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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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Trailer
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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.
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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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