Caravan owners no longer most hated

Aw, we think we’re feeling the love. Or perhaps it’s a sense of slightly lessened hostility. Either way, it’s good news for caravan owners this week, who have now officially been labelled not the most annoying road users ever.

Touring caravan owners have long been the bane of impatient road users, with a survey this summer saying that caravans were the vehicles most likely to rile other drivers. But it now seems that tractors are the irritation de jour.

A survey commissioned by a Hastings caravan insurance firm found that caravans have slipped down to second place in the Top Five Most Hated Road Users, with Sunday drivers, learner drivers and cyclists taking the other three spots.

This could be down to caravans being seen in a more popular light and more people starting to use them, said caravan insurance specialist Philip Alden.

Caravanning in the UK went up by 12 per cent in 2011, while the antics of well-known caravan non-enthusiast Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear may also have played a part, Mr Alden believes.

‘Perhaps the caravan-exploding antics by the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and his Top Gear chums have done us a favour and got the public thinking that a caravan might be fun to own after all,’ he said.

‘Caravan owners are safe and responsible drivers. This new poll comes as no surprise to us, as more and more people see caravanning as a viable alternative.

‘We can’t deny that there’s a long and winding road to get caravan owners off this list altogether, but we think people are looking past the bad press they get and see caravans in a more popular light.’