Wicked campers are unroadworthy

[BUZ81]

THERE are tourist timebombs on our roads. A State Government audit of cut-price rental campervans has found almost 95 per cent of vehicles are not safe to drive.

Almost the entire fleet from the biggest and most high-profile company, Wicked Campers, has been ordered off the road. Random checks will be carried out on other companies as a matter of urgency.

Queensland's tourism industry is already under scrutiny after the deaths of three foreign tourists in four-wheel-drive accidents on Fraser Island in the past year.

One of the most popular forms of travel for young backpackers since 2005 has been cheap campervans. They cost $40 to $70 a day.

But the government crackdown on safety could put a clamp on that.

Acting Premier Paul Lucas revealed Brisbane-based Wicked – which has campervans for hire throughout Australia and New Zealand – had decommissioned 77 of its 86 vehicles in Queensland when asked to submit the entire fleet for safety tests. The company then submitted the remaining nine of its vans for road safety tests, and transport officials were forced to take five of those off the road.

"What this means is that out of a fleet of 86 vehicles, only four of them were safe to be on our roads," Mr Lucas told The Sunday Mail.

"Quite frankly, that is frightening, and we have written to other state governments to alert them to the problem. . .

"We have seen the incidents involving 4WDs on Fraser Island, and the Government has taken measures there to try and protect visitors to our state."

A Welsh tourist, Tim Wallsgrove, and his girlfriend claimed they were lucky to survive an accident in Outback Queensland last year when their Wicked van overturned. They blamed the vehicle's bald tyres for preventing it from stopping.

Mr Wallsgrove set up a weblog under the name Wicked Campers Rent Out Death Traps, inviting others to warn tourists of the dangers in hiring the vehicles.

The State Government carried out a random crackdown on Wicked vehicles in north Queensland in August and October. The safety inspections in Cairns resulted in 35 vans being deregistered.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the experience in Cairns alerted inspectors to investigate the company on a statewide basis.

"Officers had ordered (the remaining) 51 vehicles to be inspected last month, however 42 were withdrawn from hire and deregistered by Wicked Campers before they could be given a thorough mechanical going-over," Ms Nolan said.

"We also ordered a number of Wicked campervans to be repaired as a result of the crackdown."

A further five were ordered off the road.

Ms Nolan said mechanical faults identified in those five included:

• • Structural rust.
• • Defective seating.
• • Oil leaks.
• • Steering components.
• • Severe accident damage.

"It is important to note that these vehicles were the ones the company considered worthy of submitting for a roadworthy," she said.

A Wicked spokesman said the company had voluntarily deregistered "a number of vehicles" and would do "everything we can to rectify the defects".

He said Wicked had plans over the next 12 months to replace 500 campervans in its national fleet, phasing out all pre-2004 models.

It's good to know Queensland Transport has finally found out what we all knew already. 5 out of 86 vans is pretty poor.

[Bmobile]

The Goverment can now pick up the vans for a song, get them RWC and put speed cameras in them. I bet they think that would be totally Wicked.

[rancidpunx]

i drove one of those from Sydney to Brisbane via Dubbo and Armidale etc. It ran alright but was a piece of crap. lol

[KR1STO]

i've always thought so... seen so many on the side of the freeways broken down...

[buggerlugs]

Some of the crap that is painted on the vans are pretty disgusting to when kids see them............

[Road_Warrior]

Certainly the 'Wicked' campers I have seen plying the highways in the North-West have been complete and utter piles of crap. This action comes as no surprise to me. I wonder if the WA Government will follow suit? Wicked Campers has a depot/outlet thing here.

[pottery beige]

Originally Posted by Road_Warrior

Certainly the 'Wicked' campers I have seen plying the highways in the North-West have been complete and utter piles of crap. This action comes as no surprise to me. I wonder if the WA Government will follow suit? Wicked Campers has a depot/outlet thing here.

Same here, i remember seeing one out near Newman... WTF is that POS...

[UNR8D]

Originally Posted by buggerlugs

Some of the crap that is painted on the vans are pretty disgusting to when kids see them............

If the kids know what it is that is written then they have already picked up the 'jist' beforehand, and if they don't know then its up to you as a parent to either explain or continue the charade as if the world is all one happy smiley place.

end result, you as a parent do PARENTING, its not up to everyone else.

[Angeldust]

lol not suprised either, seen heaps of them broken down in the inner parts of brisbane city.

[Kenaz]

From the ones I've seen touring up and down the east coast this doesn't come as a surprise at all.

[Mr Hardware]

So what? I bet most of the cars on this forum are unroadworthy too. Big deal.

[BUZ81]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

So what? I bet most of the cars on this forum are unroadworthy too. Big deal.

I think the difference is that we aren't giving out our cars to other people who are unfamiliar with them and charging for the privilege.

[Peuty]

Not as unroadworthy as these hunks of crap.

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by BUZ81

I think the difference is that we aren't giving out our cars to other people who are unfamiliar with them and charging for the privilege.

This is true, but i'm pretty sure the average filthy stoner backpacker who hires one doesn't really expect that they are. You've got to look at appropriateness of the product for the target market. Fits perfectly.

[seven7]

i,m sure their are some bad vans out thier but some must make the trip ok

also why would u even leave the depot if u saw the van had bald tyres

surely some of these people bring these things on them self


no i have never rented one
but i have seen quite a few of them in my travels up the east coat

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

This is true, but i'm pretty sure the average filthy stoner backpacker who hires one doesn't really expect that they are. You've got to look at appropriateness of the product for the target market. Fits perfectly.

That's got nothing to do with it really. If someone was paying money to hire a vehicle, I really don't think it's too much to ask for that vehicle to be roadworthy. Theses are peoples lives we are talking about, regardless of how many drugs they smoke.

