Towing Restrictions

[Steve_374541922]

As i am sure you are aware as of January 1997 anyone who passed there Full driving license was no longer permitted to pull a trailor of a certain weight. I made this discovery when viewing caravans for me and my family to start taking a traditional English Hoilday this year and join a instituation in the Caravan Club.

Sadly, due to my megre 30 years on this earth i didnt pass my driving test until August of 1997 meaning i must now pay to take this additional test plus the fees added for training in total i have been quoted £899. What i find hardest to swallow is the bitter pill that i fell into this "unable to pull a trailor" category by a pathetic six months. How does this qualify a 30 + 6 months driver any more than me?

I am interested to know what your thoughts are on this subject and wether you would have been prepared to spend this amount of money when you first started caravaning.

I would have been all up for having to take some compulsory training such as what you must take to ride a moped to set me straight and alert me to the potential pit falls and hazards of towing but a three day course and this amount of money seems over the top and frankly unfair.

Its a shame i was really keen to take my young family caravanning but this extra money has hit our budget to the point where it looks like we wont be pursuing a Caravan this year.

 

[Taff]

Steve

There is an explanation in the Caravan Club Magazine on page 44 of the January 2010 issue. I read it as it is dependent on the weight of the tow car and caravan weight must be below the maximum authorised mass of 3500kg. The 85% rule is still recommended.

Please read the article as I am not certain I have given you the correct information but it does seem like you can tow a caravan albeit a light one.

 

[Guest]

As far as I am aware you are allowed to pull a trailer as long as the 'train weight' of both car and trailer does not exceed 3500 kg. That covers an awful lot of combinations unless you really fancy a twin axle giant with a huge 4x4.

As also mentioned in other Posts, you can get a B+E licence to allow greater weights. Is this what you have been quoted for, or is it for a C1 licence?

 

[Steve_374541922]

As far as I am aware you are allowed to pull a trailer as long as the 'train weight' of both car and trailer does not exceed 3500 kg. That covers an awful lot of combinations unless you really fancy a twin axle giant with a huge 4x4.

As also mentioned in other Posts, you can get a B+E licence to allow greater weights. Is this what you have been quoted for, or is it for a C1 licence?

Yes this its the B+E they want me to do three days training and take the test on the last afternoon.

I drive a 2ltr Mondeo Diesel which i suppose is quite heavy buts certainly no 4x4 monster truck. All we want is a 4 berth caravan to take my young family on a nice holiday in the summer and several weekends away.

I will get my self a copy and look up this article Steve thanks for the referall.

 

[Steve_374541922]

Yes this its the B+E they want me to do three days training and take the test on the last afternoon.

I drive a 2ltr Mondeo Diesel which i suppose is quite heavy buts certainly no 4x4 monster truck. All we want is a 4 berth caravan to take my young family on a nice holiday in the summer and several weekends away.

I will get my self a copy and look up this article Steve thanks for the referall.

 

[Guest]

A Mondeo is around 1600 kg so you can easily pull a acraavan of the same weight on your existing licence legally. That gives a lot of choice so i think you are panicking unnecessarily.

Have a look at this at Licence 'B'.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/WhatCanYouDriveAndYourObligations/DG_4022547

 

[Sproket]

Steve

I have just been looking at this link here for Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi it may not be the same as yours BUT it says the gross weight is 2170kg now that leaves 1330kg .... so as i read it if you could find a caravan with a MTPLM 1330 or less you don't need to take the test, it is only if you intend to exceed the 3500kg you need B+E.

So be aware that if you are caught over weight, you are not insured as you don't have the correct license to be driving the vehicle.

 

[Steve_374541922]

I have found the closet match to our car.... (http://www.visitcars.co.uk/car-specs-results.html?specmakeid=Ford&specmodelid=Mondeo%20(2000-05)&specderivid=20792) which says an unladed weight of 1501kg.

