all day !!
[/serious head]
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Not against them as such but they should be tested as should anyone who wants to pull one (ooer)
I know given my trade it's easy for me to sit in judgement and many caravanners maintain thier vans and know how to tow/reverse them but thier are as many who do'nt have a clue and these are a danger to themselves, thier loved ones, and others. Not to mention a right royal pain with the delays they cause people when they cock it up bigstyle. A few times over the years i've not made it home through running out of hours due to a caravan accident. Tyres, wheel bearings not checked, overloading, load distribution, etc.
Apologies to those who do it properly but it's only those who do'nt that cause problems.
Come on, i bet it is only a few times, I bet you have been held up more due to some of the dippy sale reps in accidents, compared to the amount of caravans on the road they are very safe, with less than 0.1% minor accidents, not bad to say there is a few hundred thousand on the road. How often do you see them causing probs, it is always the HGVs that hold me up when I am towing,
:y :y
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You see so many trailers / caravans at the side of the road with blown out tyres / wheels simply fallen off due to wheel bearing failure. Makes me think that some sort of testing might be a good move, but I'd rather put up with one at the side of the road every so often than the levels of red tape and hassle that'd inevitably be involved for the 2 trailers I occasionally tow if the government were to bring in such legislation.
Some of them get laid up for years at a time and then someone decides it's holiday time and off they go without even the most basic checks for roadworthiness.
Kevin
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You see so many trailers / caravans at the side of the road with blown out tyres / wheels simply fallen off due to wheel bearing failure. Makes me think that some sort of testing might be a good move, but I'd rather put up with one at the side of the road every so often than the levels of red tape and hassle that'd inevitably be involved for the 2 trailers I occasionally tow if the government were to bring in such legislation.
Some of them get laid up for years at a time and then someone decides it's holiday time and off they go without even the most basic checks for roadworthiness.
Kevin
Totally agree, there should be some sort of test/check, I have my caravan serviced every year without fail at a cost of approx £120, but there are many people who dont.
I would welcome paying each year for a test.
:y :y :y
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You see so many trailers / caravans at the side of the road with blown out tyres / wheels simply fallen off due to wheel bearing failure. Makes me think that some sort of testing might be a good move, but I'd rather put up with one at the side of the road every so often than the levels of red tape and hassle that'd inevitably be involved for the 2 trailers I occasionally tow if the government were to bring in such legislation.
I've never seen one.
Some of them get laid up for years at a time and then someone decides it's holiday time and off they go without even the most basic checks for roadworthiness.
Kevin
I have to agree with you there though.
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Totally agree, there should be some sort of test/check, I have my caravan serviced every year without fail at a cost of approx £120, but there are many people who dont.
I would welcome paying each year for a test.
:y :y :y
:-/ :-/ I've never paid someone to tick off the service sheet on anything. I've done it all my self - the service that is, not tick the boxes ;) Another government test would just be another expensive exercise that wouldn't achieve very much.
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.......
[Serious head on for one moment .....]
I have been "held up" far more often by a broken down, badly loaded/maintained LGV than by a 'van.. trouble is the 'vans get the bad publicity not the LGV's.
Very few 'van drivers sit 18" from the rear of the vehicle in front whilst holding a conversation on CB/mobile phone !! or trying to overtake a vehicle doing 55mph in one doing 56mph.... but you see LGV's doing this all day !!
[/serious head]
Couldn't agree more. I wonder how many so called caravan accidents have been caused by the f***er who just has to be in front of the caravan, not matter what, and then causes the caravan to have to brake hard/swerve etc etc. The caravan then get the blame as the contents of his 'van are spread across 3 lanes of the m/way. >:(
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I was just about to go to bed but couldn't resist a quick peek at a thread called, 'Caravan'. I never had you down as a closet caravanner Sir Miggy. Next thing, you'll be taking up golf. ;D ;D
We bought a van last year and I totally agree with all that's been said about servicing. We are about to have ours serviced before we put it into storage for the winter, (Undercover). I always do a safety check before we take it away, check brakes, tyres, lights, damper, stabiliser etc. There is always the chance, in whatever vehicle you take to the road, that a critical component will fail and there is nothing you can do about it.
