Towing Mirrors- The Law - E marks

[freddy2]

Hello everybody, I have read right through this post and am now totally confused. We have only been caravanning 7 months and purchased towing mirrors from a reputable caravan spares shop. After reading this post I checked our mirrors and they do not have an EU mark on the actual mirror or strap but I am sure that it had EU approved on the box that the mirrors came in. We are going to France for the first time this year and we do not want to be illegal either here in the UK or in France. I am quite angry really if a good caravan shop is selling items that are infact illegal to use. Would somebody please kindly tell me if we are legal or illegal, our towcar was reg 2003.

Carole. If youve got the reciept,take them back and get your money back. They are not fit for purpose. If they dont refund you, go to trading standards.

 

[Lutz]

The standard ex-works outside rear view mirrors will always display the necessary E-marking, so they are not going to be an issue. Perhaps Nigel could enlighten us whether additional mirrors must also have an E-marking. I assume they do but I would doubt whether, in practice, anyone would run into problems if they didn't so long as the standard mirrors remain fully usable, i.e. vision is not obstructed. Clearly, in the case of the "Suck-it & See" mirrors, this is not the case.

 

[JTS]

I noticed you mentioned the word spares earlier Nigel. After buying a pair of your mirrors two of those wobbley pads that stop the door mirror paintwork being damaged dropped off after about 2 weeks and I couldn't find them. I now have to put a piece of rubber strapping there to protect them. Do you sell these pads?

Although a member of the aristocracy I'm a penniless one at that so cannot afford the expense of buying two new mirrors.

All of my income goes on the upkeep of my ancestral family home, Screwwem Hall, and the wages of my stable maid and chamber maid. What little I have left over goes on Horlicks and Viagra.

I anticipated the loss of a "WOBBLEY THING" and made enquires. I now have two spare "WOBBLEY THINGS" in the redundant ashtray of my car. Your dealer who sold you the mirrors can order them in for you. JTS.

 

[Carol_374304703]

Hello everybody, I have read right through this post and am now totally confused. We have only been caravanning 7 months and purchased towing mirrors from a reputable caravan spares shop. After reading this post I checked our mirrors and they do not have an EU mark on the actual mirror or strap but I am sure that it had EU approved on the box that the mirrors came in. We are going to France for the first time this year and we do not want to be illegal either here in the UK or in France. I am quite angry really if a good caravan shop is selling items that are infact illegal to use. Would somebody please kindly tell me if we are legal or illegal, our towcar was reg 2003.

Thank you Freddy for your answer, I still have the box with the selling Companys security tag and price ticket on so I will take them back.

 

[sam.b19]

I assure you this is not a scam.

The information has been provided to protect the caravaning community from being scammed by buying dangerous illegal mirrors.

In previous years many dangerous mirrors without e marks have been sold to caravanners.

Now that caravanners are aware it is a legal requirement, mirrors are e-marked. This year, we have seen a new scam. Dangerous mirrors with obsolete e-marks being sold as legal.

We could easily write a book referring to all the regulations that relate to towing mirror and in the previous entry; our intent was to make a simple statement that explained the law. I am sorry if the statement was not clear.

When a product is type approved, the approval only lasts a defined period of time. In the case of mirrors 3 years. Then it must be re-tested to the latest regulations and approved again. Generally when there is a big change to the regulations, they change the appearance of the e mark so it's easy to check if the mirrors approved to the current standard.

The regulations are continuously changing for safety reasons. This can be especially seen on truck mirrors where they have 2 or 3 different e marks from the testing over the years. The towing mirrors have to pass the same tests as the tow car door mirror and be made to the same standard. If you buy a new car today and a new pair of our towing mirrors it is probable that those mirrors will be legal for the life of the vehicle.

In five years time it is quite possible the mirrors we sell today may not be legal to sell, because of safety updates in the regulations. If so, we will have to update them to comply and in all likelihood there will be a new e mark, so it will be easy to see the mirrors comply with the new regulations.

The current e mark is a round circle 12-mm in diameter with an upper case E. The obsolete e marks are a small rectangle with a lower case e and a small 8-mm circle with an E.

We have provided this information so you can avoid out of date products that do not meet current safety standards.

If you have bought mirrors in the past with these marks, then they are perfectly legal to use on the cars that were new at the time these marks were legal. These cars will have the same e-marks on the door mirrors, so it is easy to check.

To the letter of the law if you buy a new car and use the old mirror approved to the obsolete standard, you will be breaking the law for "construction and use". You can be fined up to