slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Sept 20, 2021 10:02:32 GMT
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don't really understand why people think changing the rules will make any difference to people towing things badly. If people don't understand towing then hows a complex rule about what you can and cant tow going to make any difference? They simply wont understand that either!
I could maybe understand it if there was a flat ban on towing unless you have an extra licence but that's never been the case. I don't have a BE and tow small cars all the time. All you need (or needed) is a tow vehicle around 2ton gross and a light weight single axle trailer and you can pull over a ton of payload no bother. Think alot of people still don't quite grasp what the rules actually are (or were)!
For me it's a great move. The restrictions were stupid. If I can tow a 1500kg trailer I can tow a 3500kg trailer!
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Sept 20, 2021 19:17:44 GMT
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Unfortunately there are no plans to extend this to Northern Ireland so once again we get all of the idiotic rules and none of the useful ones. Although it is debatable which category this one falls into. I reckon the real problem wont be a load of car enthusiasts with their newly acquired Mk3 Escort on the back, it'll be horsey people with two mares and a box behind a Grand Vitara with no idea what to do when they get a bit of a swerve on.
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 979
Club RR Member Number: 13
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Sept 20, 2021 19:35:18 GMT
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Has anyone who tows ever had their licence checked when towing?
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Sept 20, 2021 19:50:34 GMT
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no, never! granted I don't tow a lot, and use suitable tow vehicles and make sure stuff is loaded and strapped well.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,710
Club RR Member Number: 34
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Sept 20, 2021 20:56:18 GMT
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Has anyone who tows ever had their licence checked when towing? Yes. It was a long time ago, we were towing a fairly ropey but solid rig, we’d just lost the car off the trailer (on the M4…) due to a strap snapping, but I managed to keep everything the right way up and got it unhitched and reloaded before the police turned up. They checked my license, noted it was a post 97 one and told me I shouldn’t be towing that, told me my MOT had ran out a week before, then asked us to follow them to the next services. We were both obviously totally sh1tting it, me thinking id loose my Licence, my mate thinking he was gunna loose his new car and the trailer we’d borrowed when they invariably impounded everything. Where they proceed to tell us to go and get a coffee and some new straps from the truck stop, and take it easy on the way home as they didn’t want to see us again, and left. Suffice to say I didn’t really do much towing after that 😬
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Sept 21, 2021 7:15:06 GMT
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Has anyone who tows ever had their licence checked when towing? A couple of years ago , MK1 son and I were doing the vintage and 4x4 autojumble in Newbury. His RRC, registered to him as a licence holder who passed in 2013 was the most suitable towvehicle we had legal at the time I'm a named driver on his policy so I drove with my 12' trailer on the back. 300 miles later, when we were literally about 3 miles from home we were' spotted' by a roadside checkpoint, and pulled up by a marked car because according to them, they 'couldn't read the cardboard numberplate' we'd made up to try to stay legal. Funny how they knew the car was registered to him and where he lived though!🤔 We then got the 'i could give you a ticket for not displaying a proper plate' and I told him that at least we'd made the attempt, unlike many of the ones round here. 'on your way!' I'm convinced they pulled us to see if he was towing with no trailer licence, and weren't too happy when they couldn't nick us Edit-didnt check MY license tho, maybe I looked old & tired 😁
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Sept 21, 2021 7:20:49 GMT
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no, never! granted I don't tow a lot, and use suitable tow vehicles and make sure stuff is loaded and strapped well. I bought a helicopter style cargo net, which we throw over the trailer and strap down. Not only does it stop anything flying out, it LOOKS good, we've had VOSA, or whatever this week's name is pull alongside and look, and then drive off Best £25 I've spent
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,981
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Sept 21, 2021 9:44:31 GMT
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As far as I know, most traffic accidents are caused by human behaviour rather than mechanical/ technical failures. Why do cars need periodic inspections, whereas people with a licence are basically good to go forever? I wouldn't mind having to do a re-test every five years or so, rather than them scrapping tests.
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Last Edit: Sept 21, 2021 9:51:13 GMT by melle
www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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pow
Part of things
Posts: 110
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Sept 21, 2021 10:24:48 GMT
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Load of b******s and especially annoying to those who did a B+E just pre pandemic, used it twice and now 'oh don't worry about that' - like me.
I've FOI requested the DVSA to ask how many B+E testers can Class1&2 test - no response yet.
It's a serious road safety issue, you can pass in a 1000kg Vauxhall Corsa and then get in a Land/Range Rover or pickup and drive with a train weight of 7 tonnes the next day. Ridiculous.
It'll get changed when some kid towing a caravan kills someone.
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pow
Part of things
Posts: 110
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Sept 21, 2021 10:27:54 GMT
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Just to add to this as well, my Dad who is 61 and had 'grandfather rights' refuses to tow my C class estate/trailer/Ford Ka or Puma outfit as he isn't experienced enough and isn't trained. But many many many people will not have his attitude.