I also make sure that I practise reversing it as often as possible so that when I need to reverse it I am up to the job.
Bad caravanners give everyone a bad name. As mentioned earlier, there are thousands of people towing caravans all year round without a problem but when it goes wrong the caravan is always mentioned.
Incidentally, there was a lorry carrying a load of latex that overturned the other week (True story). It made me think that it was bound to attract lots of rubber neckers. ;D
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Totally agree, there should be some sort of test/check, I have my caravan serviced every year without fail at a cost of approx £120, but there are many people who dont.
I would welcome paying each year for a test.
:y :y :y
:-/ :-/ I've never paid someone to tick off the service sheet on anything. I've done it all my self - the service that is, not tick the boxes ;) Another government test would just be another expensive exercise that wouldn't achieve very much.
i think it would be a good thing, if you are stopped by the police and you dont have a test certificate, you could be prosicuted just as with a car, it would ensure that the vans were roadworthy, just like cars, I know an MOT etc is only as good as the day its written, but there would be a way of policing it and it would take unroadworthy caravans off the road.
The service I have done is not a tick the box, it is a gas and electric service which by law only gas and electrical engineers are allowed to service, i go away each year knowing that all the electrics are correct and the gas flames/leaks are sorted to allow my family to sleep safe at night, so it is worth £120 per year and boxes to be ticked.
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I was just about to go to bed but couldn't resist a quick peek at a thread called, 'Caravan'. I never had you down as a closet caravanner Sir Miggy. Next thing, you'll be taking up golf. ;D ;D
We bought a van last year and I totally agree with all that's been said about servicing. We are about to have ours serviced before we put it into storage for the winter, (Undercover). I always do a safety check before we take it away, check brakes, tyres, lights, damper, stabiliser etc. There is always the chance, in whatever vehicle you take to the road, that a critical component will fail and there is nothing you can do about it.
I also make sure that I practise reversing it as often as possible so that when I need to reverse it I am up to the job.
Bad caravanners give everyone a bad name. As mentioned earlier, there are thousands of people towing caravans all year round without a problem but when it goes wrong the caravan is always mentioned.
Incidentally, there was a lorry carrying a load of latex that overturned the other week (True story). It made me think that it was bound to attract lots of rubber neckers. ;D
NEVER, never, never, he says kicking and screaming.
;D ;D
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i think it would be a good thing, if you are stopped by the police and you dont have a test certificate, you could be prosicuted just as with a car, it would ensure that the vans were roadworthy, just like cars, I know an MOT etc is only as good as the day its written, but there would be a way of policing it and it would take unroadworthy caravans off the road.
The service I have done is not a tick the box, it is a gas and electric service which by law only gas and electrical engineers are allowed to service, i go away each year knowing that all the electrics are correct and the gas flames/leaks are sorted to allow my family to sleep safe at night, so it is worth £120 per year and boxes to be ticked.
An unroadworthy caravan would be an unroad worthy with or without a 'van MOT, just as your car is now.
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It is common practice for any servicing done by National Caravan Council approved workshop to be shown by a sticker fixed adjacent to the towball.
I was stopped by the law 3 weeks ago ... "routine check sir" .. they started to look around ..saw the sticker, saw the van/car nice and level (omega self levelling suspension helps here), looked in the windows and saw everything strapped down.. end of check ... then 5 minutes pleasant chat with 2 guys doing a good job IMHO, they knew what they were looking for and were polite about it.
http://www.nationalcaravan.co.uk/home/index.asp?id=1&nid=24
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i think it would be a good thing, if you are stopped by the police and you dont have a test certificate, you could be prosicuted just as with a car, it would ensure that the vans were roadworthy, just like cars, I know an MOT etc is only as good as the day its written, but there would be a way of policing it and it would take unroadworthy caravans off the road.
The service I have done is not a tick the box, it is a gas and electric service which by law only gas and electrical engineers are allowed to service, i go away each year knowing that all the electrics are correct and the gas flames/leaks are sorted to allow my family to sleep safe at night, so it is worth £120 per year and boxes to be ticked.
An unroadworthy caravan would be an unroad worthy with or without a 'van MOT, just as your car is now.
I know that ::) but it would make people think about what they are doing, it would give the police powers to act upon, just like they do with cars.
