towing laws

what the laws on me towing a car without mot tax or insurance?

i know if i use an unmaned a frame its ok but what with a normal tow bar with someone steering the rear car?

Not insured!

if its untaxed and uninsured it must be classed as a proper trailer, ie on a car trailer or on a A frame. no one is allowed in it. and i think it must also have 2 wheels off the ground, i think thats right..

I was under the impression that no tax = wheels must be off the road, but TOTR corrected me on it - can't see how you'd be exempt though, a car is still a car even when its being towed. I think there's an exemption for towing to a scrappie, and thats it.

na you got to have them taken away now if its not tax or insured then the fuzz can ticket it or impound it if its deemed unsafe! Hence the scapyards now chargr for disposal!

Dannyd said

na you got to have them taken away now if its not tax or insured then the fuzz can ticket it or impound it if its deemed unsafe! Hence the scapyards now chargr for disposal!

I guess too many people abused the exemptions. Or generally abused the motoring laws surrounding this kind of stuff. So they introduced the ANPR thing, automated everything, and now you can't have an untaxed or un-MoT'd or uninsured car on the road. And if you're using an exemption its up to you to prove that!

Good luck with the trailer hire rov.

Look in the thompson book it'll be about ?40 for the day plus you get 50 nector points!!! 8O

You can't use a A-frame unless the cars weight is under 750 KG because it'll be classed as an unbrakes trailer.  There are plenty of people who transport cars.  Your best idea is to get onto your local Motosport Club (get onto the MSA website and search).  loads of people there will have their own car trailers for their rally/race cars and most will transport your car for the price of the fuel plus a couple of pints.

I got mine transported twice the cost was
89 miles - ?100
13 miles - ?30
These people have to get home at the end of the journey so I'm sure that this is value for money. There should be loads of Agricultral machinery transport companies around Spalding give one of them ago.

got it sorted now dont need to tow the car in any more!

but still not 100% sure on the laws but got the idea no motetc = no wheels on the road

rov716y said

got it sorted now dont need to tow the car in any more!

but still not 100% sure on the laws but got the idea no motetc = no wheels on the road

I'd like if TOTR can come on here and properly clarify this too. As I see it, you're skating on thin ice if you try to claim a towed, broken down vehicle, obeys trailer laws not car-specific requirements. For a start, its over 750kg so it needs to have OVERRUN on otherwise linked brakes to the car. Secondly, it would need a secondary coupling (ie the safety wire on a regular trailer) which automatically applies the brakes if the main coupling detaches in motion. Thirdly, I think it would be open to interpretation in a court and anyone sensible would say a car, even broken down, is a car, not a trailer. Being worn out doesn't change the fact that you need road tax/etc.

Another issue - are you licensed to tow it? When did you take your test and if you took it after 1 Jan 1997, did you go on and take another test for a trailer?

on my liscence i can tow up to 750 kg unbraked or any trailer with a fully liscenced person in passenger seat

rov716y said

on my liscence i can tow up to 750 kg unbraked or any trailer with a fully liscenced person in passenger seat

So, not a car. The 750kg is a MAM (maximum authorised mass); and also it cannot weigh more than the tow vehicle. Once you have B+E licence, these restrictions don't apply.

Anyone done an E test?

my liscence hae B E on it but not B+E any one know what that mean?

rov716y said

my liscence hae B E on it but not B+E any one know what that mean?

E = trailer. Yes on the licence its printed BE. So it looks like you have it.

I have an A frame, which has towed the golf numerous times earlier in its life. It comes with a long cable and bracketry to press the brake pedal on the towing vehicle when the towing vehicle brakes, though I havent yet bothered to use the brakets/cable so far, as the Freelander is more than sufficent to stop herand I've only done short journeys locally, though legally I'm under the impresion I should due to it being above 750kg.
Another point of arguement, if the car has no engine/box etc and stripped down to a degree, then it will fall below the weight and thus not require braking, which copper is going to take you off to  a weigh bridge to prove/disprove the weight?

GAMMYGOLFGTI said

Another point of arguement, if the car has no engine/box etc and stripped down to a degree, then it will fall below the weight and thus not require braking, which copper is going to take you off to  a weigh bridge to prove/disprove the weight?

No because its based on the MAM of the trailer, not its rolling weight.

Stripped cars left by the roadside still need tax.

Could be wrong, but if I towed the Golf without its own number plates, but with a light board and the number plate of the towing vehicle, wouldn't it be classified as a trailer? Wasn't/ is it still a requirement to have the registration of the towing vehicle displayed at the rear of the towed vehicle, which has lead me to believe a towed vehicle is classed as a trailer.

GAMMYGOLFGTI said

Could be wrong, but if I towed the Golf without its own number plates, but with a light board and the number plate of the towing vehicle, wouldn't it be classified as a trailer? Wasn't/ is it still a requirement to have the registration of the towing vehicle displayed at the rear of the towed vehicle, which has lead me to believe a towed vehicle is classed as a trailer.

There's a requirement for a car to display its registration, and a requirement for a towing vehicle's plate to be visible at the rear of any towed vehicle. So in theory, I think you'd need to show both. Basically if you removed the plate from a car while its on the public road, attached to another car or not, you're breaking the law from the requirement to display its plates.

I've looked for the legislation on the internet, its all in the 1986 road vehicles construction and use regulations, which aren't on the internet (so far looking)……

So, we need someone with access to them, or to a similar reference, ie the police national legal database.