Towing - licences after jan 1997

Guys, just a bit of a heads up.

Having passed my licence after jan 1997, I have always been under the impression I can only legally tow up to 750kg.

I've been looking at doing my B+E training, and it seems the laws changed last year.

To bring the UK in line with other eu countries this was changed last year.

We can now tow any trailer, so long as the total weight is less than 3500kg (unladen weight of car must be more than that of the trailer).

So given my defender weighs approx 1800kg, I can tow a trailer of 1700kg.

This is a huge improvement over 750kg!!

Who says being in the EU is a bad thing?

See link for confirmation.

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

Just thought there would be a few out there who would find this useful.

Sorry if this is old news to everyone!

That is good news! I didn't know about it.

I looked two years ago, and the max weight was 750kg.

I've wanted to pick up a few cars in the past but i couldn't because of the weight restrictions. The weight of the car and trailer put me over 750kg, its difficult trying to rely on 'friends' who want favors from you for free, but they want cash for similar favors when i ask. ;-/

This is about the 1000th time this has been covered on here

Not quite its on MAM weight not actual weight and so its what the trailer is plated to carry, I believe the MAM weight of a 90 is 2400 so this only gives you 1100 kg. Good luck finding a trailer that is plated to carry up to 1100 kg theyre all 750 3000 or 3500

Sorry

I'm not sure that's right, it says

You can also tow larger trailers if:
- the combined trailer and vehicle weight isn’t more than 3,500kg
- the fully-loaded trailer weight isn’t more than the unladen vehicle weight

Doesn't mention MAM.

In France, you still need B+E for a trailer over 750 kilo's.

Datatek said:

In France, you still need B+E for a trailer over 750 kilo's.

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The op did say to bring UK inline with other EU countries. Surely France is not in the same EU as UK.
The French are special.

warrior said:

This is about the 1000th time this has been covered on here

Click to expand...

that dosent matter as new people or people have missed the previous topics

this is the first time I have seen this so thanks for posting

Legislation is constantly changing, when we built our drawbar trailer, little did we know that within 2 years overrun brakes on these would be banned.

As far as the licencing goes, check on the government websites and also don't assume that Google links to the very latest issues of such documents, there are many earlier issues that come up as well.

Most Govt documents have the issue number prominently displayed on the front page. The document linked to above has: "Last updated: 2 December 2013" on the bottom of the page.

Peter

i'll just leave this here


and my example i did for my ex to tow her track car -

my passat has an unladen weight of 1.586t

add a 1.4t mam trailer which is less than the unladen cars weight

the car has a mam of 1.950t

makes a mam total of 3.35t so thats under 3.5t

so thats all good to go for an after 97 licence

to add to that vw spec a 1.5t tow limit for the car

also the 1.4t mam trailer weighs 350kgs empty so thats 1050kgs of load that can go on it a 106gti is 950kgs

add a 1.4t mam `you must have a heavy mam

gregsargent said:

I'm not sure that's right, it says

You can also tow larger trailers if:
- the combined trailer and vehicle weight isn’t more than 3,500kg
- the fully-loaded trailer weight isn’t more than the unladen vehicle weight

Doesn't mention MAM.

Click to expand...

Its definately on MAM weight. I throuroughly quizzed my towing instructor about it when I did my trailer test last year. Its MAM so jo blogs police can enforce it without having to put you over a weighbridge.

gregsargent said:

I'm not sure that's right, it says

You can also tow larger trailers if:
- the combined trailer and vehicle weight isn’t more than 3,500kg
- the fully-loaded trailer weight isn’t more than the unladen vehicle weight

Doesn't mention MAM.

Click to expand...

Where are you reading that? When I click the link in the OP it says:

"Licences held from 1 January 1997
If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary category B (car) licence, you can:

• drive a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes or 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM

• tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as it is no more than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle (with a combined weight of up to 3,500kg in total)

For anything heavier you need to take a category B+E driving test."

Ha!

My wife keeps telling me she can't do the towing because of her license.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I want her to anyway.

From https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car


1. Driving licence rules and what you can tow
The rules on what you can tow are different depending on when you passed your driving test.

Licences issued from 19 January 2013
From 19 January 2013, drivers passing a category B (car and small vehicle) test can tow:

small trailers weighing no more than 750kg
trailers weighing more than 750kg, where the combined weight of the towing vehicle and the trailer isn’t more than 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM)
If you want to tow a trailer weighing more than 750kg, when the combined weight of the towing vehicle and trailer is more than 3,500kg, you’ll have to pass a further test and get B+E entitlement on your licence.

You’ll then be able to tow trailers up to 3,500kg.

Licences held from 1 January 1997
If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary category B (car) licence, you can:

drive a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes or 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM
tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as it is no more than the unladen weight of the towing vehicle (with a combined weight of up to 3,500kg in total)
For anything heavier you need to take a category B+E driving test.

Licences held before 1 January 1997
If you passed your car test before 1 January 1997 you are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes MAM.

This is the weight of a vehicle or trailer including the maximum load that can be carried safely when it’s being used on the road.

You also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.

So basically with a licence after 1997 but before jan 2013 you could tow a trailer with an all up weight of about 995kgs with a 90, with a 110 you would be limited to 750KG as the total would be over 3500kg.

Geeze, the B+E test is very straight forward, not that expensive and actually good to make you think about a few things you may take for granted when towing.

If you're going to tow something big and heavy just do the test, it takes a couple of half day lessons and the test, it's nothing out of your life and gives you the skills you require to tow legally and safely.

Bump said:

Geeze, the B+E test is very straight forward, not that expensive and actually good to make you think about a few things you may take for granted when towing.

If you're going to tow something big and heavy just do the test, it takes a couple of half day lessons and the test, it's nothing out of your life and gives you the skills you require to tow legally and safely.

Click to expand...

+1

OP and others, if you aint experienced, why not do the test, you may learn something. And you will be sure of being legal and insured in the event of an accident.
If you slip up and go a few kgs over the limit without trailer test you may get in big trouble. It is always better to operate well within limits rather than right on them!

and it all goes to pot if your towing commercially
Getting to grips with towing law | Features | Farmers Guardian

if you don't have it on your licence you are not allowed to tow I just asked a traffic cop and that's what he told me pass a trailer test of don't tow cos your insurance will not cover you if its not on your licence

mutsnutz said:

if you don't have it on your licence you are not allowed to tow I just asked a traffic cop and that's what he told me pass a trailer test of don't tow cos your insurance will not cover you if its not on your licence

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Sadly with all due respect that traffic cop could do with reading what the law says ...... and what is 'on your licence' is the catagories shown, plus whatever trailers are included within that category.

Still with a C+E what do I care...... A

(and I'd agree just do the test anyway - might well make the roads a safer place....)