Driving licence categories

[Beehpee]

Hi, I am pretty sure I have my facts correct but just thought I'd run this by more legally minded people such as the Prof, ok, my son in law passed his driving test around 2005, he has always stated categorically that his licence does not allow him to tow a trailer of any type or size and various people have "confirmed" this to be true, now as I understand the licence categories it is that passing as test in a car means you get category B, this then automatically means you can tow a trailer as long as the combined total weight of car and trailer does not exceed 3500kg, I've checked this on DVLA website and unless I'm missing something this seems to be what it states, I just don't see how anyone can pass a driving test and not have this, thankfully my licence has B+E plus umpteen other categories that I'm never likely to need so don't have any doubts, problem I have is convincing a much younger person that this old man is right, it's not that he wants to pull a caravan but they do go camping and my daughter is gradually building a bigger and bigger collection of camping equipment so as trailer would make loads of sense, thanks for any input.

BP

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

You are correct BP. The following is taken from gov.uk website:

Cars
Category B
You can drive vehicles up to 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) with up to 8 passenger seats (with a trailer up to 750kg).
You can also tow heavier trailers if the total weight of vehicle and trailer isn’t more than 3,500kg.

Category B+E
You can drive a category B vehicle with a trailer when they have a combined weight over 3,500kg.

 

[Beehpee]

Cheers, I'd read that on the Gov website already and it was only as he was so insistant that he'd already checked and couldn't tow anything that I wondered if I'd missed something, the wisdom of the young!!

BP

 

[Raywood]

I think the correct figure for car and trailer is arrived at by adding the maximum laden weight of the car and the MTPLM of the trailer and this must not exceed 3,500 kg and not the actual combined weight. This is the advice given in PC when testing cars.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello BeePee

Woodlands and Raywood have given you the important criteria.

In my experience trying to tell a hot blooded male they have got something wrong can be fraught with denial, unless you have some good evidence.

I suggest you invite your son to look at the website together, and together go through the clauses.

Ray's comment about the combined weight actually refers to the combined MAM which must not exceed 3500Kg exceeding this can be very important especially if the driver uses a large car, but it is unlikely to be a problem for a camping trailer.

 

[Beehpee]

Morning all, thanks for the replies, I posted this question as because my son in law was so adamant that he was not allowed to tow any type of trailer at all I started to doubt my own thoughts, as far as weights are concerned it's not going to be a problem for the foreseeable as its strictly regarding getting a camping trailer, I have to say I'm really pleased that they are enjoying the camping so much and have recently upgraded to a larger tent which is what has prompted me to encourage them to get a trailer, it's great to see a young family enjoying the wonderful British outdoors, they have my 18 month old granddaughter who just loves camping already with the next grandchild only another 4 months away and yet this week they've braved the showery British weather to go camping, I think it's a great way to enjoy the British countryside and there's every chance that a good few years down the line they will join the caravan community, not sure I'd fancy being in a tent this week but I will say there is still a sense of adventure with tents that doesn't quite exist with a caravan, on my visits to places like Go Outdoors for kit I Can never resist having a look round the tent displays, brings back memories from my dim and distant past when as an 11 year old myself and a mate would pack a 2 man tent and go wandering during the summer holiday, my favourite memory is when I was 12 telling my parents we were off camping and the reply was have a good time, we had no phone in the house so off we went, lots of walking and hitch hiking later we ended up near Evesham, we spent the whole of the summer school holiday there getting by doing some fruit picking, we were gone for somewhere between 5 and 6 weeks, as neither of our parents had a phone in the house we hadn't been in touch since we left, all my mother said when I walked in was "have you had a nice time" not sure that could ever happen now and the police would be out looking in less than a day.

BP