If thats the case, then they may as well not bother with car MOTs.
any idea is better than nothing being done to keep the roads safe, if it means making people sit up and think then MOTs for caravans, I agree.
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It is common practice for any servicing done by National Caravan Council approved workshop to be shown by a sticker fixed adjacent to the towball.
I was stopped by the law 3 weeks ago ... "routine check sir" .. they started to look around ..saw the sticker, saw the van/car nice and level (omega self levelling suspension helps here), looked in the windows and saw everything strapped down.. end of check ... then 5 minutes pleasant chat with 2 guys doing a good job IMHO, they knew what they were looking for and were polite about it.
http://www.nationalcaravan.co.uk/home/index.asp?id=1&nid=24
Top man, :y :y :y
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:)Yes we do crawl past eachother, have accidents & cause our fair share of delays. I'llbe one of the few who will admit we deserve some of our bad press & there are some very dubious hauliers & drivers about, i can't deny it. However we have to be licenced to cause our chaos & do it every day for an underpaid living, not as a pastime. If every HGV driver had a week off together we'd have empty shops, no construction, fuel, food, furniture, cars, anything! I just think there should be some rules/regs in place for caravans. I'll hold my hands up & admit that truck drivers can be a real pain.
I wonder how many caravanners will be as honest.
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:)Yes we do crawl past eachother, have accidents & cause our fair share of delays. I'llbe one of the few who will admit we deserve some of our bad press & there are some very dubious hauliers & drivers about, i can't deny it. However we have to be licenced to cause our chaos & do it every day for an underpaid living, not as a pastime. If every HGV driver had a week off together we'd have empty shops, no construction, fuel, food, furniture, cars, anything! I just think there should be some rules/regs in place for caravans. I'll hold my hands up & admit that truck drivers can be a real pain.
I wonder how many caravanners will be as honest.
Caravanners, a pain? Perish the thought. ::)
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:)Yes we do crawl past eachother, have accidents & cause our fair share of delays. I'llbe one of the few who will admit we deserve some of our bad press & there are some very dubious hauliers & drivers about, i can't deny it. However we have to be licenced to cause our chaos & do it every day for an underpaid living, not as a pastime. If every HGV driver had a week off together we'd have empty shops, no construction, fuel, food, furniture, cars, anything! I just think there should be some rules/regs in place for caravans. I'll hold my hands up & admit that truck drivers can be a real pain.
I wonder how many caravanners will be as honest.
You are right, some caravanners are a real pain and do cause probs, its a good thing that you cannot now drive and tow when you first pass your test, thats a positive change, I think it is now compulsary to take some sort of test/course before you can tow.
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As an ex caravanner and a Truck driver I can confirm..
Car drivers are a pest.. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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As an ex caravanner and a Truck driver I can confirm..
Car drivers are the best.. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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:)Yes we do crawl past eachother, have accidents & cause our fair share of delays. I'llbe one of the few who will admit we deserve some of our bad press & there are some very dubious hauliers & drivers about, i can't deny it. However we have to be licenced to cause our chaos & do it every day for an underpaid living, not as a pastime. If every HGV driver had a week off together we'd have empty shops, no construction, fuel, food, furniture, cars, anything! I just think there should be some rules/regs in place for caravans. I'll hold my hands up & admit that truck drivers can be a real pain.
I wonder how many caravanners will be as honest.
As a car, caravan, LGV and PCV license holder I see merit in all the arguments.
There is a view that the only "unlicensed" part of that list is caravan's .. but that only applies to us older folk, new drivers have to take the towing test (B+E).
Although the LGV and PCV tests are VERY easy to fail .. they are also not difficult to pass... all you have to do is drive properly for about 90 minutes ...... passing does not make you a "good" driver.. that is an attitude and a willingness to learn , something many drivers of any class of vehicle seem to have forgotton.
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True. A pass certificate alone does'nt make a driver. BEDTIME!!!
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True. A pass certificate alone does'nt make a driver. BEDTIME!!!
