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but if you are towing above the kerbwight of the car your speed is limited    it may say towing capacity 1800kg for the mondeo but realistically this is not a sound option 

As well as being dangerous, towing more weight than your car is capable of can also make your insurance invalid. For safety purposes, the maximum laden weight of your trailer should be less than your car's kerb weight (the total weight of your car, including accessories, which can increase it). It is usually recommended that you do not tow more than 85% of your car's kerb weight, although this is not a legal obligation. Even if your car 's maximum towing figure indicates that it can pull a great weight than this, it is not necessarily safe to do so. The maximum trailer weight can usually be found in the vehicle's handbook.

a mon avis

"If you are towing above the kerbweight of your car your speed is limited" - By what? (other than the legal UK maximum of 60mph)

you are correct Angus1215       but being correct is not necessarily being right      doing things correctly is not doing the right things      common sense comes into it somewhere       

 too much weight at the back is deemed to be not safe in any literature one might peruse    it is not illegal  it fits the parameters of not towing above the legal weight identified by the manufacturer   but is it the right thing to do?

Quote: Originally posted by ldpdmp on 15/6/2010

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you are correct Angus1215       but being correct is not necessarily being right      doing things correctly is not doing the right things      common sense comes into it somewhere       

 too much weight at the back is deemed to be not safe in any literature one might peruse    it is not illegal  it fits the parameters of not towing above the legal weight identified by the manufacturer   but is it the right thing to do?

 

Using that logic, towing anything with anything at anytime, anywhere is not the "right" thing to do.

Towing a caravan, trailer, semi-trailer (artic) is not an unsafe activity, in fact accident statistics suggest exactly the opposite. There are very few intrinsically unsafe outfits on the road, and all of those are down to human stupidity which unfortunately you cannot legislate for, we must hope for Darwinism to get a move on.

So, yes my previous statement was correct, and as it is correct in law - which is the only black-and-white fact that counts - whether or not it is the `right` thing to do is irrelevent. "Right" is entirely subjective and no basis for a critical judgement - so lets stick to the law.

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enjoy your towing   glad you are being a realist   in my opinion for what it is worth, you are doing the right thing

cool it angus   life is not always about staying legal   we all do 70+   and 60+ with the van on the back    if only life were that simple   again you are spot on about the stupidity of the human species