March/April 2008

Bad loading a recipe for disaster

New web-based game an aid to caravanning safety

By Dennis Amor

A NEW web-based game could help Australian caravanners avoid loading their vehicles dangerously.

It shows travellers how to pack their caravans safely to prevent potentially lethal accidents resulting from 'snaking' at high speed.

Co-developer Dr Jos Darling told Caravanning News that the game had proved popular in the UK. "The big advantage of the internet is that we can send the same message to the caravanning public across the world, including Australia," he said.

The game also provides valuable information on towball weights, side-to-side loading and yaw inertia.

Each attempt at loading receives a score and players are told how fast they can drive before being unsafe.

Dr Darling, right, and Chris with their web-based game

There are over 500,000 caravans on UK roads and occasionally high-speed accidents occur, generally when descending motorway gradients.

The game was developed by Dr Darling and Chris Lamming from the University of Bath's Department of Mechanical Engineering, with sponsorship from Bailey Caravans of Bristol.

Dr Darling has been investigating the engineering causes of 'snaking' accidents and found the best way of loading was to place heavy loads in the centre of the caravan ... not at both ends because this increases the yaw inertia of the caravan and makes it more difficult to respond to sudden swerves.

"We've been working on caravan safety for nearly 20 years and while we've let the academic community know about our work it's been more difficult to communicate to the general public," Dr Darling explained.

"There are lots of fancy equations that help to explain what's going on when snaking occurs, but that's not what the public want to hear.

"When you're learning about something new there's nothing like learning by doing.  It was for this reason we developed the web-based computer game. With funding from Bailey Caravans we employed Chris, a new graduate in mechanical engineering, over the summer of 2007 to develop the game based on our previous research."

Dr Darling said they had attempted  to simulate what actually happened in real life. 

"What's more, we can show from the comfort and safety of your home what happens when you drive faster than is safe and hopefully get across the important messages that will help prevent accidents."

He said that "while somewhat unloved by some of the UK motoring public", there were half a million caravans on the road, some improperly loaded.

"That's why this web-based game is so important in educating the public and so avoid accidents and the associated inconvenience of a blocked motorway," he added.

The game can be found at http://www.towingstabilitystudies.co.uk/