View Full Version : Whats the law's on towing a vehicle with a rope?
As above, whats required to legally tow a vehicle with another car?
Reason being, one of my mates might be buying an Escort van, but the van had no tax, mot, insurance, engine or box, its basically a rolling shell with brake's, and he said he'll give me a nice sum of money for towing it back to his house for him (about 10-15 miles)
Just wondering what you need to be legit? as im not too sure :confused:
It would need tax and an mot to be towed for a start and iirc it needs to be towed with a rigi bar.
You need to do another towing test to allow for you to tow pal :thumb:
Might be better off getting it recovered, prices arent too bad
CrAzY_kAyLL
07-11-10, 11:51 PM
You sure as I was watching one of them many police programs on TV the other week and a bloke got stopped in his car because it showed up no insurance ect
When asked why he was driving it he said it was been towed but the tow rope snaped ( you could actually see the rope snapped on the front of the car ) so he had to started driving it - the police took the car off him though because they said it was no excuse because the car also had no MOT or Tax but said if he had of kept the towing the car then he would of been fine
:confused:
CrAzY_kAyLL
07-11-10, 11:53 PM
You need to do another towing test to allow for you to tow pal :thumb:
:eek: bloody hell you need to do tests for everything now - they will make you do a test on how to **** next !
The best way for you to find out where you actually stand on this would to be ring up the DVLA and check with them
NOVA_LEE
07-11-10, 11:57 PM
just do it i say.
just do it i say.
Easy to say when its not your license on the line, especially considering he's only just passed his test. Would be banned and possibly made to resit his test, not sure on the latter.
NOVA_LEE
08-11-10, 12:05 AM
fair doos, but gettin caught is all down to chance, either ya will or ya wont.
Calling the DVLA will be next to useless as they know shag all about anything.
From what I've seen, if any wheels connected to the engine (or where the engine should be) are on the ground then the car must be insured as a minimum and ideally taxed/tested but the ins is the MINIMUM.
Rigid pole is the safest way really.
IMHO given you have just passed your test I'd NOT do anything to attract unwanted police attention to you so I'd not tow said car. Short term cost of 'recovery' will be pence compared to anything they try to throw at you if they dont like what you are doing
fair doos, but gettin caught is all down to chance, either ya will or ya wont.
10-15 mile drive, good chance there will be a few cops on the way. Not worth the risk in my opinion.
The rigid pole isnt a thing needed by law that most people seem to think it is, Normal rope is fine.
As Stu said, if it was insured, they prob wouldnt care as much, but obv its stupid, any wheel on the road it should have mot, tax, insurance and a driver with a license (IIRC You can just have a provisional to Be towed).
Only need another test if its a TRAILER, and is over 750kg unless you got your license before a certain date (fair while back though), although there is a more complex way of working it out but most coppers arnt up on it eather and i cba to check the bit of paper in my van lol
steviegsi
08-11-10, 04:20 AM
Pretty sure you ain't allowed a rope to tow anymore , must be a rigid bar and to tow trailers heavier than 750kgs you must have done your test before 1997 or have passed a trailer test . Towing with a rope is horrible business anyway. Recovery is the way forward here. Definatley not worth you making a mess of your licence over for a few quid.
Dave you have only just passed your test.You already have 3 point from your moped and now you want to run the risk of a mate rolling into the back of your Nova when you have only just got it on the road.
Is it really worth the risk mate.
Think about it.
General Baxter
08-11-10, 07:29 AM
this is easy
any wheels from ether car that touches the ground needs mot - tax - insurance,
so its a trailer jobbie, which if it weights over 750kg, you will need a towing license
Would a recovery company recover a car that has no tax/insurance/MOT etc? And even if they would, you'd need to request a flatbed so its totally off the road, and I'd have thought they'd want a good reason to drag one of those bad boys out lol
On a side note, I'm sure ropes are still legal - or at least when I looked into it a while ago, I couldn't find a reliable legal source that said they weren't - but I did see a lot of talk about them needing some kinda flag or marker in the middle of the rope... don't know how true that is though.
