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[Betsy1969]

I’ve seen this on facecloth and it sounds like there will be some ( many ? ) businesses who currently offer B+E  training who will suddenly lose their income ( or a part of it ) . Maybe the Driving instructors association and the Motor Schools Association et al should start talking to the Insurers and their relative associations about some sort of voluntary scheme whereby the driver training industry could still instruct trailer towing for money and newly trained Trailer Towing Drivers could get some sort of discount , thereby helping to protect income for instructors , give some reassurance to insurers that their policyholders had been given some appropriate training and also encourage drivers to take some further training in the hope that they could save some money on insurance .

[BettyWhite]

I have "grandfather rights" and am entitled to tow a trailer on the road, I am absolutely rubbish at it! Diffwhine is right, it's not age, sex or anything else related, some of us are better at some thing than others.

I used to use the Civic Amenity Site (Council Tip to everyone other than a politician) at East Grinstead in Sussex.

I could spend ages watching the ballet (for that's what it was) of the drivers moving the large waste containers around.

Their skill was only matched by the Budgens delivery driver reversing a 40ft artic into the delivery bay at the local store. He (and it was a man) had only 7 inches of overall clearance on the width and had to reverse in a straight line around 30ft to unload. He did this nearly every day for around 10 years before he retired.

Practice is essential, but if you are like me, no amount of practice seems to make a difference, but don't worry, I don't tow anything anymore. To misquote Clint Eastwood "this man's got to know his limitations"

Stay safe and good luck
BW

[22900013A]

Personally, I don’t think age comes into it that much. Old, young, male, female plenty in all groups who aren’t capable of reversing or parking a standard car let alone handling a coupled trailer.
I challenge even the most experienced trailer user to say that they have never come unstuck or almost unstuck with a trailer. We’ve all experienced it I’m sure.
In my view, removing the need for basic training on how to operate any form of trailer is sheer stupidity. How is somebody with little or no experience supposed to be able to understand, nose weights, wag, tyre pressures, balance, loading etc.? Seems like a recipe for disaster in my book.
Seems like our great and glorious leaders have come up with another ludicrous ruse to go with smart motorways and dropping testing of older vehicles… What happens when somebody inexperienced, loses control of a 3500kg trailer behind an untested old Land Rover on a smart motorway? That will get the legal eagles thinking!

Absolutely agree! I think this is an utterly stupid and misguided idea. I suppose if we want to add a bit of colour, the haulage industry have suddenly announced they are desperately short of class 1 drivers , the government response is to make it easier to get a class 1 ticket, drop the class 2 requirement and abandon trailer testing so the testers can be used to process all the class 1 applications they are anticipating. The headlines tell us some firms have finally decided to pay truck drivers a half decent wage. I still wouldn't do it, as the being treated like dirt by all and sundry, and the lack of any real employment benefits (decent pension, sick pay for example) are not something I'm interested in getting involved with.

I'm sure we will soon enough see more serious accidents with trailers, followed by government backpedalling. That said, there has been next to no police presence on the roads anyway, its all been reactive to incidents rather then trying to prevent them happening in the first place.

An older Landrover shouldn't be towing 3500kg anyway, not on overrun brakes at least - but when was the last time you saw a coupled brakes set up on a series?

[biloxi]

Personally, I don’t think age comes into it that much. Old, young, male, female plenty in all groups who aren’t capable of reversing or parking a standard car let alone handling a coupled trailer.
I challenge even the most experienced trailer user to say that they have never come unstuck or almost unstuck with a trailer. We’ve all experienced it I’m sure.
In my view, removing the need for basic training on how to operate any form of trailer is sheer stupidity. How is somebody with little or no experience supposed to be able to understand, nose weights, wag, tyre pressures, balance, loading etc.? Seems like a recipe for disaster in my book.
Seems like our great and glorious leaders have come up with another ludicrous ruse to go with smart motorways and dropping testing of older vehicles… What happens when somebody inexperienced, loses control of a 3500kg trailer behind an untested old Land Rover on a smart motorway? That will get the legal eagles thinking!

I agree with you.
.W.

[diffwhine]

An older Landrover shouldn't be towing 3500kg anyway, not on overrun brakes at least - but when was the last time you saw a coupled brakes set up on a series?

True for Series, but in two year's time, early One Tens will become MOT exempt... And I think the early Range Rover Classics had  3500 kg towing capacity...

[Rog-from-Bix]

That can't be correct. I can't make anything of the information there. The earliest date that makes sense is against the picture of a car, 10 Feb 1976. But I passed my test in 1966, when I was 17. Where is that information stated?