Ciggy time
;D
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Me thinks, forget giving the clowns in whitehall an excuse for yet another layer of red tape, lets have a Driver Intellegence Test, to be passed annually. The number of clowns on the road, its surprising there is not a lot more accidents. A basic test to determine if a person is actually aware of what he/she is doing when they take a car out on the roads, and the effects of various parameters on the car performance. For example, there is a black car, prob Mondeo or Audi, sometimes round the back of the house I am working on. It has low profile tyres on alloys. The other day I noticed that the front O/S tyre was flat, and the rim was crushing the tyre wall. The car was moved that night, and the next. It must have been a pain to drive with the flat. A couple of days later, I saw 2 guys sitting in it, so mentioned in a friendly sort of way that his tyre was flat. The car has now been sitting for a further week, still with the flat, so I hate to think what the sidewall is like. Just think, sometime soon that person is going to get the tyre blown up and start driving it, probably at 80mph in the fast lane. Ouch. Its common sense to us who know about such things, such as regularly checking tyre pressures, water, brake fluid etc to know the potential effects of something like this. But the person who always gets their car serviced at a certain garage will assume (wrongly) that the car is always perfectly safe and will always be, provided they get it regularly serviced. Legislation always tries to make things totally safe for people who have no clue about mechanical things, but who want to be allowed to drive a car, or operate electrical or mechanical things. It forgets that the person needs a basic intellegence, to assess how something works and hence the potential dangers before they are capable of doing anything. Things like there have been plenty adverts that show what happens if you drive without a seatbelt, and the effect of getting hit in the back from a rear seat passenger, yet the number of clowns (mostly young men) in Bradford that still drive about without seatbelts is amazing. There is also a significant number of drivers in that fair city, that you think "how the h*ll did they ever pass their test", yet they keep on going, paying no attention to stop signs, give ways, cutting corners, indicators etc. Someone who has a caravan should be capable of checking the basic requirements like tyres, pressures, bearings etc, but this is basic common sense, we don't need further legislation to control this. I was recently carrying a high load on the roof of my car. The load was within the limits for the roof rack, I was travelling at a slower speed (50mph), I had a very long, new, thick rope holding it down, and I use a technique where I secure it front to back, and side to side, several times, so it can't move forward or back, up or down, or side to side. I was stopped by the Police, because they didn't like the look of it. I demonstrated that it couldn't move forward/back, up/down or side/side, but he wasn't satisfied, and said he would get me next time, even after I pointed out that I had just driven 200miles with no problems. Government are trying to make things safe for the majority, which will kill individuality like building your own car, and heaven forbid programming your own injection system. We are heading for a 1984 environment. Shame really cause its not a bad world if you can get rid of the idiots.
Another can of beer required ! :y
Ken
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and said he would get me next time
What an absolute prat! If he had considered it dangerous he would have surely asked you to do something about it THIS time. He clearly didn't, so why shouldn't you do it again?
Kevin
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most people who own a "van" tend to look after them :y
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Interesting thread.
Like it or not we are all heading inexorably into deep Big Brother.
There are a lot of differences here in Spain to the UK. As I have said before the EU boffins are busy trying to harmonise all these differences. God knows what the end result will actually be. Here are a few.
Vans and commercial vehicles have a six monthly MOT.
MOT centres are government run. They only do MOT's.
Modified cars in any shape or form have a hard time getting an MOT.( They rejected my Elite's 225 tyres until I produced the vehicle handbook to show that the car was produced at the factory like that)
Cars have an MOT every two years till they are ten then it is annually
Tow Bars are particularly well scrutinised at MOT.
Trailers now have log books ( same format as cars) and have VIN numbers
I don't know about caravans but farm trailers above a certain size have to have an MOT and obviously a V5. I presume caravans also have MOT's
The MOT is every bit as strict if not stricter than the UK.
The MOT valid to sticker has to be shown in the windscreen. !!!!
The vehicle documents (V5, MOT, receipt for insurance, insurance and receipt for car tax equivalent) have to be carried on board at all times. If you are stopped and don't have one or more they can and do fine you. No leeway to produce said item within five days as used to apply in Britain maybe still does.
It is a shame but today is the golden age of motoring. It is all downhill from now on. The sooner we are all engaged in tractor beams and being automatically debited money as we read/smoke/sleep whilst travelling to our destination the sooner the mandarins can rest happy in their beds.
olive