trike towing dolleys yes/no

[john Meadows]

Sorry for confusion and poor typing!!

The law says when you tow a car, the towed car is deemed to be "a trailer"

The law says if a trailer is fitted with brakes (irrespective of its weight) they must operate

I just choose 500kg as an example to say, if the trailer(towed car) weighs only 500kg and is fitted with brakes they must operate.

 750kg limit is the maximum a trailer can weigh and not have brakes fitted.

So in a nut shell if you tow a car its brakes must operate when its being towed and must also disengage when the outfit is being reversed

weight doesn't come in to it
Hope that helps,      (I think I'll stick to Friskys in Future)

john

[richard]

thanks for the clarification john . it would appear that legally you can never tow a car without having linked brakes . unless in a recovery situation i guess . so the dolley is right out - shame i thought it would solve my problems . but how many simple trailers i see at rallies have acting brakes ??

[Big Al]

The legal position is 'if the trailer has brakes they have to work'. 'If the trailer is under 750 kg it does not need brakes'.

So what if you have a trailer with the brakes removed that is under 750kg. Just because a thing looks like it might have brakes does mean it has. See many small home made trailers based on car axles running with the drum in place as a spacer. So when is a decommissioned brake system not a brake system? I have used this loophole with the dolly often. After all if the car is a trailer it is not a car. Take out the brake shoes, no brakes fitted.

It is on this argument that we defeat the other fav 'A car with its wheels on the road has to be MOTed and Taxed'. A dolly with a car on is clearly not a car nor is the car behaving as a car. It is behaving as a trailer. Dead cars can be moved by dolly. A car on an A frame is behaving as a towed car would. It is a rigid tow, if you like. That is the difference between the two methods and why emergency vehicles favour spectacle lifts over rigid towing. The dead and unroadworthy, often brake-less, cars can be removed and transported round the country to garages, scrapyards etc. Even new cars can be seen to be moved in this way. So we are back to trade using the things OK.

I stopped using either frames or dollys in Europe sometime ago. I think Germany is on emergency vehicles only. France the same? Not sure about the low countries. Spain, apparently on no account. So the law is confused but clearly the drift is towards banning them save for emergency vehicles who need to be able to clear a mess efficiently. I expect this gets rolled up in operators licences and trade insurance cover not available to anyone else. INdeed we are fortunate to still be allowed to make home made trailers!

Being a microcar owner of the old school therefore we are going to do it, aren't we? Microcars, falling through the loopholes of the law. It is one reason to have them surely. Two fingers to the establishment and nanny state.

[Barry]

Lots of people tow small cars behind campers on the continent inc Spain.
The brakes are coupled to the A frame in some way?
Some are very small cars but may go to the size of a Toyota Yaris for instance.

[john Meadows]

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=26483&posts=22

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=26399&posts=110

The above sites cover All the points you want to know, its the MMM site for motor homers who as you say tow cars'

I can assure towing one vehicle behind another in Spain is illegal, unless its on a trailer, i.e. all wheels of the ground

John

[Big Al]

My finger slipped as well, John.

Pretty much same consensus. Two issues. Grey area in law and you need to check out your insurance cover. What the second thread issue ignores is it is for you to tell the insurer what they are insuring. Clearly the Insurers offer standard policies which are fine in 99% of cases to save time. However never assume you are insured for anything without checking, especially if it is an unusual activity. Case in point how many of you have told your insurer that you car is, in fact, modified from standard with the fitment of a tow bar?