ring the aa, or rac if your a member, say its "broke down" and get a free ride home ( and yes it wasnt tax tested or insured,not that ive done it to get a rat home before honest:d )
They did turn up and you had an axe in your hand..Nuff said really lol.
no axe was in hand, but it was a freinds vw s*it box, they guy didnt even look under the bonnet, just rang for the tow truck straight away! and because it was a mates car, he sorted me out a drink for the hassle, and for the triple win, work paid for the aa in the first placelol
you fail as no axe was involved lol
ring the aa, or rac if your a member, say its "broke down" and get a free ride home ( and yes it wasnt tax tested or insured,not that ive done it to get a rat home before honest:d )
Nope - the AA/RAC will not recover you if you cannot provide evidence that its taxed - believe me, I know!
And it was taxed! Just didnt have the disk as it was teh 2nd day the loon was on the road and it hadnt arrived in the post....
If they turn up and there is no engine, there is NO way they would recover it.
Nope - the AA/RAC will not recover you if you cannot provide evidence that its taxed - believe me, I know!
And it was taxed! Just didnt have the disk as it was teh 2nd day the loon was on the road and it hadnt arrived in the post....
If they turn up and there is no engine, there is NO way they would recover it.no engine yes i agree there, but no tax , etc, they do and they did!
simple fix.. get your mate to drive his car & you offer to jockey the rolling shell.
do you any one with trade plates??
Towing on a rope is still legal obviously if the car being towed is legal, mot, tax and insurance
I was towing a mate recently on a rope, got pulled over, cops went over both cars with a fine toothed comb lol
If it was me I wouldn't risk it
ropes are illegal, use a bar.
ropes are illegal
NO THERE NOT
While they might not be illegal, I'd say its WISE to use a pole.
A long hard pole is more enjoyable than a floppy rope
i agree, if you use a rope to tow a nova you risk pulling the chassis leg off lol
towing with a rope is alrite aslong as both drivers know what there doing but bars are pretty cheap so worth buying in my opinion. i use both.
also I'd probs want something a bit bigger than a nova to tow an escort van. its not going to be good for your car.
does your mate have another car?? if he does i'd do what mowgli said and get him to tow and you go in the van. I think this might be legit aswell but i've never actually checked.
you may want to explain that its not illegal to my mate who has 3 points and 100 quid fine.
Towing on a motorway with a rope is illegal, towing on normal ropes is legal, I'm unsure of high speed dual carrageway.
But motorway is defo straight bar only.
you may want to explain that its not illegal to my mate who has 3 points and 100 quid fine.
it is legal, those points must have been for something else, like not having a number plate board etc
flyin flea
08-11-10, 12:06 PM
-Towing by means of a rope is not unlawful. (Why would Halfrauds sell things titled 'Tow rope'. Thanks to the stupidity of humans + trades descriptions act, they would not be allowed to sell it as a 'tow rope' if you were not allowed to tow with it!)
-Towing on motorways IS legal IF...
--You're using a fixed tow bar/rod
--The vehicle you're towing has broken down ON the motorway, you are allowed to tow by ROPE only to the next junction
-If you're an ol git like me, towing of trailers came as standard on your licence!
-If you're towing a car, no matter where/how, the car being towed MUST be taxed, tested and insured. (Trust me on this one)
The only other alternative is to hire a car trailer (not actually that expensive to hire).
OR.... tow it with dealer plates on! ....if you know anyone with any!
I generally only tax/insure my Nova for 6months of the year. During the winter I tinker with it. Its bonkers, but to ship it to body shops or Nobles I have to put it on a trailer!
timbo1980
08-11-10, 12:46 PM
My old man should be banned from towing ,the last time he pulled me home after breaking down ,Started off alright then he must of forgot he was towing. He nailied the loud pedal to scarey towing speed. tight twisty roads with no power steering minimal brake effort:cry:.i sure my **** had eaten most of the seat & that the grim reaper was in the back seat waiting to collect. the rope finally snapped 50 yards from the house. IM NOW VERY RELUCTANT TO BE TOWED .hopefully one day he needs me to return the favour
Recovery truck FTW
/\ my missus will never ever be called upon to tow anything ever again after 6 miles of sheer terror, towing a dead morris minor pickup with no electrics & not much brakes, she carved up several cyclists & went for the gap at an A road roundabout and snapped the rope, leaving me in the middle of the road and she came back round to give me a bollocking.
