towing safety

[JonnyG]

I found this Australian website thought it might be of interest as it does mention the uk and interestingly apparently the Germans now have legislation in place that stipulates a caravan cannot exceed 0.8 times the weight of the tow vehicle ie 80%...
http://caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/making-caravans-stable/

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Jonny,

Well done on finding that article. Very interesting, and also very useful. It also contains links to other caravanning related issues which we also share with our antipodean cousins.

It seems the contributors to the web site have given serious engineering and scientific thought to the articles, and it gives the impression their readers take caravanning far more seriously than we do in the UK.

I have on lt speed read it so far but I will be taking a deeper look into its content .

 

[Woodentop]

I found this Australian website thought it might be of interest as it does mention the uk and interestingly apparently the Germans now have legislation in place that stipulates a caravan cannot exceed 0.8 times the weight of the tow vehicle ie 80%...
http://caravanandmotorhomebooks.com/making-caravans-stable/

The German situation should not affect UK caravans towed in Germany. It is a general principle that anything type approved in one EU country can be used in any other EU country. However that doesn't mean you can tow in Germany at UK speeds.

Towing in Germany your are limited to 80Kph unless you have German Tempo100 certification. There is some argument over this as to get said certification (apart from shock absorbers being mandatory) the registration document has to be stamped - and UK caravans don't have separate registration like their German counterparts. There is anecdotal evidence of people having presented the CRiS document as registration and it has been accepted but there is not proof - you will only find out when you get there.

There is another in the Netherlands - that it is not acceptable for the breakaway cable to be looped round the ball - it has to be (hard) attached to the towcar. I don't know if anyone has tested this one in a Dutch court yet as the Police seem to have found a nice little earner!

 

[Raywood]

The advice is good and well worth reading. I think Woodentop i8s correct with regard to us towing in Germany but I would want to make sure if I was going there. It will presumably make German caravans become far lighter as getting to 80% with many is at best difficult.

 

[ProfJohnL]

I'm not sure how it actually works, but I understand that within the EU member states have agreed to permit visiting vehicles on holiday to use their roads provided the vehicle conforms to the regulations in force in its home country.

Having not taken a caravan abroad I don't know if this protocol is generally accepted or if the local authorities can only grant basic rights and limit access to enhanced features of their road systems and permissions.

 

[RayS]

Where is our old friend Lutz who used to keep us posted on European rules and the like ?