Caravans who don't care

[Parksy]

I live in North devon and I was just on a trip down the M5 and the A38 to Newton Abbot. to my horror I noticed 12 out of the 27 caravans being towed did not have extention mirrors fitted and 5 of those were breaking the towing limit two of them were overtaken by a police car,as a caravaner myself it makes my blood boil as it is units like this that give caravaners a bad name.
Kind Regards
Mick

 

[ProfJohnL]

Look Out Mick,

From experience I can tell you there are lots of people on this forum who don't like being told their breaking the law. It seems the law dosen't apply to them, yet strangely they like to stick to an towing weight guideline that has no legal force. People are strange and caravanners more so it seems.

 

[Parksy]

There is no hard evidence that those without towing mirrors stick to any towing weight guideline, legal or not.
People on the forum don't so much mind being reminded of the law but some of them get a bit uptight when they feel that they are being lectured ad nauseum, especially when bits of wood and household bathroom scales come into the equation

 

[xtrailman]

Obviously the law doesn't consider the lack of towing mirrors important enough to pull them over?

I always use them myself, along with a rear view camera.

 

[Surfer]

There is no hard evidence that those without towing mirrors stick to any towing weight guideline, legal or not.
People on the forum don't so much mind being reminded of the law but some of them get a bit uptight when they feel that they are being lectured ad nauseum, especially when bits of wood and household bathroom scales come into the equation

Good post!

 

[Lutz]

I strongly suspect that the people involved are the happy-go-lucky type, blissfully oblivious to any regulations that might affect them, and probably don't even know what towload limits or noseweight are. More likely than not, they aren't readers of any caravanning magazines nor are they members of any caravan club, so who is there to help put them right?

 

[dougie201]

Hi Mick.

These are the kind of caravaners that will only learn the hard way! I wonder how many of them are the ones you hear about on news reports, that a caravan has overturned on the M6 or M5 etc.

Dougie.....

 

[xtrailman]

The next time i see a caravan on its side I'll check the tow car for wing mirrors.

And report back.

 

[Martin24]

I do use my grand aero's but if I flipped my mirrors out on their large extension arms I would have just as good a view, I only put them on for legal reasons!! This is often the case with many wider vehicles or those with suitable mirrors. Thanks Parksy for reminding me to make sure our scales are calibrated against swmbo's work ones, I'm sure I've gained a few pounds!!

 

[Sedo]

Hi we've always used grand Aeros but am I missing something here?
Do some people put bathroom scales on pieces of wood to see behind them?
If so I think the whole weight of the law should be used against them.
On balance I think it would be easier to just stick within the legal requirements, extension mirrors are not that expensive, compared to other caravanning gear anyway, the same as sticking to speed limits is not too hard.
I suppose it's a matter of scale, according Mad Micky's quick survey around 44% of the caravanners were not using mirrors which is a pretty poor showing.

Sedo

 

[Raywood]

Web did a two week tour from Scotland down to London and back towing about 900 miles. I tend to drive between 55 and 60 with the caravan on the back. We overtook I think only two caravans but were passed by large numbers going considerably faster than us. It does appear there was almost universal speeding by caravans although very few seemed to be going so fast they looked unstable.
Can't say I checked if they had mirrors.

 

[AbbeyOwner]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

 

[ProfJohnL]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

Part of the criteria is to be able to see the sides and rear corners of both sides of the trailer when the outfit is in a straiht line.

 

[AbbeyOwner]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

Part of the criteria is to be able to see the sides and rear corners of both sides of the trailer when the outfit is in a straiht line.

yes but dont worry im not a speeder i stick to 60mph

 

[SteveW77]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

Part of the criteria is to be able to see the sides and rear corners of both sides of the trailer when the outfit is in a straiht line.

yes but dont worry im not a speeder i stick to 60mph

So you choose to break one law at a time that's alright then,

Steve W

 

[Lutz]

yes but dont worry im not a speeder i stick to 60mph

I don't quite see the logic of that. The slower you go the more you need to use the rear view mirrors.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

Part of the criteria is to be able to see the sides and rear corners of both sides of the trailer when the outfit is in a straiht line.

yes but dont worry im not a speeder i stick to 60mph

My comment to your post had nothing to do with speed, so your point is????

 

[Parksy]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

If you want to break the law that's up to you, I hope that your failure to use towing mirrors doesn't invalidate your insurance policy when towing.
If the mirrors vibrate try tightening them up or get some decent mirrrors which don't vibrate such as Millenco's.

 

[Surfer]

I used towing mirrors once but found they vibrate too much when stopped, I now drive without them because I can see down the sides of my van

Part of the criteria is to be able to see the sides and rear corners of both sides of the trailer when the outfit is in a straiht line.

Please quote the regulation that states you should be able to see the rear corners on both sides of the trailer when towing in a straight line as I am of the opinion that the law states "adequate vision". Thanks.

BTW as 2.55m caravans are allowed on the road, seeing both rear corners of the trailer is an impossiblity unless you break the law and have the mirrors extending past the legal limit.

 

[NigelHutson]

Adequate vision is what Con and Use Regs say, but stated cases have decreed that the rear corners of vehicles should be visible to the driver (usually relating to Goods Vehicles). Why is there such reluctance to have better vision?
As far as towing 2.5 metre wide caravans is concerned, it is the amount that the mirrors extend beyond the vehicle (and the trailer is now a part of the vehicle) that matters, so providing the extended mirrors are removed when solo, then you will be within the law, and be able to see the corners of the wider caravan, AND have much better and safer rear vision.
I don't understand the reluctance of any driver to make themselves (and everyone else including their nearest and dearest) safer.
Am I missing something?

 

[Surfer]

Adequate vision is what Con and Use Regs say, but stated cases have decreed that the rear corners of vehicles should be visible to the driver (usually relating to Goods Vehicles). Why is there such reluctance to have better vision?
As far as towing 2.5 metre wide caravans is concerned, it is the amount that the mirrors extend beyond the vehicle (and the trailer is now a part of the vehicle) that matters, so providing the extended mirrors are removed when solo, then you will be within the law, and be able to see the corners of the wider caravan, AND have much better and safer rear vision.
I don't understand the reluctance of any driver to make themselves (and everyone else including their nearest and dearest) safer.
Am I missing something?

According to your signature, YES!

 

[NigelHutson]

Seemingly just following a popular trend

 

[ProfJohnL]

The law regarding this subject was discussed at length previously on this forum and the EU regulation pertaing to it were posted. If its that important please use the search engine to find the thread.

 

[AbbeyOwner]

Ok time to spend some more money for some decent towing mirrors

 

[Lutz]

Please quote the regulation that states you should be able to see the rear corners on both sides of the trailer when towing in a straight line as I am of the opinion that the law states "adequate vision". Thanks.

BTW as 2.55m caravans are allowed on the road, seeing both rear corners of the trailer is an impossiblity unless you break the law and have the mirrors extending past the legal limit.

The field of view requirements are included in EU Directive 2003/97/EC which is referenced in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations. Those that apply to cars, including those towing trailers, will be found in Figure 8 on page 38.