The document which the sales lady gave me this morning suggested our car had a kerb wait (i assume the same) of 1496kg she then compared this to a Bailer Ranger with an Unladen weight of 1105kg (Max. 1316kg), not that we were looking at this van and told me i would need to take this extra test.

It seems to me that if i loaded the caravan and put my children in the car i COULD go over 3500kg... how the heck am i meant to know whether i am breaking the law or not?

 

[Sproket]

Steve

On your V5 for car it will tell you your gross weight, depending how old your car is.

You need to find the gross weight of your car, that weight you cannot exceed, ie: 2170kg, if your car is 1501kg that leaves 649kg ( that includes everything you & yours & kids & fuel & everything else you need ) so you can still have a van of 1330kg MTPLM ( this is the fully loaded weight of the van.)

What i suggest you do is find a local weigh bridge and go weigh the car with you all in, then you will know how much weight you can add to the car.....

If you were going on holiday without a van & the car was loaded with everything you needed, you still cant go over the 2170kg that is the max weight for the car,

 

[ProfJohnL]

Steve,

First of all in no way shape or form is 85% a rule! it is only a guideline, and it never be referred to as a rule, it sends out the wrong message about its authority (which is zero) and its safety credentials (which are not guaranteed)

As for the weights Sprockets description is accurate. the licence limit of 3500kg is the combined Maximum Authorised Masses of the tug and trailer - not what they actually weigh.

 

[gavalar1081]

Hi,

I am 28 and also fall into this catagory. I have done extensive reasearch on this to ensure I remain legal!

We are allowed to tow up to a max of 3500kg combined car/caravan weight.

I have a Mazda 6 with a kerb weight of 1560kg so I can tow a caravan with a max weight 1940kg to match a 3500 limit.

As long as you stick under this you are fine and most 4 berths are about the 1400-1600kg MTPLM.

Best of luck!

 

[Sproket]

Gavin

you need to know the max gross weight of your car, to calculate it into the equation, just using the kerb weight is no good......

Both the car max gross weight and the MTPLM of the caravan cant weigh combined more than 3500kg.

You could tow a heavier van but..... you are not insured as you don't have the correct license to be driving the vehicle.

For further readind about What you can drive

 

[gavalar1081]

Gavin

you need to know the max gross weight of your car, to calculate it into the equation, just using the kerb weight is no good......

Both the car max gross weight and the MTPLM of the caravan cant weigh combined more than 3500kg.

You could tow a heavier van but..... you are not insured as you don't have the correct license to be driving the vehicle.

For further readind about What you can drive

Sorry, I meant the gross weight!

Thanks for spotting though!

 

[Lutz]

Hi,

I am 28 and also fall into this catagory. I have done extensive reasearch on this to ensure I remain legal!

We are allowed to tow up to a max of 3500kg combined car/caravan weight.

I have a Mazda 6 with a kerb weight of 1560kg so I can tow a caravan with a max weight 1940kg to match a 3500 limit.

As long as you stick under this you are fine and most 4 berths are about the 1400-1600kg MTPLM.

Best of luck!

I doubt whether a Mazda 6 has a maximum permissible towload of 1940kg, though.

 

[Lutz]

When the law was changed to introduce the B+E category licence there had to be a breakpoint somewhere. It would therefore always bound to hit someone first. Our son passed his driving test 2 weeks before B+E was introduced so he was lucky, but our daughter, who got her driving licence in the USA, returned home 2 months later, so she only got a category B licence on the basis of her US licence.

 

[602]

Hi,

The trailer MGW must not exceed the ULW of the tow car. Thats UNLADEN weight not KERB weight.

The MGW of the combination must not exceed 3500kg, and is further restricted by the TRAIN weight, and further restricted by the individual axle loadings. All MGWs include the weight of the passengers.

It is far easier to choose a car, then choose a trailer, and see if it is legal, than to ask what combinations are legal.

