Towing laws?!?!?!?
Turbo Mini Forums

ive been looking into those pesky towing laws and as i understand it is legal to tow a trailer with no extra test aslong as the weight of the trailer and its load is not over 750kgs.

but ive noticed on the dvla site you can tow a trailer (and load) over 750kgs as long as it doesnt exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle and the total weight of the tow car and load is under 3.5 tonnes

am i understanding the second bit correctly?

so....
a) does anyone know the approximate weight of a car transporter? if my mini weighs around 600kgs do the trailers weigh over 150kg?

or if the second part was correct
b) my towing vehicle weighs 1832kgs,
so 3500 - 1832 = 1668kgs
does that mean im legally allowed to tow a trailer and load of up to 1668kgs without the need to take an extra test?


im confused, perhaps an email to the dvla would of been a better idea

both are right...

Youe Driving Licence is the limiting factor though!

Alex

AlexF

It is a bit of a can of worms this one. I passed my driving test in November 1997, but missed the cut off at Jan 1997 where you could tow a trailer and drive a 7.5T lorry on a car license.

I personally go along the 3500kg train weight rule, e.g. 2 tonne of Range Rover, then you have 1 1/2 tonne to play with. A trailer weighs about 400kg approx, so you can move most small and medium cars about.
I have also looked into trying to do a trailer test to be double sure, all the ones available are geared towards towing large trailers behind trucks, not towing a small trailer behind a car/van/4x4. The other problem is that people such as yourself (I am guessing you also passed after Jan 97) and me are only just coming through the system and wanting to tow stuff, and so there are not the people out there offering the service we want. Although if anyone knows better I would be interested to hear?

in a nutshell if you have a later licence, after about 97 i think, you are allowed to drive a total train weight of 3.5 tonne on your existing licnece. but like you say the trailor must not exceed the weight of the vehicle towing it, in fact i belive there is some rule about it not being more than two thirds or something.....

all in all a bloody mess if you ask me!!! how do you get a licence to tow something bigger anyway? ie trailor test? anyone know?

And on the 7th day........... God created turbochargers!

ah ha, thanks for clearing that up

gosh i got 2 replies whilst replying to the first one

so i think i should be ok, the dvla website is full of gobbldy gook

where the hell has my driving licence gone??

Edited by Nic on 17th Apr, 2005.

if you know a freindly traffic police man, he carrys a book on towing for cars, its just like jack and jill its in cartoon form, having a hgv class one, for over 25years had lots of silly run ins with the police

slightly off topic, pete you may know the answer to this I past my test in 95, I know I can drive a 7.5 ton truck, but is it true I can't tow a trailer with a 7.5 truck?

If I put windows in the 7.5 and a seat and a sink I now have a camper can, can I tow with this now?

Team Racing

as far as i can figure jim, the 7.5 tonne bit, refers to the total train weight you are allowed, be it in 1 vehicle (your camper/truck) or total (car + trailor) but the same rules apply as ours, so the towing vehicle must exceed the towed article.

i ought to point out that i only read the bit on 7.5 very breifly (some time ago) being as i wasnt affected by it, so the above may be inaccurate!!!! lol!!!

anyone found a definate answer to what we need to do before we can have a usefull towing catagory on our licence? trailor test, hgv what??

And on the 7th day........... God created turbochargers!

you can drive upto 7500kg gross weight, you can drive a bus 52 seater as long as there is no paying pasengers???????????? on a ordinary licence. but when you put atrailer on you need a hgv? jim as for your beds and sink its clasified as a camper, caution though for mot some say its class 7 some say its comercial mot, answer is can your local class 7 mot garage put it on the brake rollers, and over a pit or on a ramp. caution beware of weigh bridges and [vosa] vechical inspectorate, on road side checks it can become a real pain in the arse, my advice is to take your license along to a comercial mot centre were hgv go, or go and speak to a traffic policeman. as traffic finds are big money now, my truck gross weight is 44000kg i get a tollarance 5% a axle a find is aprox £1000 + costs it can be a fine line, by the way we are lucky in this contry a small didy trailer in europe needs a mot ie a camping trailer

i think i'll buy a tent and keep my focus

Team Racing

From DVLA website

2. CAR DRIVING LICENCE FIRST OBTAINED SINCE 1 JANUARY 1997
Drivers who passed a car test on or after 1 January 1997 are required to pass an additional driving test in order to gain entitlement to category B+E and all larger vehicles. In addition to the new driving tests, drivers of vehicles which fall within subcategories C1, C1+E, D1 and D1+E also have to meet higher medical standards.

Category B:
Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM and with up to 8 passenger seats

Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) OR a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.

For example:

a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle.

Whereas

the same vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes when coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.5 tonnes would fall within category B+E. This is because although the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is within the 3.5 tonnes MAM limit, the MAM of the trailer is more than the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle.

its so easy to understand, its all bullshit. you need to be baraster to get round it