One of the more left-field titles for which I write irregularly is Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly (MMM), and this week I’ve been doing some digging into the issue of towing cars. We’ve all seen motorhomers dragging a city car along behind their vehicle as local transport for when they arrive at their destination. I’ve always assumed that it’s legal – the owners must have checked it out – but it turns out it’s such a grey area as to be almost black. The bottom line is that the regulations, as defined in the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 and subsequent amendments, never envisaged this situation and it’s never been tested in court. The issue is to do with braking; when towed, the car is considered to be a trailer and that opens a whole can of worms. Specifically, it’s to do with brake disengagement when reversing. As for touring and towing in Europe, Germany and the Netherlands say they will tolerate it but that technically it’s illegal. Everywhere else says anyone caught doing it will be pulled over and told to unhitch the car. That might make for an interesting holiday if you and your partner are driving separate vehicles.
Thursday 19 January 2012
Motorhomers breaking the law?
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It is interesting that people quote the EEC reciprical agreement for using A frames in Europe. This misquote appears to be part of the Geneva Convention rather than an EEC ruling. In any event, it appears that Spain, Portugal and the UK never ratified this agreement and therefore it is not an acceptable get out! I did not know that Germany tolerated them but I did think there were legal in Netherlands.
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