At a recreational vehicle park in Bundaberg, four hours north of Brisbane, travellers swap hair-raising tales of dangerous drivers on the roads. 

Wendie Laffan from regional Victoria has been living in her motorhome since the start of the year.

"I think with the hype of the travelling since COVID, there are lots of people, more so towing vans, that probably haven't done it before," she said.

Ms Laffan has a light rigid (LR) licence, which allows her to drive her motorhome while towing a car if it weighs more than 4.5 tonnes in total.

The Kilmore local said during her time on the road she had seen many drivers who "don't really know what they're doing".

"I don't know why they're in such a rush to get to their next destination," she said.

George Lanham from Newcastle also travels full-time in his motorhome after a career on the road.

"I've been a truck driver for a lot of years and towed caravans, box trailers, car floats, and I learnt at a young age," he said.

Mr Lanham said there was a major adjustment period for people towing or driving heavy vehicles, especially if they had only driven a small car before.

"Then they get into difficulty, they just don't know how to react," he said.

Fellow traveller Norman Brereton from the Sunshine Coast said some people might not be accustomed to towing or driving a heavy vehicle and believed they should undertake mandatory training.

"I do think they should do an additional driver's course."

Should training be mandatory?

These travellers are calling for mandatory training — and even a special licence — for drivers with bigger vehicles.

Road safety has been in the spotlight in Queensland after several fatal crashes on the Bruce Highway in recent weeks, as the state's road toll soars.

Nearly 210 people have died on Queensland roads so far this year.

According to the Queensland government's 2023 road fatality report, last year's annual road toll was 276.

While the state's peak motoring body, RACQ, said only four per cent of fatal crashes involved a light vehicle towing a trailer or caravan between 2017 to 2021, it strongly supported caravan owners doing more training.

RACQ offers a course to help motorists learn how to tow safely and keep within weight limits.

"If your caravan is overweight, it impacts the way your vehicle handles and can seriously affect your safety behind the wheel," a spokesperson said.

The National Transport Research Organisation (NTRO) has also called for mandatory training to be rolled out across Australia.

"On the road isn't the best place to learn the skills that you need to safely travel," NTRO safer infrastructure leader Emily McLean said.

Ms McLean said a special licence "could be helpful" for improving road safety.

"Another option might be to have that training as an endorsement on an individual's licence," she said.

"Any sort of licensing scheme would have to be put in place at the state or territory level, but that doesn't mean that there can't be a national agreement or endorsement around what that looks like."

Caravan clubs support some training

The Caravan Clubs of Queensland said it supported "some form of training" for new owners.

"I think a lot of the problems come about through bad set-ups with cars and caravans," president Adrian Skinner said.

"The car sags in the back end, or the back of the van sags down, and those two things can induce a sway or instability."

However, Mr Skinner did not think a special licence was necessary.

Queensland's Transport Minister Bart Mellish was approached for comment.

It is understood the state government is not considering any special licences or mandatory training for caravan users.

Opposition spokesperson for Transport and Main Roads Steve Minnikin also did not support calls for a special licence.

"The LNP will continue to focus on road upgrades and improved maintenance to address the significant increase in road fatalities that has occurred under Labor over the last five years," he said.