A common sight on the roads this summer … and it's only going to get worse

Published on Friday 18 July 2008 22:05

THEY are the vehicles that motorists either love or hate – depending on whether they are ahead of, or behind, their cars.

But now the often fraught relationship between caravanners and other drivers faces further strain, with predictions of record numbers of caravans on the roads this summer.

Tensions have been increased with the coining of the term "caravanger" to describe car drivers' likely reaction to having more caravans to contend with.

This has in turn enraged caravan groups, who condemned claims of increased traffic as exaggeration and scaremongering.

Caravans are limited to 60mph on motorways and dual carriageways, and 50mph on single carriageways – 10mph less than cars.

The extra traffic is expected to be generated by caravan sites reporting an increase in bookings compared with last year.

The Camping and Caravanning Club, which has 226,000 members, said its bookings had increased by 10 per cent, with an 8 per cent increase reported by the 375,000-strong Caravan Club.

The clubs attributed the extra bookings partly to the strong euro and the credit crunch, prompting owners to holiday in Britain.

The repair firm Autoglass said this was bad news for other drivers, and its publicists coined the word caravanger.

The company said the condition regularly affected two in three motorists, according to a poll it commissioned of 500 drivers. One in 20 drivers admitted overtaking caravans at an unsafe speed, with men twice as likely as women to risk it.

A spokeswoman for Autoglass said: "With more and more people trying to beat the credit crunch by holidaying in the UK this year, it is predicted that more caravans than ever will be on our roads."

Nigel Doggett, its managing director, said: "We would advise people to plan in extra time for their trips to ease the frustration caused by caravans and other slow-moving vehicles, and try to show some courtesy when overtaking. Resist the urge to see red and take unnecessary risks."

However, the Caravan Club accused the firm of scaremongering, since there were only 500,000 caravans on the roads compared to 33 million cars, while lorries had lower speed limits than caravans.

Nikki Nichol, its spokeswoman, said: "Autoglass runs the risk of alienating one of their market sectors – people with cars who tow caravans.

"Caravan site bookings are up, but simple logic dictates this will not cause a dramatic increase in caravans on the road to the extent they are suggesting."

Ruth Walmsley, a spokeswoman for the Camping and Caravanning Club, said: "Caravanners are very spatially aware and tend to be very good drivers."

Are you crazy about caravans – or do they drive you crazy?

CARAVANS have been regularly lampooned on BBC2's Top Gear, with presenter Jeremy Clarkson provoking a deluge of complaints when he called for them to be banned and described a caravan site in Dorset as a "concentration camp".

Clarkson told viewers: "We proved there is no upside to caravanning and they clog up the roads."

&#149 Caravanners attempted to get their own back by issuing "Love Caravans, Hate Clarkson" stickers.

&#149 John Bates-Williams, a London barrister, disliked caravans so much he was reported to have founded the Anti-Caravan Club.

&#149 Caravan enthusiasts include Lorraine Kelly, Gail Porter, Patsy Palmer and James Bond wannabe and Spooks star Rupert Penry-Jones.

&#149 Another fan, Margaret Beckett, wrote the foreword to the book Teach Yourself Caravanning while she was foreign secretary.

&#149 The Caravan Club claims fewer than 0.1 per cent of crashes involve caravans.

&#149 A German tourist had a shock this year when his caravan rolled 200 yards down a hill – while he was on the toilet. Juergen Winkler, 48, escaped with cuts and bruises after the vehicle crashed into a lamppost and then into a ditch while he was on holiday in Austria.

&#149 A couple from Derby spent 15 years on a caravan tour of Britain's coast, with Ken and Pat Hatway visiting 1,670 sites on their 2,110-mile tour, which they completed in 2005.

TOP TEN

Top ten potential caravan hotspots:

1 M6/A6 near Kendal

2 A27 near Chichester

3 A35 near Charmouth

4 A11 near Thetford Forest

5 M4 near Swindon

6 M6/A66 near Keswick

7 A69 around Haltwhistle

8 A494 near Bala, Wales

9 A12 near Lowestoft

10 A9 towards Inverness

Source: Autoglass