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Sept 21, 2021 10:51:28 GMT
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As far as I know, most traffic accidents are caused by human behaviour rather than mechanical/ technical failures. Why do cars need periodic inspections, whereas people with a licence are basically good to go forever? I wouldn't mind having to do a re-test every five years or so, rather than them scrapping tests. Don't think that'll happen, how many people actually have the eyesight tests that are required? There was one of those' police camera' programmes on a few months ago, and they were checking eyesight. It was frightening how many failed 😳
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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Sept 21, 2021 12:13:57 GMT
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Load of b******s and especially annoying to those who did a B+E just pre pandemic, used it twice and now 'oh don't worry about that' - like me. I've FOI requested the DVSA to ask how many B+E testers can Class1&2 test - no response yet. It's a serious road safety issue, you can pass in a 1000kg Vauxhall Corsa and then get in a Land/Range Rover or pickup and drive with a train weight of 7 tonnes the next day. Ridiculous. It'll get changed when some kid towing a caravan kills someone. Not really. Towing theory is part of the standard driving test so if you've got a licence you have been trained to drive with a trailer. Granted theres no practical exam but really the only practical part thats any different to driving normally is reversing and thats hardly a dangerous thing to get wrong so seems a little pointless to test it at all let alone have to take a specific extra test for it. Theres no difference between towing a little 250kg trailer and a full 3.5ton one really. As long as you use the appropriate tow vehicle it's the same things you need to be aware of. The things that are tested in your driving theory test. I can see why you'd be curse word off if you just took the BE tho! Such is life unfortunately!
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Sept 21, 2021 12:59:09 GMT
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I'd argue that it's actually easier to tow a large trailer than a small one Having towed both, the small camping trailer I had was a pain in the , it hid completely behind my RRC and I couldn't see it at all, until it jacknifed enough to appear in the mirrors! The only way to go backwards with it was to unhitch it first .
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Sept 21, 2021 13:09:23 GMT
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Load of b******s and especially annoying to those who did a B+E just pre pandemic, used it twice and now 'oh don't worry about that' - like me. I've FOI requested the DVSA to ask how many B+E testers can Class1&2 test - no response yet. It's a serious road safety issue, you can pass in a 1000kg Vauxhall Corsa and then get in a Land/Range Rover or pickup and drive with a train weight of 7 tonnes the next day. Ridiculous. It'll get changed when some kid towing a caravan kills someone. Don't curse word the DVLA system up any more with useless requests please, my HGV licence runs out today and my new application is still sitting in their In tray. As for towing weights, I passed my HGV test in a 28 tonne truck but I can drive any weight combination I can legally put on the road, that could be in the 100s of tonnes
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Last Edit: Sept 21, 2021 13:09:52 GMT by timbo1956
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pow
Part of things
Posts: 110
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Sept 21, 2021 16:11:25 GMT
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It's the DVSA I'm 'clogging up', not the DVLA.
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Sept 21, 2021 16:30:08 GMT
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It's the DVSA I'm 'clogging up', not the DVLA. It's all one and the same. It stands for Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency.
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Sept 21, 2021 16:36:44 GMT
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Load of b******s and especially annoying to those who did a B+E just pre pandemic, used it twice and now 'oh don't worry about that' - like me. I've FOI requested the DVSA to ask how many B+E testers can Class1&2 test - no response yet. It's a serious road safety issue, you can pass in a 1000kg Vauxhall Corsa and then get in a Land/Range Rover or pickup and drive with a train weight of 7 tonnes the next day. Ridiculous. It'll get changed when some kid towing a caravan kills someone. Don't curse word the DVLA system up any more with useless requests please, my HGV licence runs out today and my new application is still sitting in their In tray. As for towing weights, I passed my HGV test in a 28 tonne truck but I can drive any weight combination I can legally put on the road, that could be in the 100s of tonnes Hi, I had similar a couple of years ago I sent an eye test results sheet with my renewal, (at my doctors suggestion, thanks for that) it was more information than they wanted so went to there medical review board. It went past the expiry date so i phoned them and they said "carry on driving until you're told not to", Hardly foolproof! Colin
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Sept 21, 2021 16:38:27 GMT
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It's the DVSA I'm 'clogging up', not the DVLA. It's all one and the same. It stands for Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. nope, DVLA are in Swansea, DVSA are Bristol.
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Sept 21, 2021 18:01:10 GMT
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Load of b******s and especially annoying to those who did a B+E just pre pandemic, used it twice and now 'oh don't worry about that' - like me. I've FOI requested the DVSA to ask how many B+E testers can Class1&2 test - no response yet. It's a serious road safety issue, you can pass in a 1000kg Vauxhall Corsa and then get in a Land/Range Rover or pickup and drive with a train weight of 7 tonnes the next day. Ridiculous. It'll get changed when some kid towing a caravan kills someone. Yes but it’s been like that pretty much forever. I passed my test in 82, had a caravan in around 85 I’d say & thousands upon thousands have done similar, for decades before me & then obviously until 97 afterwards. I would guess the statistics are LOW, extremely low towards death or serious injuries. I later passed my class 1 HGV in 88, but it has very little bearing on towing a caravan in my opinion
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Sept 21, 2021 21:55:58 GMT
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It's the DVSA I'm 'clogging up', not the DVLA. Yeah, I'm getting them all mixed up
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Last Edit: Sept 21, 2021 21:57:58 GMT by timbo1956
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