Can anyone actually quote a law which says what you can or can't tow with?
Normally I like looking up legal eagle stuff but I can't be arsed at the moment lol
meh this is why i always use a bar and never a rope, things can go badly wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH81IqeWmvI
how about just ring up the scrap man, and they will collect if for free and you may even earn up to £180 as thats the going scrap rate down here on a car, problem solved, no rope, no bar, and no more problem!!:thumb:
i like your logic....
Jack, as always there is a load of crap flying round the net on this subject... i will ask my cop friend.
flyin flea
08-11-10, 02:35 PM
And a cop who doesnt actually know that specific bit of law particularly well, will, as ever... as they all do, er on the side of caution and tell you its all unlawful!
i.e. you cant tow anything on the motorway, and the car must be road legal/worthy to be towed.
Hoochie
08-11-10, 02:45 PM
Stolen from t'internet....
" This a UK question so UK laws apply. A vehicle must have a current road fund licence ( car tax ) + insurance & an MOT certificate if more than 3 years old to be road legal. AS the poster mentions that 2 are missing then the only way ( apart from borrowing some 'trade plates') the car can be moved is on a flat bed truck or trailer. As to the other part of the question. The person in any towed vehicle must hold a full driving licence for that class of vehicle and have their own insurance cover ( 3rd party liability ) as well as the vehicle must be insured also. The driver doing the towing must have held a full licence for 3 years, be 21 or over unless they have already got the B+E ( car & trailer) entitlement."
HTH.....:)
i havent read the whole thread but, dont do it!
For the sake of 10-15 miles it would cost your mate about 30-40quid usually. Doesnt matter what you try reading up on, the police will make there mind up at the side of the road and it wont come out in your favour lol
flyin flea
08-11-10, 06:14 PM
.....the police will make there mind up at the side of the road and it wont come out in your favour lol
....because most police know little about it, and will therefore decide you're probably guilty of something, even though they dont know exactly what...... because you know less than them. +to argue about it you'd have to go to court, which intimidates most people, so they know full well you wont bother to argue. =police bein lazy! again!
IMO, do it.
Towed vehicle most be T & T & I, and front driver must have towing on their licence.
novautd
08-11-10, 08:22 PM
the AA and RAC will not recover you if you dont have a tax disc, neither can any other recovery company unless they have an operators liscence which 99 percent dont.
Towed vehicle most be T & T & I, and front driver must have towing on their licence.
spot on.
what about A-framing it? is that not then classed as a trailer?
I still cant believe people don't know this yet..
If a car in on the queens highway it has to be taxed mot'ed and insured.
That's if its parked, moving, or on axle stands....
vaux_91
08-11-10, 08:29 PM
Needs tax mot and insurance to be on the road even on tow, or on a trailor which i think you still need a license for.
DVLA's fault for not making hardly anything clear anymore!!
I still cant believe people don't know this yet..
If a car in on the queens highway it has to be taxed mot'ed and insured.
That's if its parked, moving, or on axle stands....
with the exception of driving TO an MOT station?
twistysnovagte
08-11-10, 08:31 PM
IMHO given you have just passed your test I'd NOT do anything to attract unwanted police attention to you so I'd not tow said car. Short term cost of 'recovery' will be pence compared to anything they try to throw at you if they dont like what you are doing
exactly that ^ ^ ^:thumb:
with the exception of driving TO an MOT station?
Sorry, true. Needs to be a pre booked one. And you need to be insured.
flyin flea
08-11-10, 09:47 PM
what about A-framing it? is that not then classed as a trailer?
Towing car by rope/bar or proper trailer = same thing.
