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Topic: Towing weights

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ROG.

19/9/2013 at 2:36pm
Location: LEICESTER
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Grampian91
I noticed that you have an out of date piece of info in your signature which was revoked on 19/01/2013

And the Caravans gross laden weight must not exceed the cars UNLADEN weight.

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Jack+Jon

19/9/2013 at 3:54pm
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Quote: Originally posted by ROG. on 19/9/2013

Grampian91
I noticed that you have an out of date piece of info in your signature which was revoked on 19/01/2013

And the Caravans gross laden weight must not exceed the cars UNLADEN weight.

I think you are mis-interpretating the rules as defined here It states 'a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as it is no more than the unladen or ‘kerb’ weight of the towing vehicle' for licences held since 1st Jan '97 which would include licences held from 19th Jan '13. Confusing, because the phrase as written is read after the paragraph that refers to post Jan '13 licences.

Imho the format on the present .gov.uk website is somewhat badly drafted & does contain a few ambiguities. I guess the attempt to use simple language rather than watertight legal jargon has backfired on itself slightly.

Post last edited on 19/09/2013 16:11:43

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Grampian91

19/9/2013 at 4:10pm
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Its still not clear whether it applies or not.

Seems the government site with the info on has both versions depending on which page you stumble across.

The page in the link above still shows the trailer must be less than the unladen kerbweight,

So until all the Gov websites change it will stay in my signature. And i will still tell post 1997 licence holders to stay under the kerbweight which is sensible anyway.

If you tow around 85% then it wont be an issue anyway.

Jack+Jon

19/9/2013 at 4:16pm
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Another one is.....

'The maximum length is 7 metres for a trailer towed by a vehicle weighing up to 3.5 tonnes (3,500 kilograms)'. Previously the 'gov website stated it was the body length of caravan not overall length, which would make some UK built touring caravans not legal to tow with a car.

The way the current website is written could be taken apart by any lawyer in court so presumably at the moment anybody could get away with towing anything?

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ROG.

20/9/2013 at 11:56am
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DVLA know their site is giving incorrect info

I have a letter from the DfT minister responsible for the DVLA stating that the kerb weight rule has been revoked for all B licence holders - That is a legal fact

For caravan towing I agree that the advice is different to all other types of trailer

There are some 4x4s on the market with a kerb of about 2200 and a GVW of about 2700 which are designed to safely tow 3500 so the advice of keeping under the weight of the towing vehicle does not apply like it used to do in the olden days

A lot of advice on towing was made many years ago and things have moved on a lot since

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Jack+Jon

20/9/2013 at 12:15pm
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Quote: Originally posted by ROG. on 20/9/2013
DVLA know their site is giving incorrect info
I have a letter from the DfT minister responsible for the DVLA stating that the kerb weight rule has been revoked for all B licence holders

Well cheers for clearing that up. The previous format at least printed the info fully & clearly even if it was slightly more difficult to understand. The current format makes the rules easier for the layman to understand so all they have to do now is put the correct info on it.

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