New agreement will boost safer towing message

The Highways Agency and The Caravan Club have today joined forces to work more closely together to make travel on England's motorways and other major roads safer and easier.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today (19 February 2009) by Graham Dalton, Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, and Trevor Watson, Director General of The Caravan Club. The MoU was signed at The Caravan Club stand during the National Boat Caravan and Outdoor Show at the National Exhibition Centre.

The Caravan Club has one million members who are already encouraged to make use of the Highways Agency's journey planning tools and live traffic information. Further developments of the service are planned as the two organisations forge closer ties.

The MoU establishes a Highways Agency account manager to provide a direct link with The Caravan Club, so both sides can communicate more effectively on a range of issues and share skills and knowledge on areas of mutual interest.

Highways Agency Chief Executive, Graham Dalton, said: "We are delighted to confirm our strong working relationship with The Caravan Club. It reflects our desire to work more closely together with all road users to help them experience safer and more reliable journeys on our roads.

"We'll be working with The Caravan Club to promote the safe towing message to all road users, and looking at ways to improve the way we operate, such as research into the reasons behind incidents involving towing vehicles.

"Our live traffic information, available on the web, Traffic Radio and by phone, is already promoted by The Caravan Club and we are looking to develop this with specific information relevant to caravanners, such as warnings of high winds."

Trevor Watson, Director General of The Caravan Club, said: "The Caravan Club welcomes this alliance with the Highways Agency. Caravanners are statistically safe drivers but we recognise that there is never cause for complacency where road safety is concerned. We are therefore keen to formalise our work with the Highways Agency to promote safer towing for all caravanners, and to reap the benefits of a major road network that delivers reliable journey times for them.

The Memorandum of Understanding is the next step in developing the relationship between the Highways Agency and The Caravan Club, after the two bodies worked together on the Highways Agency's "Fit to Tow' information package for trailer, caravan and horsebox drivers in 2007.