Lutz said:
colin-yorkshire said:
if the above statement is true "and I dont doubt it" then people with older vans (pre alko chasis) must be illegal as they did not have automatic disengagement of the brakes this had to be done manually via a lever or a semicercular clip that was engaged prior to reversing, I believe some boat trailers still use this arangement too.
The fact sheet states that automatic reverse disengagement did not become a legal requirement until October 1988 so older caravans are not illegal and boat trailers are not exempt.
colin yorkshire said:
the other statement I dont get is the alleged problems to the brakes of the towing vehicle by towing a unbraked trailer of 750kg especialy on a motorhome because all motor homes are either van based convertions or custom built onto pickup chasis both of which use comercial running gear and well able to cope with such loads.
The legal requirement states brakes are required on
any trailer weighing more than 750kg, no matter what it is towed by, even if it's a 12 ton truck.
Oh sorry Lutz I was waiting for the rest of your post to appear as it seems you only picked out the first two points and then stopped I assumed your keyboard had run out of ink bud.
lets take the first point first so to speak yes I have read the fact sheet and as normal it is unclear as to exactly what is a legal requirement in detail and as usual with british law leaves a middle bit that is open to interpretation with the phrase " only the courts can decide" to me this means there is a grey area.
exactly when the alko type chasis became standard fittment to all caravans used on the roads I don't know but I am sure it was later than 1988 and I do know as a fact that some breakback boat trailers dont't have auto reverse brakes moreover it does not follow that all t/axel trailers brake on all 4 wheels some it is only 2.
2nd nowhere in my post do I refer to unbraked trailers over 750kg
apart from a reference to the land rover towed by old fred behind the steam engine and come to think of it he used to tow a coal trailer from time to time without brakes, it is possible of course that steam engines are exempt from the legistlation.
I am sure you will excuse me for playing the devils advocate here but there are gaping holes in the interpretation of the said legistlations if you read them carefully they are there to see. I know this topic comes up now and again but it is complex and not truly understood even by the so-called experts.let alone joe public if the letter of the law was so plain most of us who tow trailers would be illegal in some way every time we towed.
the first paragraph reads any vehicle towed by another ie motorhome is effectively a trailer and subject to trailer regulations and then goes on to explain them. However if the said towed vehicle is now a trailer and not a motor vehicle in itself any reference to its mam weight is meaningless as these include driver and passengers neither of which could be carried in a trailer.
it also states in reference to the above that the brakes "if the weight is over 750kg" the braking efficiency must be over 50% well maybe in germany trailers have tests but here in the uk that is not the case so there is no provision for calculating the brake efficiency of a trailer many would have seen many years of service without being tested ever so how does one know what the figure is.
as I wrote in my first post I have had this conversation before and seeing first hand the modifications required "as undersood" it is possible to tow a car with a Aframe legally many do rightly or wrongly in the end it is up to the courts to decide not us.
colin