How to avoid emergency situations while driving a camping vehicle
A holiday in a motorhome or caravan means freedom and adventure, but can also represent a special challenge even for experienced drivers, especially after a long seasonal break. It doesn’t matter whether you are new to camping or have been on the road for many years – an emergency situation can arise at any time. In this article, we give you tips on how to avoid such dangerous driving situations.
Key takeaways
- You can help minimise the risk of emergency situations or prevent them entirely with a practised driving style and correct loading.
- In a dangerous driving situation, it’s important to brake properly: apply firm and continuous pressure to your brakes as early as possible.
- Safety systems can provide support when driving a camper and are usually easy to retrofit.
Test drives on familiar routes
Take your camping vehicle for a test drive on familiar, less crowded routes first. This is a sensible thing to do both when buying a new camper and after a seasonal break. Practice will help you become a safer driver.
If you want to gain even more practice so you are as ready as possible for any potentially dangerous situations, we recommend taking a driver safety training course, such as the course offered by the ADAC. This training helps you get to know your vehicle and its installed safety components in more detail, and to practise the correct response to dangerous driving situations.
Loading your camping vehicle correctly
Whether you have a camper van, motorhome or caravan: Correct loading is one of the most important factors for a safe journey. In the event of an emergency stop or possible collision, even small, light objects can become a real danger, and the vehicle can also skid more quickly if the load is not distributed correctly.
Proactive driving
Proactive driving is generally the best way to avoid accidents. This includes braking in good time as well as avoiding any unnecessary overtaking manoeuvres. Careful steering also minimises skidding.
Evasive manoeuvres and emergency braking – the right way
Despite taking every precaution in road traffic, you may still have to brake hard or perform an evasive manoeuvre at any time, without doing anything wrong yourself. When it comes to braking, remember to apply firm and continuous pressure as early as possible! The faster and harder you brake, the sooner your vehicle will come to a complete stop. The correct arm position – both hands in a quarter-to-three position on the steering wheel – also helps keep your driving steady and relaxed.
It goes without saying that your brakes must be optimally adjusted and functioning properly. In the following videos, AL-KO Service Manager Florian Vorreiter along with Dennis from Gogo4Camper demonstrate how to brake correctly with a caravan or trailer. In Part 1 they look at the overrun brake’s function and technology; in Part 2 they talk about which situations and mistakes to avoid.
Using supporting safety systems
Innovative technologies can support you on the road – enhancing driving safety every mile of the way
AKS stabiliser coupling from AL-KO
The AKS stabiliser coupling from AL-KO, for example, reduces rolling and pitching movements right from the start and thus ensures safe and relaxed towing of trailers with a gross weight of up to three tonnes. It decelerates the vehicle combination and reduces any swinging movements, particularly in the event of factors such as uneven road surfaces, crosswinds or driving out of the slipstream of lorries. The stabiliser coupling is mounted on the drawbar of the caravan instead of the coupling head.
Anti-snaking-system ATC
The anti-snaking-system ATC also ensures greater driving stability: Caravans have a large surface area and tend to react more sensitively than cars to the effects of e.g. evasive manoeuvres, overtaking or gusts of wind. This increases their risk of skidding. The ATC detects and corrects any impending skid movements before they become a problem for you. The system is mounted on the rear axle. Built-in sensors detect when the trailer starts to sway dangerously and activate the trailer’s brakes via Bowden cables. Briefly braking the trailer stretches out the vehicle combination and pulls it straight again. This reduces lateral acceleration and immediately steadies the driving situation.
Self-adjusting drum brake AAA
The self-adjusting drum brake AAA (AL-KO Automatic Adjustment) for caravans engages automatically when wear causes excessive play between the brake shoes and drum. If the service brake is then firmly applied, this play reduces automatically. However, this function depends on proper initial brake adjustment as well as the necessary care carried out at the stipulated maintenance intervals by a specialist workshop.
Support systems are recommended when driving a camping vehicle because they mitigate or even eliminate possible driving errors in extreme situations – and they can also be easily retrofitted in older vehicles. We wish you a safe and relaxing journey while holidaying in your camper!