Is it possible to take a B+E test, or is that just a "group of convenience", and the only option is to take a C test? My understanding is that you can drive a C vehicle on L-plates, but cannot take a C test until you have passed a B test.

In 1971, a salesman told me that my 1200cc Hillman Avenger would not tow the 2 tons of boat & trailer he was trying to sell me. He said I should fit a 1500cc engine.

602

 

[Gafferbill]

This websites Features page gives a more accurate picture of the requirements.

There are some inaccuracies in some of the above posts!

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/features/caravanlaw.html
Scroll down to Driving Licence Requirements

 

[Sproket]

This is a section of what Gafferbill link says

.......Licence gained after 1 January 1997

If you gained your licence on or after 1 January 1997, then you will be restricted to driving or towing with a car (or light commercial vehicle) with a maximum weight of 3500kg. Note this is not the actual weight as loaded, but the vehicle's maximum allowable weight, or gross vehicle weight, as set by the manufacturers - you will find this in your car's handbook.

You can tow a trailer or caravan with this licence, but its maximum weight must not exceed 750kg - giving a total possible maximum outfit weight of 4250kg. If you wish to pull a caravan weighing more than 750kg (in practice, this covers all conventional caravans), you must follow the restriction that the maximum allowed weight of the car-plus-caravan combination weighs no more than 3500kg, and that the caravan's maximum weight does not exceed 100 percent of the car's unladen weight (this is not the same as the car's kerbweight - have a look at the panel on this page for a full explanation).

What makes this rule appear rather odd is that if you wish to tow a trailer that weighs over 750kg, you actually end up with a lower total limit for the car-plus-caravan outfit than you would if you were towing a trailer under 750kg, where the total can be 4250kg.

............. so am i reading that if you have only B on your licence, if the tow car was 2500kg MGW, and it could tow 2ton... if the driver had a van on the back with a MTPLN of 1700kg....

then it would be legal for them to tow it ?????????

 

[Surfer]

It does not mention if they are refering to braked or unbraked trailer. Perhaps some clarification is needed?

Going back to an earlier post surely having to pay

 

[Lutz]

The Practical Caravan 'Towing Law' page talks about EU kerbweight. There is no such thing as EU kerbweight. The EU Directive only uses the term MIRO.

There is no legal definition of kerbweight. The law uses the term unladen weight. What kerbweight includes or excludes is only covered by convention within the industry. Because of the confusion between kerbweight, unladen weight and different interpretations between UK and foreign manufacturers, the EU attempted to clarify things by creating a new term, MIRO, although even this applies to cars and motor homes, not to caravans. Although the term MIRO is often used in connection with caravans, caravans are not specifically covered in the EU Directive. What is included in the MIRO of caravans is still left to interpretation by each individual manufacturer.

 

[stephena]

Heres a link to one of the local companies i have enquired with http://www.trailer-training.co.uk/

They do a two day course for

 

[ProfJohnL]

Stephen,

Never rely on third party sites for technical details. Either check your V5 which may have it or go to the horses mouth and ask your manufacture.

Always have your VIN number ready as they will almost certainly ask for it to verify the model details.

 

[Lutz]

The maximum permissible weight of your car is one of the details that must be shown on the car's VIN plate (usually located somewhere in the engine compartment)

 

[Gafferbill]

... It is worth pointing out that the restrictions imposed on a B license holder who obtained their licence after January 1st 1997, are to achieve much the same thing as the so called 85% towing rule.

The weight restrictions and their obligations are imposed on the driver, rather than advising on the weight ratios of the towing vehicle and its trailer.

These restrictions are given the force of the law.

Note also, that no category of licence allows for an unbraked trailer to weigh more than 750kgs.

I say this, as there is a photo of a loaded trailer on this forum that may be contravening this law.

If it has brakes, then I humbly apologise to the poster.

 

[Gafferbill]

....that will teach me to keep up with postings!

What a great trailer..... I humbly apologise (grovel grovel)