8Convoys and vehicle touring#
8.1Types#
Convoys and vehicle touring involves multiple vehicles travelling together between destinations or on a planned route. Convoys typically involve a small or defined group of vehicles, while vehicle touring events can involve large numbers of vehicles travelling in ‘single file’ (or two abreast, in the case of motorcycles).
Examples of these types of events include:
- display or transportation of army / government officials
- transportation of high profile people (for example, Head of State or Royalty)
- motorcycle charity rides
- vintage / classic car rallies.
8.2Risks#
Specific risks associated with convoys and vehicle touring events that may need to be considered include:
- unsafe overtaking manoeuvres (by non-participants) around long convoys as a result of driver impatience
- loss of integrity of the convoy (that is, ‘breaking up’), where it includes vulnerable road users
- touring drivers stopping on shoulders and exiting vehicles to regroup or coordinate movements (increasing exposure to traffic collisions)
- groups of touring vehicles attempting to pull out into traffic together without waiting for appropriate gaps in traffic (in an attempt to ‘keep together’).
8.3Specific considerations#
8.3.1Maintaining convoy integrity#
Irrespective of whether a convoy includes vulnerable road users or not, there may be reasons for which there is a desire to ensure that the integrity of a convoy is maintained (that is, no part of the convoy becomes separated from the remainder).
Management tools such as support vehicles (to clearly define the start and end of the convoy), employing traffic control on side road approaches (to ensure that general traffic does not attempt to turn into or across the convoy), and oversight of traffic signal operations (to allow the entire length of
The convoy to travel through a signalised intersection in a single signal phase) may assist with maintaining convoy integrity. Manual traffic control may also be required at locations where the convoy enters (or re-joins) the public road network: for example, when the procession resumes after a rest break at an off-road location.
While motorway environments do not pose the same challenges as lower order roads in terms of needing to manage intersecting roads and traffic signals, consideration is required for managing approaches to free-flow on and off ramps, and the larger headway distances between individual convoy members due to higher travel speeds.
8.3.2Speed differential#
The speed differential between the convoy and general traffic may need to be managed if the convoy is travelling at a speed substantially below the posted speed limit or prevailing vehicle speeds. In addition to potentially exposing the convoy and general public to collision risks such as rear end crashes, such situations may lead to or increase traffic delays and / or congestion (particularly on two-lane, two-way roads).
Where substantial speed differentials cannot be avoided through the selection of an alternate route, the use of support vehicles (trailing the convoy) and / or pulling the convoy over to the side of the road (where the road environment / form permits) at regular intervals may assist in mitigating these risks.
8.3.3Security requirements#
Some convoys will have significant security considerations. While security requirements are likely to be determined by state or federal police in conjunction with the event organiser, designers should liaise with the relevant stakeholders to incorporate these requirements into any traffic management arrangements.