There is often some confusion over what type of driving licence you require to tow a caravan or trailer. THis article "The driving licence you need to tow a caravan or trailer" explains what you need to know, and how the category entitlement on your driving licence will determine the type of trailer you can tow
we have a pulman ,pennine folding camper about 10 yrs old ,where do we find the gross weight? i have emailed pennine,who gave a contact number but have had no luck getting in touch.we live in france & as far as we can gather we need a HGV to tow over 750. thx
Hi Big Mike, the information relates to UK Driving licences, sorry I do not know if the rest of Europe uses the same rules or not but your local Transport Dept office should be able to help. Please feel free to post the information for you country and any other countries on this section. Papa Pip
Hi,
Have just been looking up the EU Driving Licence Laws.
Basically they are the same, but there are some big differences.
We don't have a 'P' class this is then class 'M', I think that this was
taken from the English word for 'Moped'. Its very simple, class
'A' with 3 underlying category's all Motorbikes. Class 'B' with
3 underlying category's are cars/trailers/caravans. Class 'C' with
4 underlying category's only for commercial vehicles, in commercial service. Class 'D' with 4 underlying category's is for passenger carrying bus. There are a few others like class 'R' for Police, Fire, Customs or Ambliance. Class 'Y' for soldiers and other forces. ALL these classes are the same, roughly, from Finland to Greece. This is all not a big problem, but there are some that don't match up i.e the bus driver in Holland has a licence with 'DE', or a driver from the UK with a car and caravan with his UK class 'C1E'. This would mean a very heavy fine, and possibly loss of licence. This class is reserved for commercial vehicles only, correct, under EU law would be 'BE'. We don't have any 'N' or 'F', 'F' in the EU is 'L' = land machine (Harvester), or 'T' for tractor. In the EU class 'S' is for snow machines, quads, easy-riders. I have classes BE, C1E, A, D1. I wish the EU would get it all together.
Quote: Originally posted by Big_Mike on 12/1/2008
Hi, Have just been looking up the EU Driving Licence Laws. Basically they are the same, but there are some big differences. We don't have a 'P' class this is then class 'M', I think that this was taken from the English word for 'Moped'. Its very simple, class 'A' with 3 underlying category's all Motorbikes. Class 'B' with 3 underlying category's are cars/trailers/caravans. Class 'C' with 4 underlying category's only for commercial vehicles, in commercial service. Class 'D' with 4 underlying category's is for passenger carrying bus. There are a few others like class 'R' for Police, Fire, Customs or Ambliance. Class 'Y' for soldiers and other forces. ALL these classes are the same, roughly, from Finland to Greece. This is all not a big problem, but there are some that don't match up i.e the bus driver in Holland has a licence with 'DE', or a driver from the UK with a car and caravan with his UK class 'C1E'. This would mean a very heavy fine, and possibly loss of licence. This class is reserved for commercial vehicles only, correct, under EU law would be 'BE'. We don't have any 'N' or 'F', 'F' in the EU is 'L' = land machine (Harvester), or 'T' for tractor. In the EU class 'S' is for snow machines, quads, easy-riders. I have classes BE, C1E, A, D1. I wish the EU would get it all together.
You can get towing lessons from www.towing-solutions.co.uk or there is a manual that you can buy really useful called "How To Pass The Towing Test" that gives you a step by step guide on how to tow and pass the test from the company above
excuse my thickness!!! I have been reading all the blurb?? and I am 1 of these peeps who passed their test after Jan 1997 and am I right in thinking I can tow a caravan with a car as long as the mass weight does not exceed 3.5tonnes??? and how many kgs are in a tonne. Please someone make this simple.
Hi Irn Bru, had a look into weights etc and believe that 3.5 Tonnes = 3,500kg.
Our car is 1850kg and the caravan just below 1000kg giving us a total of 2850kg which would be permissable judging by the information in the original post. The max weight our Citroen is permitted to tow is 1300kg (Manufacturers Max figure) which would mean that at its heavyist we would be 3150kg with a braked trailer. The max for an unbraked trailer is 690kg.
To find out what your cars weight is have a look at the weight plate on the car (inside engine bay or on one of the door pillers on most cars)
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: The driving licence you need to tow a car
