DVSA report shows 'caravans are far and away not the greatest concern within the sector', says club

The Caravan and Motorhome Club says the results of a random spot check survey of trailers published this month by the DVSA show that caravanners are “far and away not the greatest concern” among all trailer users – although there is no room for complacency.

Some 12% of the 730 caravans the DVSA’s Advanced Analytics Division spot checked between 2019 and 2021 were found to have a prohibitable defect.

In comparison, half of the other 3083 trailers the unit tests had such defects. The DVSA warns that data recording was slightly compromised by the onset of the pandemic lockdown in the second half of the survey period. It is currently running further spot checks on 2,000 vehicles.

Martin Spencer, technical manager of the Caravan and Motorhome Club, welcomed the publication of the report, which he said was “good and provides credible insight into what the real issues are (or aren’t)”.

The club has in the past called for the DVSA to look more comprehensively at light trailers, which Martin said were “often criticised in a very general way for their safety, without evidence to support those views”.

The report, he added, “shows that caravans are far and away not the greatest concern within the sector”.

Some 57% of the prohibitions issued for caravans were for faulty exterior lights. Then 22% related to the chassis, 11% were for running gear, 8% for bodywork and 2% for brakes.

Martin added that a large proportion of the faults uncovered were “things which owners really should be readily aware of”.

But he added that there was no room for complacency, and was glad to see that the DVSA was already running such surveys again in the near future.

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PeterBaber

Peter Baber is Reviews Editor of both Practical Motorhome and Practical Caravan. He has been reviewing motorhomes for the best part of a decade now. His first caravan reviews date back to the early 1990s when he first worked on Practical Caravan, before he embarked on a 20-year career in business journalism which saw him edit a wide variety of magazines, and launch a few too, including one that won an award. Although he enjoyed that, he always knew he wanted to come back. Peter reports on all the new models that make it to dealer forecourts each season, giving his judgement online and in magazine reviews. He has twice been shortlisted for a Caravan Writers Guild award. When he is not working, apart from going on motorhome trips himself (mostly local to where he lives in West Yorkshire, but also last year right across France) he likes trying to write novels, cooking, throwing the odd pot, and has just taken up tennis.