How long should it take to get a dead caravan out of the roadway and let the rest of the motoring world continue on their journey? Certainly not hours.

Caravans are built to be lightweight, so successfully that many drivers forget they're towing a big box of air and that it's likely to flip in the slightest gust of sidewind or slipstream turbulence.

Fitting a castor to each corner of each side means that when it ends up on it's side in the middle of the motorway, it's not too difficult to push it on to the hard shoulder.

Having an amber flashing beacon on each castor would serve as a reminder to the idiot driver each time he looks in his mirrors that there's a big box of air skipping along behind him so he needs to be careful. (It's a requirement for passing a driving test that you look in your rear view mirrors frequently, but that's no guarantee that caravan towing drivers do it, so the amber beacons might just be a warning to other road users of the potential hazard).
-- Tulaine, Jun 03 2010

Surely just fixing an incendiary and an impact-sensitive detonator on each corner would do it?
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 03 2010


*to any confused USians, caravan is a small camper that is attached to a trailer hitch.
-- dentworth, Jun 03 2010


**to any confused Englishmen, a trailer hitch is a towing bracket.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 03 2010


*** to any confused person, anwhere, a caravan is a "legitimate target".
-- 8th of 7, Jun 03 2010


//This sounds like a rant.// Well spotted. My 15 minute journey took 90 minutes this afternoon because of a dead caravan causing a tailback on the motorway.

Does being inspired by personal frustration make the idea any less worthy though?
-- Tulaine, Jun 03 2010


//to any confused person, an[y]where, a caravan is a "legitimate target"//
What, aren't the unconfused permitted to take potshots?
-- mouseposture, Jun 04 2010


"idiot driver each time he looks in his mirrors"

When did a caravanner ever look in the mirror??
-- sstvp, Jun 04 2010


To any confused non-USian, a Caravan is a Dodge. Their drivers are typically confused, as well.
-- RayfordSteele, Jun 04 2010


<aside>

[21Quest] drives a Dodge ...

</aside>
-- 8th of 7, Jun 04 2010


Bigger fleas have little fleas,

upon thier backs to bite 'em,

and little fleas have lesser fleas,

and so ad infinitum.
-- Twizz, Jun 04 2010


awwww, I thought a caravan was a bunch of gypsies riding camels......
welcome to the halfbakery [Tulaine] 2 lane?
-- xandram, Jun 04 2010


To any confused person, a //tailback on the motorway// is a well-padded, helmeted person carrying a funny-shaped leathern ball, and probably running on the wrong side of the road.
-- lurch, Jun 04 2010


To any confused Dodge drivers, they are just jealous...and that's, ok.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 05 2010



random, halfbakery