Author Topic: towing and the law (Read 3223 times)

robert waddell · « **on:** November 04, 2011, 09:58:27 am »

on another forum there is a debate raging about towing the law and speed limits (started with fixed cameras catching drivers exceeding the towing limit (speed) and getting done )
it now transpires that if you get a driving ban your automatic right to tow (before you had to take a test at a LGV test site) is lost and on getting your licence back you have to sit a test for towing
anybody else heard of this
anybody fell foul of this

wytsend · « **Reply #1 on:** November 04, 2011, 10:07:51 am »

Not heard this one.... ask Trailer Medic on facebook... he seems to have a lot of answers to a lot of questions.

YorkshireLass · « **Reply #2 on:** November 04, 2011, 07:38:21 pm »

I don't know how it applies to those of a more senior age, but I got my licence after 1997, so took a test to allow me to tow, and I seem to recall that yes if I ever lost my driving licence I would be starting from square 1 i.e. would need to pass both tests again.

I can more-or-less see the logic there.

Now if you got your licence pre-1997, doe that mean you need to take the driving test to regain your *old* licence, or can it be argued you're in the new system and therefore tough luck?

robert waddell · « **Reply #3 on:** November 04, 2011, 10:15:08 pm »

so far i have not had a ban only two endorsements the first for exceeding the temp 50mph limit in 74 and the second for speeding (caught with a camera ) now my understanding is if you are banned either through totting up otherwise after your ban is up you reapply and back on road unless him with the wig bans you with the provision you have to resit your test
now if the courts decide that you lose the entitlement to tow do they automatically reduce your age as well

Blonde · « **Reply #4 on:** November 04, 2011, 11:24:42 pm »

Quote from: robert waddell on November 04, 2011, 10:15:08 pm

so far i have not had a ban only two endorsements the first for exceeding the temp 50mph limit in 74 and the second for speeding (caught with a camera ) now my understanding is if you are banned either through totting up otherwise after your ban is up you reapply and back on road unless him with the wig bans you with the provision you have to resit your test
now if the courts decide that you lose the entitlement to tow do they automatically reduce your age as well

So you have a lead foot....you should not be speeding with a trailer full of pigs...... not a good idea when it comes to stopping in a hurry.

Here in oz..... we work on demerrit points..... single demerrit if caught as long as it is not on along weekend or school holidays....... then it doubles. The fines also go with it. The fines and the demerrit point system work hand in hand, so once you lose the lot you have to start again and take a test to get your licence back.

oaklandspigs · « **Reply #5 on:** November 05, 2011, 07:35:02 am »

Blonde,

Think Robert was speeding without a trailer.

His point being that if you lose your licence for whatever reason, and get it back say tomorrow, as this is after 1997, do you have to take a towing test, as you are now applying after 1997, when towing tests came in.

Wytsend - what is actually invovled in terms of time, money to take the test and what does the test require you to do?

robert waddell · « **Reply #6 on:** November 05, 2011, 08:06:08 am »

Blonde oaklands is correct i did not have a trailer on

Sylvia · « **Reply #7 on:** November 05, 2011, 09:17:25 am »

I didn't know you had to take a test for towing, I have been towing illegally for years!

Or is this just for people who have recently passed their driving test?
In any case I couldn't speed towing, my little trailer would take off!

robert waddell · « **Reply #8 on:** November 05, 2011, 09:25:49 am »

if you passed your test after 1997 you have to sit a separate test for towing a trailer

Sylvia · « **Reply #9 on:** November 05, 2011, 02:33:55 pm »

I think I'm o.k. then, I passed my test in 1967

YorkshireLass · « **Reply #10 on:** November 05, 2011, 03:27:11 pm »

Someone asked what the test entailed?

It took me three goes, and I'm not a complete idiot....

Generally two sections, can't remember what order.
Manouevering etc. You unhitch your trailer (remember to "note" that you'd need to take off numberplate), drive / reverse so you're parked alongside it, then reverse all that and recouple. You're allowed to get out to check how close you are, you're allowed to "nudge" the hitch but I think if the trailer moves you're in trouble. Rehitch, do your safety checks, ask examiner to help you check your lights.

You then take it along and do a reverse exercise, essentially an S-shape around cones, reversing straightly into a parking spot, getting the back edge of the trailer sitting in a 2-foot marked area. I think not making the marked area is a minor mark down, but going too far back is a no-no.

On the roads - they mark you on your "normal" driving too - so mirror use, not crossing hands, not driving with one hand perma-fixed to gear stick...

Obviously your lower speed limits apply, going around corners without kerb bumping, leaving enough time to get 12 metres of vehicle onto the roundabout without cutting anyone up, safely pulling over and setting off. MIRRORS especially pulling off at junctions.
My weak spots were getting in the right lanes. It was pointed out that if you miss your turning on a roundabout you can just keep going round, and round, and round....

Eco-driving comes into it, i.e. using highest sensible gear, smooth changes etc. Which I do anyway!

They are hard on you, and rightly so I think. I hadn't been driving long so found it relatively easy to go into "taught" driving mode, feeding the wheel and all that jazz. After years of bad habits, I'm not sure......

And then when you've done all that you go off and do your tickbox test to be allowed to take cattle/sheep over 65km.....

oaklandspigs · « **Reply #11 on:** November 05, 2011, 05:41:26 pm »

Thanks yorkshire lass, do you rmemebr how much it cost to take?

For anyone worried about whether and waht they can tow, the rules as written up in our book.

"What you can tow will depend on what weight you want to tow and when you passed your test.

The weight rules define the Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM), and apply this to both the trailer and the vehicle towing. This is the maximum weight the vehicle or trailer can legally weigh (ie when fully loaded). The MAM of the towing vehicle (the car or van) is normally quoted as the “gross vehicle weight” which can be found in the handbook or on manufacturer’s web sites. The MAM of the trailer should be displayed on it or again manufactures will be able to tell you. They will both be quoted in metric tonnes, with 1000kgs equalling one tonne.

Qualified before 1997

If you passed your test before 1st January 1997, you can tow a vehicle & trailer whose combined MAM does not exceed 8.25 tonnes.

Qualified after 1996

If you passed your test after 1st January 1997, you can have:
• A vehicle of up to 3.5 tonne MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kgs MAM or
• A vehicle and trailer combination up to 3.5 tonnes MAM providing the MAM of the trailer doesn't exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle (sometimes called curb weight).

If you want to tow anything beyond these limits (and many horse boxes would exceed these numbers), you will need to pass an additional practical test (called B+E), and should refer to www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring for more details."

ambriel · « **Reply #12 on:** November 05, 2011, 05:51:56 pm »

Towing aside, it's a very good idea to make sure you have kept a photocopy of both the paper part and the photocard part of your driving license whenever you send it away to the DVLA, even if it's just for a change of address.

There have been any number of well-publicised cases of driving licenses coming back from DVLA with various entitlements missing, such as motorcycle entitlement.

DVLA swore blind this couldn't until some people produced proof, after which they re-instated them. However if you can't prove you had it before then you're up the Suwannee. There have been cases of motorcyclists of many years riding having to re-take their tests because DVLA erased them.