Check your Roofracks BEFORE you travel this Xmas

[arpie]

Hi guys

A bit of safety on the road this time, instead of on the water!!

I was driving to Taree today and had been passed by a 4WD with one of those long, sleek 'surf kayaks' - all nicely wrapped up in it's protective 'bag' & tied to the roof racks! Shortly after, whilst approaching the first bridge across the Manning River heading north (on the Pacific Highway) I could see a truck ahead of me slowing down appreciably & then it changed abruptly to the right hand lane. I quickly saw why ...... there was the 4WD - in the left lane - in REVERSE, traveling over the hump of the bridge, back towards ME! There were cars behind me, so I immediately indicated 'right' and then changed it to the Hazard lights to 'grab their attention' as I changed lanes ...... I also realised that the kayak that had previously been on the roof - was now lying on the highway, with roof racks still attached!! The car was reversing back to it!!

It's been VERY windy here over the last couple of days & as you cross the Manning, it really whips from right to left (I could feel it trying to shift me out of my lane!) Obviously this guy's roof racks had come a little loose & with the pressure of the wind belting on to the yak, it ripped the roof racks off the car along with the kayak & onto the highway! If the safety rail hadn't been as high as it was, it would have gone straight into the river & headed out to sea!!

No-one could stop to help him or they'd have had other cars up their rear - I have NO idea how he would reattach the yak to the car (or whether it was even worth reattaching!) as the roof racks would have been pretty well stuffed from what I had seen, much as I imagined the yak would have been.

How often do you check if your roof racks are still securely attached to your vehicle? It might be a good idea to check, particularly if you are traveling over the holidays, with yak on top!

I had to go back to Taree again this afternoon - and some of the roof rack was still on the highway!

Safe travels this year, take care, stay safe

cheers

Roberta

[Scratchie]

Good on ya Roberta! A timely reminder to check all your gear whilst travelling! Not matter yak or boat!

Cheers scratchie!!!

[GreyNurse]

All modern roof racks today come with torque values for the mounts written up in the destructions. Torque wrenches or torque metres are quite affordable these days. It doesn't pay to guess by just screwing the bolts up "nice'n tite".

In short, follow the instructions or have your roof racks fitted by a reputable mechanic. It should be part of your pre-trip auto check list, anyway.

Cheers,

Nursie