4x4 Mag - Towing Terrors?!

Towing Terrors ?

Many of us use our 4x4 to tow a trailer, often with another 4x4 on it to go and play off road. Many tow caravans, and many tow trailers for work, some of us tow all the time .. some of us tow very little. Whatever category you come into it's important always to keep abreast of the current law relating to your 4x4 and your towing use and keep your trailer and towing equipment in optimum working order.

There are so many people out there towing "car transporter" trailers based on the chassis of an old caravan, trailers without mud-guards, mixed cross plies and radial tyres, trailers with poor lighting or small light boards, trailers with inadequate hitches, brakes faulty or not even connected. Who would place such a dangerous wheeled object behind their pride and enjoy ? It seems rather a lot of the general public will, and do regularly, but what if that trailer comes off .... it's rather irresponsible to drive on the public road towing something so potentially dangerous. And what about the towing speed limit? How often do we see the caravan passing us in excess of 70MPH on the bank holiday weekend rush to the beach. Legislation always seems to be aimed the wrong way or at the wrong things and in our opinion the towing directive relating to the Tachograph is just such an example, where legislation could have been better served trying to rectifiy some of the above "abuses"..

The Tachometer is the latest technology to be inflicted upon us by our European partners and its ability to affect what you tow, how you tow, with what and when and what weight. This new issue is worth some careful consideration. At the end of this item we publish the contact telephone numbers for some organisations who should be able to cut through the technicalities of the issue and provide you with the up-to-the-minute facts.

In brief due to EEC Directives 3820 and 3821 which were clarified by an amending regulation which became effective on August 24th last year we have some new conditions to abide by. As is normal with legislation there are always conditions and exemptions and we'll try and steer you through the basics here. Essentially we believe that if you tow a trailer in connection with your work or business, or for any element of hire or reward, or for any other commercial application you may be required to have a tachograph fitted if the gross weight of the vehicle and the plated gross weight of the trailer combined exceed 3500kg. Also if the maximum permissible train weight of the towing vehicle exceeds 3500kg a tachograph may also need to be fitted.

If you use a vehicle to tow a trailer and it is in connection with your work or business or there is any chance or opportunity of financial reward and if the fully laden weight of the towing vehicle and trailer together exceed 3500kg, and if the maximum permissible train weight of the towing vehicle exceeds 3500kg then you may have to have a tachograph fitted to your vehicle.

Now the exemptions ... If you tow for personal use, or if your vehicle was manufactured prior to 1st January 1947 or if the towing vehicles maximum authorised or designed speed does not exceed 30 KPH you're OK. Also if the vehicle is used by the Armed Forces, Police, civil defence, fire service, or RNLI or is a specialised breakdown vehicle you're OK. If you use your 4x4 to tow circus or funfair equipment, or you're a market trader or selling door to door with a trailer you're also OK.

There's also exemptions for steam propelled vehicles, agricultural and forestry applications, vehicles used for driving instruction, vehicles under 7.5 tonnes used for the carriage of goods but which are propelled by gas or electricity and vehicles undergoing road tests for technical developments etc..
If you fall into the category where a tachograph is to be fitted you will also be bound to comply with the European Union driver's hours regulations.

Some useful numbers for further advice on this issue :

Department of Transport (DETR) - 0171 676 2756

The National Trailer Towing Association - 01926 - 335445