The date next to the thing that looks like a bicycle with an engine on the back wheel is 27/8/15. Is that 2015 or 1915?  The thing that looks like a vintage motorbike says 19 January 2013, or perhaps 1913 would be more appropriate.

I am often asked on insurance forms etc to state the date when I passed the test. I know the year, but not the month. How can I find that out - or have the DVLA lost all the pre-computerisation information?

All I can say is all the dates on mine are the same (test pass date) apart from the motorbike ones. All the expiries are the same.

[agg221]

I can’t say that I don’t think annual or biannual testing of trailers and caravans (like a very basic roadworthiness test) would be a bad thing though. Some of the death traps we have arrive are very concerning. Also the lack of understanding of some people on towing weights etc. Just today we had a large twin axle caravan arrive, being towed by a convertible beetle, with the tow ball scraping the ground as it came in. You honestly couldn’t write it!!

Yes, I would concur with that. I bought my trailer cheaply up in Yorkshire. I knew it would need some work but worked on the basis it would weigh under 750kg so could be towed back down the A1 reasonably enough and then get a good going over. It's a good thing I did - none of the brakes worked and one had no internals! When it was sorted it went over a weighbridge and I knew what load I could then put in it that the car could handle. The parts I didn't pick up on were how the handbrake and breakaway cable interacted - there was definitely one occasion where if something had gone wrong the brake would not have come on because of the way I had loaded it.

Alec

[w3526602]

Hi,

I can recommend FREEDOM caravans ... GRP body, and galvanised chassis. Adequate for two, and there is a 4-berth version. MGW = 750kgs. There is something in my mind that they make/made an unbraked version.

I assume that the law will get round the confusing definitions concerning MAXIMUM WEIGHT, MGW. ALW, Kerb Weight, etc.

I'll ask again... IF you tow a trailer that is heavier than the new entitlement, will you be driving without a licence ... and therefore not be insured?

I suspect that the ULW of a Series is less (or could be contrived to be less) than 30cwt, so would not be allowed to tow an unbraked trailer with a MGW of15cwt

602

[w3526602]

Hi Alec,

I assume we all know that there are two types of breakaway cable?

One type is for use on trailers with no brakes, so that if the trailer detaches, it stays with the tug.

The other type is intended to pull the trailers parking brake on ... and then snaps. One hopes the hand-brake ratchet is in good working order.

ALL trailers must have one or the other.

Me? I usually fix a seat-belt eye-bolt to somewhere substantial, and fit a sturdy "cock-eye" to the cable or chain.

I've owned old horse-boxes, where the brake ratchet was engaged manually, while you pulled the lever with the other hand. 

602

[Clifford Pope]

All I can say is all the dates on mine are the same (test pass date) apart from the motorbike ones. All the expiries are the same.

But you passed post-1976 I think you said?
Is there anywhere that holds a record of the actual date of my pass in 1966?

[autorover1]

The local council where you took your test may have archived the paper records ( If there were any) , may be worth contacting them.  My test was in Birmingham and the local office where my licence was issued was in Oozels Street , I used to have  all my old little Red licence books but they got mislaid in a house move. 

[Clifford Pope]

So basically there is no record, except involving lucky detective work, of anyone ever discovering, or verifying, the date when I passed my driving test?
The only proof that I have ever passed relies on an assumption of someone's transposition of information from an old paper licence at some unknown time in the past many decades ago? Supposing my right to drive were challenged - how would I prove I had passed a test?

Or conversely, supposing I put the wrong date on a form, or even invented a totally fictitious test pass on say 3 March 1977, no one could prove it false or prosecute me for the pretence?
In an otherwise totally oppresive bureaucratic state, that's strangely comforting to know. :)

[GlenAnderson]

There is, I understand, some debate as to whether our proposal to water down the testing regime for drivers will have any validity if driving outside the UK. Something to consider if you are contemplating using the new system to kickstart a career driving lorries across the continent, or taking a caravan over the water.

[autorover1]

If you passed your car driving test from 1 January 1997, you’ll be allowed to tow trailers up to 3,500kg MAM when the law changes.
DVLA will update your driving licence record to show that you’re allowed to tow trailers. You’ll get category BE added to your driving licence when you get a new photocard driving licence.
You do not need to contact DVLA for this to happen. It will be done automatically.

From Gov web site I think if towing abroad one will need to apply for a new photocard license to reflect the change as they wont be issuing a  new one automatically.

[Genem]

There is, I understand, some debate as to whether our proposal to water down the testing regime for drivers will have any validity if driving outside the UK. Something to consider if you are contemplating using the new system to kickstart a career driving lorries across the continent, or taking a caravan over the water.

I wonder what those who used to frown on Eastern European drivers and hint that their testing standards were not as good as ours will say when the first "new batch" driver reverses into something expensive...