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Driver
Licensing Requirements for Towing Trailers in Great Britain
This section contains information about changes
in entitlement to tow trailers which were required by the Second
EC Directive on the Driving Licence (91/439/EEC). These changes
came into effect on 1 January 1997.
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and Recovery services
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Comprehensive list of trailer
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TOWING
ADVICE
• Match the towing
vehicle with the load and trailer you are going
to tow.
• Make sure that
the vehicle has a large enough engine and is sufficiently
sized to pull the load and make sure also that the
trailer is large and strong enough to hold the load.
• Also make sure
that the braking system of the towing vehicle is
adequate to stop the combined load efficiently and
safely.
• You can do this
by making sure that the weight of the load does
not exceed the maximum capacity of the trailer and
the combined weight of trailer and load does not
exceeed the maximum towing weight for the vehicle.
• Amend your driving
style to cope with the extra load. Don't forget
that the vehicles handling and stopping capacity
can be seriously changed when towing heavy loads.
• Stopping distances
are greater and acceleration will be slower (So
don't pull out in front of someone thinking you
can just put your foot down)
• The combined
length of the vehicle and trailer is also much longer
than normal so be careful when negotiating sharp
bends.
• The maximum
towing capacity for a particular vehicle can be
found in the owners handbook and/or on the chassis
VIN plate.
• The caravan
Club recommendes that the total weight of the trailer
and load should not be greater than 85% of the kerb
weight of the towing vehicle provided that this
does not exceed the maximum towing weight for the
vehicle.
• The kerb weight
is defined as the weight of the vehicle plus a full
tank of petrol and 75kg (for the driver and luggage)
Click
here for vehicle towing capacities |
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