A couple of years ago I wanted to tow my old VW campervan to a farm several miles away to do some work on it. It hadn’t been on the road for 6 years (no Mot or tax but it was insured) and I intended towing it with my Volvo 940 on a straight bar (someone steering) and asked at the Police station how I stood legally. No problem, just go ahead and do it was the reply, they seemed amazed that I was questioning it! In the end I ebayed the van so the problem didn’t arise but the police seemed to think that there was no problem with towing it.
Maybe the police don’t know everything !
this is a really raw subject, especially in the offroading scene as people like to a-frame none taxed and tested offroaders to play sites.
There is very little guidance, as far as i’m concerned its illegal, especially when you see lad rovers being towed behind saloons with no brakes on the discos. The way i look at it is;
if you assume its a trailer then not only must all wheels be braked (so you can’t link it to the handbrake) and they must achieve a certain efficiency, when most cars will not do without the brake servo being powered which in most cases means having the engine running to get the vacuum off the manifold. Also it has to be a mechanical link so these electronic things the americans have are no good.
if you assume its a ‘recovery’ device then it can only be used for recovering a car to the nearest safe haven and you have to travel at a limited speed - something like 40 on the motorway and 25 on other roads? So they can’t be used as a transport method.
However i’ve never heard of a policeman that understands the law or of anyone being prosecuted for it. I work on the theory if it looks safe you get left alone, and lets face it, a 1 tonne car behind a 3.5 tonne camper should be ok.
I met a guy a while ago who was developing what he claimed would be a completely legal a-frame, he had had the a-frame type tested and was working on the braking system. I have seen ones where they build an over run brake system into the car being towed.
I don’t think this will ever be cleared up until someone dies, a judge makes a decision and the police pick on it. The question I would ask yourself when your setting up your rig is do you want to be the person stood in the court room, as a professional driver you can tell if its safe or not.
In answer to the orginal question, if you have a car on a trailer that is insured or not and you are involved in an accident then it is the insurance of the tow vehicle that has to resolve the issue. I guess it depends how good your policy is as to what they pay out on
In reference to the land rover that went onto the railway line, i think it was on a trialer and they blamed it on him falling asleep but i’m not 100% now. Either way I often go past where it happened and as far as i know they never extended the barrier
i wasn’t sure if it was on a trailer or not, but there was some issue that made the legal egals look at “towed” vehicles/trailers/A frames etc.
As for that particular bridge, I can’t answer, but I do know that the barrier over every rail overbridge on the motorway in our area (& we have the most motorway mileage of all 7 RCC’s) has either been strengthened/extended, or is in the process of being. you can bet that if it’s not done yet, then there will be a H/S closure over the bridge, with a section of either aveyguard, or concrete blocks giving protection.
pete904ni
The A frame that I have, is the same that the AA etc used to use, they were made by this company Intertrade Engineering Ltd from Oldham near Manchester. The new bit replaces the tow hitch part of the old A frame, it has some sort of bowden cable attachment that clamps against the drivers seat and brake pedal (I’ve not seen it yet) but i’m told it makes it all legal.
If the non-towing vehicle is completely on a trailer ie all wheels off the ground then the requirement for tax, insurance and MOT on that vehicle ceases. The issue with the A frames is because this isn’t the case as the vehicle is in contact with the road although this doesn’t automatically make this set up illegal.
The real Biffo:
i wasn’t sure if it was on a trailer or not, but there was some issue that made the legal egals look at “towed” vehicles/trailers/A frames etc.
Like dave i tow a car behind my motorhome, the car is a beach buggy, (don’t know what it weighs) the A frame is unbraked and never had any problems with the law or vosa its been from home (Nottingham) to Yarmouth many times even when I had the caravan over there I used to take it up there behind my other car.
yes Stan, that’s the one, although it does look like the guys trailer etc was fine, it seemed to be the catalyst that evoked the new laws on towing vehicles etc, up to then, A frames & Dollies were allowed and used by many people.
vwgpmk2, I know what you mean, as I said earlier, that’s just the thing, if you look right, you’ll probably not be bothered, especially by the police (unless involved in an RTC) but VOSA are now-a-days pulling more & more vehicles other than HGV’s. They do know the rules, and will pass on a fixed penalty ticket for your trouble. VOSA have “campaigns” when one day they’ll target a certain type of vehicle, then the next day something else. In summer they like to pull vehicles with caravans, or near to a local refuse disposal site (ie, local tip) they’ll check all trailers etc.
Legally, the vehicle you’re towing has brakes fitted, it’s also over 750k (I think there’s very few cars under that anyway) so the brakes on the towed vehicle should work when the towed vehicle is braked to slow down.
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