by coroboreeboy » 29 Jun 2017, 7:41 am
About 40 years ago, I borrowed a car trailer and drove 60 miles to Wagga to pick up a Mk VII Jaguar for a friend of mine. When I got to the old car, it was in a backyard and the only way that I could load it was to back up to it and winch it on backwards, that is with the engine of the Jag over the rear of the trailer. Not knowing anything about weight distribution, I didn't foresee any problems. Well, I drove all the way through Wagga at town speeds without incident, but when I got out of town and sped up over 60kph, the trailer started to fishtail and I went from one side of the road to the other; luckily nothing was coming the other way or I might not be writing this.
Over the years, have seen 2 accidents due to a trailer/ caravan being loaded with weight to the back.
Interestingly, it came to my notice a few weeks ago, that the authorities (in Qld) have tried to come to grips with this issue in a rather clumsy fashion. Instead of trying to educate drivers as to the correct way to load, they have brought in a new law. The law now requires that when loading a trailer, the distance from the axle to the front of the load, must be greater than the distance from the axle to the rear of the load (paraphrased).
The issue that I have with this; is that someone who knows what they are doing, could load 4x2 timbers on the trailer, overhanging well to the back, and then make things safe by throwing a couple of cement bags on the front. Albeit that they are now in breach of the law.
The person who doesn't know what they are doing, loads legally by overhanging to the front, thinks everything is safe and throws the cement bags on the back!
Although he is now loaded legally, he in his ignorance, has created an unsafe situation; something the new law was designed to avoid.