Do we need caravanning towing licences?

By: Brendan Batty

Would a mandatory towing licence improve safety for caravanners and other road users?

The suggestion that caravanners should need some sort of ‘towing licence’ is an argument that is at least 50 years old. In 1974, the New South Wales government published a report to help answer that question.

Its author, Rodney G Vaughan, wrote, “It has been suggested that towed caravans may constitute an undue hazard to other road users and that therefore special restrictions should be placed on usage of these vehicles. Such restrictions may, for example, be in the form of special licensing requirements, vehicle/caravan combination design requirements or speed limits.”

Many of the arguments made in the 1970s are still being made today, particularly as the popularity of caravanning booms in our post-COVID society. Arguments like caravans are involved in too many crashes, people don’t have the experience to tow, caravanners drive too fast, caravans aren’t stable enough, or even, caravans are too heavy are all addressed in the report.

The arguments for and against

Let’s explore some common arguments for and against introducing a caravan licence with a modern lens.

One of the most common arguments is that a caravan licence scheme will save lives.

Many proponents point to dashcam and social media footage of caravans in uncontrolled situations to highlight the reasonably established fact that things can seriously go wrong while towing a trailer.

Opponents of caravan licencing often point to official data to dispel concerns. According to Main Roads WA and WA’s Road Safety Commission, no one was killed in a crash where a vehicle was towing a caravan, trailer, horse float, boat or similar in 2023. However, two people were seriously injured.

In that same period, ten heavy vehicle operators, 37 motorcyclists, 13 pedestrians, five cyclists and 93 people in passenger vehicles were killed on WA’s roads. Another 1413 were seriously injured.

Over the last five years, six people have died in crashes that involved caravans in Western Australia, but the state road toll average is 163.8 killed each year. Sobering numbers.

However, the figures for other states are different. Between 2018 and 2022 in Queensland, 65 people lost their lives in crashes that involved a trailer. In the same period, 24 people died in New South Wales.

Another prevalent argument is that caravanners, particularly new ones, don’t have enough experience to tow such large vehicles without training. Proponents of this argument often cite personally witnessing people making mistakes while towing or reversing, as well as the increased visibility of these errors now that dashcams and smartphones are so prevalent.

Insurers also report increases in caravan crashes. RAC WA’s insurance arm has seen a 19 per cent increase in caravan collisions since 2019. However, according to Tourism Research Australia, there are 21 per cent more caravans on national roads compared to 2019.

Opponents again look to the data available on crashes involving caravans. In the past five years, 350 crashes have involved a caravan, according to Main Roads WA. Over 19,000 crashes were reported on regional roads alone in the same period.

The third major argument for caravan licencing suggests it would create jobs and opportunities within the caravan industry and generate some additional funds for more road safety initiatives.

Opponents of this argument, notably the Caravan Industry Association of Australia, say that it will create a barrier to entry to caravanning. In a recent article published on caravanworld.com.au, CIAA CEO Stuart Lamont wrote, “While the idea of mandatory towing licences has gained traction in some circles, we believe this measure merely adds increased cost and bureaucracy for little or no gain in the end desired outcome. More importantly, it does not address one core issue: the lack of practical towing education.”

He adds, “Licensing schemes tend to create a one-size-fits-all solution to a complex problem. The reality is that towing safety is more about skill and experience than about passing a test.

“We all have a licence to drive a car, and the road death toll is rising. It’s about understanding how to manage the unique challenges of towing a caravan in different weather and road conditions, something that a simple licensing process can’t fully teach.”

Other opponents of a caravan licence also point to the bureaucratic nightmare of introducing a licencing scheme consistent across five states and two territories. They note that there aren’t consistent laws around towing, vehicle weights and trailers already.

Policing such a move may also be tricky. Back in the 1970s, Australia had quite inconsistent towing rules across the states, but there seems to be little evidence it was heavily policed - after all, it’s not that easy to check if a caravan’s laden weight is less than the tow vehicle’s unladen weight, as was the case in NSW during that time, but not in WA.

What would a towing licence look like?

Many ideas abound about what a licencing scheme should look like. There have been suggestions that some form of training should be required, often a one or half-day course which involves both classroom and practical testing. Many suggest that only new caravanners should have to undertake the testing, and there’s generally division on whether heavy, medium and light rigid licenced drivers should be subjected to it.

The scale of a licencing scheme is often not discussed, but there are more than 750,000 caravans and 3.6 million trailers registered across Australia.

The UK currently has some regulation of towing, although it will eventually cease to exist. If you acquired your licence before January 1, 1997, you can operate a towing combination that weighs up to 8250kg MAM (the equivalent of Australia’s Gross Combination Mass). If you acquired your licence later than that, you can only tow caravans up to 3500kg. In effect, the restrictions are not significantly different to the experience of the vast majority of caravanners in Australia.

What are the alternatives to a towing licence?

It is clear there are some issues that need to be addressed. Caravanners, when asked, overwhelmingly underestimate the weights they are towing or just don’t know. Many are towing overweight trailers or have overweight combinations. Even if combinations aren’t overweight, a poorly balanced combination can seriously affect braking and steering performance or lead to caravan sway. Interestingly, back in 1974 and now also, the most common crashes involving caravans are single-vehicle crashes.

Caravanners are also just as, or maybe even more, susceptible to the issues that plague road safety for all drivers - speed, fatigue and driver inattention.

On the first, more research might be worthwhile into how speed affects caravan safety. In Western Australia, where there have been six fatalities in five years, the towing speed limit is 100km/h for caravanners, with higher limits for other drivers. WA’s own crash statistics show that if you travel at 100km/h, you are six times less likely to die in a crash than if you travel at 110km/h. Would the same approach in other states be easier to legislate than a national towing license?

The CIAA strongly advocates for increasing accessible and subsidised towing training alongside a national Safe Towing campaign to raise awareness of the biggest risks while towing. It would also like to see free caravan safety check-ups, where owners could have their vans weighed and checked over by professionals.

There is clearly a demand for training. RAC’s own free caravan safety sessions, Tow Safe, are regularly booked out. The program covers safely reversing a caravan, understanding vehicle and caravan weights, and their own vehicle’s towing limitations.

Where does this leave us?

The reality is that despite ongoing commentary on the topic, a state-based or national approach to caravan or towing licencing is unlikely to eventuate, at least in the short term. What is clear is that professional towing training would benefit all road users, particularly those hauling trailers.

Fortunately, good education, the ability to slow down while towing and better weight management are already available to all of us.