[XR6_190]

I remember seeing these things along the Great Ocean Road last summer, they we're everywhere. I also remembered thinking that none of them looked drivable, let alone roadworthy.

Regardless of who hires these deathtraps, it is the sole duty of the company to make sure they are roadworthy when they leave the depot. If they aren't roadworthy then the company is liable, nobody else.

[galaxy xr8]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

This is true, but i'm pretty sure the average filthy stoner backpacker who hires one doesn't really expect that they are. You've got to look at appropriateness of the product for the target market. Fits perfectly.

And you would be the 1st person to jump and down and scream blue murder if one of these so called filthy stoner babckpacker's was driving one of these vehicles and ran into you on the road, or worse still actually killed someone,
These vehicles should not be on the road fullstop, anyone that has ever seen one upclose would agree, I for one do not think that a company should be making money from the public while putting them and myself included in danger, I travel on the Great Ocean Rd a fair bit and I see these vehicles all the time, so don't tell me, who care's , because I surley do mate.

[Fairlane]

Not surprised. Seen so many of their clapped out Mitsubishi Express & Ford Econovans on the roads, usually driven my German backpackers. Its a wonder someone hasnt killed themselves in one already due to a mechanical fault, or got gassed from a leaky exhaust.

[Bobman]

No surprise. Those vans are death traps!

[Mr Hardware]

galaxyxr8, i am more worried about the lessee's driving ability than the vans themselves.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by galaxy xr8

And you would be the 1st person to jump and down and scream blue murder if one of these so called filthy stoner babckpacker's was driving one of these vehicles and ran into you on the road, or worse still actually killed someone,
These vehicles should not be on the road fullstop, anyone that has ever seen one upclose would agree, I for one do not think that a company should be making money from the public while putting them and myself included in danger, I travel on the Great Ocean Rd a fair bit and I see these vehicles all the time, so don't tell me, who care's , because I surley do mate.

I agree 100%. And if that is all they can afford to hire, then they should stick to public transport or walking! In this world of our's today, hiring vehicles that are death traps is just a lawsuit waiting to happen! I do not care about them, but everybody else on the road should not be put at risk so some greedy company can make money!

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by Bobman

No surprise. Those vans are death traps!

That really is an eyesore! How have they got away with it for so long?

[Mr Hardware]

Just remember guys, QLD has some pretty stupid RWC rules, just because something is classified unroadworthy doesn't mean it's a deathtrap.
Empty Washer bottle? FAIL
Crack in a tail-light? FAIL
A drop of oil on the swaybar? FAIL
No pattern printed on the top of the manual shifter? FAIL
A parker bulb out? FAIL
A single spot of rust in a panel? FAIL

Does that make the van a death-trap? No. Does it make it 'unroadworthy'? Yes.

Out of 86 vehicles, only 4 passed the safety cert. However, if you read on, only 5 were pulled from the road. Therefore, only 5 out of the 86 were really 'Un-Road-Worthy' in the true sense of the word. In the case of these 5, then yes, they shouldn't be hired.

[Auslandau]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

Just remember guys, QLD has some pretty stupid RWC rules, just because something is classified unroadworthy doesn't mean it's a deathtrap.
Empty Washer bottle? FAIL
Crack in a tail-light? FAIL
A drop of oil on the swaybar? FAIL
No pattern printed on the top of the manual shifter? FAIL
A parker bulb out? FAIL
A single spot of rust in a panel? FAIL

Does that make the van a death-trap? No. Does it make it 'unroadworthy'? Yes.

Out of 86 vehicles, only 4 passed the safety cert. However, if you read on, only 5 were pulled from the road. Therefore, only 5 out of the 86 were really 'Un-Road-Worthy' in the true sense of the word. In the case of these 5, then yes, they shouldn't be hired.

As stated in the article: depends on what you call minor ......

• Structural rust.
• Defective seating.
• Oil leaks.
• Steering components.
• Severe accident damage.

Bit of difference between someone driving there own un roadworthy (to the letter of the law) car compared to a company offering cars out to hire that are not roadworthy. Of course there is a huge difference between the two.

If these can be taken of the road and fixed .... isn't that a good thing that a few less dangerous cars are on the road and a hire company to have some duty of care? Especially overseas drivers who are handicapped to start with compared to locals on the roads?

There was a report on ACA about 6 months ago on Wicked ..... took QLD this long to follow it up?



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[galaxy xr8]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

galaxyxr8, i am more worried about the lessee's driving ability than the vans themselves.

Well then, wouldn't that be a double take, someone that lack's ability in a vehicle that is the same..... and you still think they should be on the road??.

[Mr Hardware]

auslandau, you've missed the point. I've already clarified what you've picked up. The dot points in the article only refer to the 5 which were actually taken off the road, which i agree with. This is not minor. The ones that do come under the category of minor however i don't see a problem with. I've been handed very near new hire cars from big hire companies that would fail a QLD roadworthy due to minor issues that don't affect the real safety of the vehicle.

[Peuty]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

galaxyxr8, i am more worried about the lessee's driving ability than the vans themselves.

Driving ability isn't going to be any worse than your average Toyota Corolla driving P Plater.

[BUZ81]

Originally Posted by Mr Hardware

...if you read on, only 5 were pulled from the road. Therefore, only 5 out of the 86 were really 'Un-Road-Worthy' in the true sense of the word. In the case of these 5, then yes, they shouldn't be hired.

But you have to ask why were the other 77 deregistered before they could be put through a roadworthy? Why would a company disable 90% of their source of income in one hit just as they are called in for inspection?

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by Peuty

Driving ability isn't going to be any worse than your average Toyota Corolla driving P Plater.

Which is also a fear; i was one once.