tow rope

[Apache]

I have a couple of ex BAE Systems Land Systems unused recovery straps in the shed somewhere

[HONEST AL]

Licence to tow

Steve,how do.Re the above,it was mentioned on the box the other night about needing a licence to tow a horse box,or similar,I have never taken a towing specific test??I dont think it was even mentioned,or is it a newish thing,am I too old to bother.Alan

[bullet513]

Steve,how do.Re the above,it was mentioned on the box the other night about needing a licence to tow a horse box,or similar,I have never taken a towing specific test??I dont think it was even mentioned,or is it a newish thing,am I too old to bother.Alan

i belive if you took your test after 2000 then you need to take an extra towing test, i passed in 2004 and need the extra test to tow legally. im sure the police etc wouldnt be bothered if i was helping someone out in the snow etc

[HONEST AL]

Thanks Alan,Alan

[Rustinho]

i belive if you took your test after 2000 then you need to take an extra towing test, i passed in 2004 and need the extra test to tow legally. im sure the police etc wouldnt be bothered if i was helping someone out in the snow etc

Not quite true. I passed my test in 2004 and I can tow up to a combined vehicle/trailer tow mass of 3.5 tonnes (and I presume you will have the same entitlement on your licence) as long as you don't exceed vehicle specifications (general guideline is towing no more than 85% of vehicle mass I think).

If you just consider that a Surf weighs about 2 tonnes you are able to tow up to a 1.5 tonne trailer (must be braked if over 750kg).

If you need to tow a combined vehicle/trailer mass greater than 3.5 tonnes total you need to take the towing test. At least thats how I understand the law to be for post-2000 driving licences.

[yoshie]

Not quite true. I passed my test in 2004 and I can tow up to a combined vehicle/trailer tow mass of 3.5 tonnes (and I presume you will have the same entitlement on your licence) as long as you don't exceed vehicle specifications (general guideline is towing no more than 85% of vehicle mass I think).

If you just consider that a Surf weighs about 2 tonnes you are able to tow up to a 1.5 tonne trailer (must be braked if over 750kg).

If you need to tow a combined vehicle/trailer mass greater than 3.5 tonnes total you need to take the towing test. At least thats how I understand the law to be for post-2000 driving licences.

If you passed your test in 2004 I would go check your license.






Since 1 January 1997 all drivers who hold category C or D entitlement have been limited to trailers up to 750kgs MAM; Category C+E or D+E must be held in order to tow trailers in excess of this

[Rustinho]

Steve,how do.Re the above,it was mentioned on the box the other night about needing a licence to tow a horse box,or similar,I have never taken a towing specific test??I dont think it was even mentioned,or is it a newish thing,am I too old to bother.Alan

It is legal to tow using a rope.

If you passed your test in 2004 I would go check your license.

Since 1 January 1997 all drivers who hold category C or D entitlement have been limited to trailers up to 750kgs MAM; Category C+E or D+E must be held in order to tow trailers in excess of this

I remember looking into this a while ago because I found the official government information confusing and the DVLA call centre less than helpful. I began by feeling certain that I needed to pass an extra test because that seemed to be the "received wisdom". At first I began feeling confused by everything. Then I delved deeper and I thought I understood things clearly.

Now I'm back at the confused stage!

I'll check this for sure in the morning but if I follow the flowchart on the Towing Solutions website it appears to make things fairly clear.

I remember initially thinking that the flowchart couldn't possibly be correct but I seem to recall digging a little deeper and actually looking at official sources for a copy of the legislation and I'm sure I became convinced that the flow chart was correct and it was the direct.gov website pages (this & this) that were misleading.

Lets face it - it wouldn't be the first time the government had lied to people and almost everyone had fallen for it (the incandescent light bulb "ban" springs to mind).

I'll definitely have another look at it cos the last things I want to be doing are 1. giving out duff information to people and 2. leaving myself open to prosecution for driving illegally by misunderstanding what my licence entitles me to.

EDIT: Can't seem to find the web pages I had before that convinced me of what I originally thought so I can only assume I was having a "hard of thinking" moment!