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Hi all hope someone can spell this out for me here goes i am trying to understand the law for towing from what i can make out i cant tow our van because i done my test in Aug'97 and must sit another test our van weighs 1150kg and i can only tow a trailer up to 750kg but what gets me the most is that i drive a bus for a living double deckers, bendi-bus you name it but not tow my wee van and give OH a rest. You would think that i would have automatic entitlement having my cat D clearly not.

I would love to know is there a way round this?

Anyone else have same problem?

Thanks

here

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/legal/index.html

You may tow a caravan that has a  maximum technical permitted laden mass  (MTPLM ) which is less than the unladen mass of the towcar providing that the caravans MTPLM added to the cars maximum allowable mass (MAM) does not exceed 3500kg. In addition there is an anomoly in the regulations where  if you tow an unbraked trailer with a MPTLM that is less 750kg then the sum of the MAM and the MTPLM  must be less than 4250kg. Also if the cars maximum train weight is less than 3500 kg the actual mass of the caravan added to the actual mass of the car must not exceed the cars maximum train weight. In addition if you tow

You can find the caravan MTPLM on the vin plate of the caravan, the MAM and the Max train weight for the car can be found on the cars vin plate, and the cars kerbweight can be found on the cars V5 document.

That is the legal position, but in practice providing that you abide by the above restrictions then a towing match of less than 85% is ideal but a towing match that is higher but still less than 100% is still perfectly acceptable.

If you have the +e on any category it transfers to all other categories.

Just to add to my previous post, mad in haste from Wales on the Blackberry, I do believe you need D + E for a bendy bus.  It is, after all, a bus and trailer.  I am open to correction, because I think it's a bit vague in law, as the "trailer" cannot be disconnected, except in a workshop.  It might, therefore just be a bus with a bend in the middle.

I also don't think the E always transfers between groups.  I have C + E and D + E, but I do know some artic drivers who had to have another test to drive a coach towing a trailer.  Certainly it wouldn't transfer the other way, your car and trailer licence wouldn't entitle you to drive an artic.

It all might have changed now though.  My information is a few years old.

In any event, if you're a professional driver, it should be easy enough to get the extra test, and not too expensive.  It's always good to get new qualifications.

Jim