On Twitter a few minutes ago police were preparing to seize a vehicle because the driver didn't have a licence to tow. This is on the M60
It isn't stated what he was towing, but police reminder was not to assume you can tow a trailer or caravan. They are prepared to take the vehicle and trailer or caravan, so best to be sure of your licence.
I know i can be a bit doom and gloom what could happen etc..
But this happens daily, But we dont normally hear about it.
I have been at the VOSA checks and seen the lines of cars/vans/caravans/trailers etc line up because there were going nowhere unless they were unloaded or had defects fixed before being allowed to continue.
Its not worth the risk.
I wonder what they were towing. Not some official that assumes you must have a towing licence when really your towing under the B category?
Trailer under the cars kerbweight and a combined mass under 3500kg.
I printed out the GOV webpage that stated this, And told her to carry it when towing. She doesnt need a towing/trailer test to tow a caravan with her post 97 licence.
It would be nice to have more information. The NW police on twitter can be very entertaining. Amazing number of people with no licence. So their car's gone. As the police point out, no licence, or incorrect licence, also means no insurance.
I've heard two different opinions on this Dave. The opinion the police hold is what I said earlier, and the bookings include driving without insurance.
I certainly wouldn't want to risk it.
Of course, if its overweight, for example, nobody could ever have had a licence to drive an overweight vehicle, or a dangerously poor match.
They do seem to be determined to get these people off the road, and it's going to be very expensive or the offenders.
The police cannot impound or seize a car because it is towing a trailer heavier than the car or exceeding the car's maximum towing limits. There is no law or regulation governing this aspect.
The driver could however be done for exceeding the maximum gross train weight or only having a B licence and towing a trailer where the combination exceed 3500kgs.
Either way they still cannot seize the vehicle, only prevent it from towing the trailer any further. At the moment it seems a lot of facts are missing and assumptions are being made in place of missing facts.
No assumption. They stated very clearly that they were seizing it. I won't be the one to tell them they can't. There isn't seem to be any doubt in their minds.
I can't tell you more than I've heard. If you need more, an email to VOSA might clear it up. A friend of mine has found them very helpful,especially in the area of trailer recovery cranes.
The cops can seize a vehicle if driver does not have licence/insurance for it & for any other reason, even if they think its being driven 'antisocially' ie boy racer or whatever. Its a £200 release fee from the pound & £20/day storage.
In case of driver only having B licence not B+E stopped in a safely off road check point, ie motorway services I would guess provided driver could call up a correctly licenced/insured driver to collect outfit in a reasonable time that is what would happen otherwise it would get taken to the pound. If the cops wanted to nick them for no licence/ins then they could do that so 6 points on licence+fine.
Quote: Originally posted by Greendemon315 on 06/3/2013
No assumption. They stated very clearly that they were seizing it. I won't be the one to tell them they can't. There isn't seem to be any doubt in their minds.
I can't tell you more than I've heard. If you need more, an email to VOSA might clear it up. A friend of mine has found them very helpful,especially in the area of trailer recovery cranes.
Jim
If the culprit had no insurance or driving licence, then it is a different matter otherwise no seizure. Sorry I am not a fan of twitter and would take anything like that with a pinch of salt with apologies to you as you are only passing on what you read and no offence is meant.
Quote: Originally posted by Tentz on 06/3/2013
The cops can seize a vehicle if driver does not have licence/insurance for it & for any other reason, even if they think its being driven 'antisocially' ie boy racer or whatever. Its a £200 release fee from the pound & £20/day storage.
In case of driver only having B licence not B+E stopped in a safely off road check point, ie motorway services I would guess provided driver could call up a correctly licenced/insured driver to collect outfit in a reasonable time that is what would happen otherwise it would get taken to the pound. If the cops wanted to nick them for no licence/ins then they could do that so 6 points on licence+fine.
Agree that that they could impound the trailer, but I would think unless for the reasons given above they would need a very good reason to impound a roadworthy and insured vehicle if the driver has a driving licence. Too few facts around about it and all third hand.
No offence taken Surfer, we all have different points of view anyway. I think the source is ok in this case.
at NWmwaypolice
at LancsPolice
I just look on it as entertainment, and they have certainly been seizing lots of vehicles recently. I think they and about 6 one night, with lts of fines, including overweight.
Personally I'm quite glad they are catching these people. Most of us try to keep within the law, even though it's harder than ever to be a legal motorist.
The ones they seem to be targeting are the real serial offenders.
I know what you mean about Twitter, you need to be selective, but there's lot of information available about road conditions and accidents.
If I hear any more about it, I'll update. Probably not likely now.
Quote: Originally posted by Greendemon315 on 06/3/2013
No offence taken Surfer, we all have different points of view anyway. I think the source is ok in this case.
at NWmwaypolice
at LancsPolice
I just look on it as entertainment, and they have certainly been seizing lots of vehicles recently. I think they and about 6 one night, with lts of fines, including overweight.
Personally I'm quite glad they are catching these people. Most of us try to keep within the law, even though it's harder than ever to be a legal motorist.
The ones they seem to be targeting are the real serial offenders.
I know what you mean about Twitter, you need to be selective, but there's lot of information available about road conditions and accidents.
If I hear any more about it, I'll update. Probably not likely now.
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Topic: Vehicle seized