IF you have towing/trailer on your licence, its legal. Matters not if you've only been drivin 7 days..... if your licence has towing permit (and all the other legal requirements for the towed car), then its legal. End of.
Real heroes cut their seatbelts out and use them as tow ropes lol
meh this is why i always use a bar and never a rope, things can go badly wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH81IqeWmvI
if you think thats bad you should see some of the vids ive seen of when the bar goes wrong!!
that said i've been straight barred at 70-80mph in a nova rolling shell with no brakes and no lights and it was fine.
Needs tax mot and insurance to be on the road even on tow, or on a trailor which i think you still need a license for.
On a trailer its ok, if all four wheels are not on the ground - otherwise how would all the people with track cars get on? That includes things like F1 racing teams (F1 trucks are glorified trailers lol), as those cars get trailered to events and they don't have tax/MOT
CoolTiger
08-11-10, 11:28 PM
dave cant you just get your dad to get it on the recovery truck ?
Don't for get if you wanna use a trailer to pull a car, if you pasted your test after 98 you can only pull up to 750kg iirc. So a nova on a trailer is over that and illegal.
flyin flea
09-11-10, 11:02 AM
Good to see folks actually read the thread* before addin their 5p worth..... and more or less repost things from 6 posts earlier.:roll:
* - Denotes irony
the whole towing thing after '97 is still a grey area involving 85% of the weight of the towing vehicle, the maximum train weight, the towing weight for the tow car etc...... and even the rozzers don't know the full law, apart from some idiot cop from near worcester who seems to specialise in pulling people towing trailers on the m5...
as recovering a broken down car is an emergency type thing to move it to a place of safety & repair, it gets past a lot of laws...
but towing a not legal car down the road on a rope basically hits the jackpot when the oold bill are involved.
dave cant you just get your dad to get it on the recovery truck ?
cant believe that took untill page 6 to be mentioned
his dad owns a recovery company FFS lol
the whole towing thing after '97 is still a grey area involving 85% of the weight of the towing vehicle, the maximum train weight, the towing weight for the tow car etc...... and even the rozzers don't know the full law, apart from some idiot cop from near worcester who seems to specialise in pulling people towing trailers on the m5...
Yep, It is a damm grey area and i get asked about it all the time. We now say as long as the car is legal to tow over 750kg, you should be legal to tow up to 750kg.
Every copper ive met ive asked about it, none know. Id presume some of the VOSA stop check people do though?
the vosa people fall into 2 groups... the decent one & the ar$eholes. obviously the chances of getting the decent one are minimal, so you have to be prepared...... seriously i know a chap who got points for taking a 3.5t ifor williams trailer with no more than 200kg in it, so a total overall weight of 1.2t behind a pickup truck with a towing weight of 2700kg, because the trailer was plated for 3500kg max!!!!! so you take the plate off the trailer......how ridiculous!! there are usually no public weighbridges about to check the weights.
basically, as long as your car & item being towed total less than 3500kg, and the trailer is less than the maximum towing weight in the owners book, and if the trailer is more than 750kg, it is braked, then you should be perfectly legal.
towing a rolling shell is still asking for it.....
but..... once i acquired a mk1 astra for bits, and it was getting ready to tow it when the lad said, it runs you know.... so i painted on tow on the boot & told the missus to drive at no more than 40mph back home via the lanes & i followed her, all of 6 miles.. all was going well until about 2 mins into the journey when a local copper was coming the other way & the missus did an emergency stop cos she thought the cop was going to arrest us.....he drove on by & waved to me, and after i'd bollocked her, we carried on home.
What you just said applys to pre 97/98 license owners. Anybody who got there license after that cant tow that much.
Cars
Motor vehicle with a MAM of up to 3,500kg, no more than eight passenger seats with or without a trailer – weighing no more than 750kg.
As category B but with a trailer weighing more than 750kg. The total weight of the vehicle and trailer together can’t weigh more than 3500kg. The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can’t weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/forms/onlineleaflets.aspx
then download INF30
also found this.. (http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repository/Quick%20Guide%20to%20Towing%20Small%20Trailers%20F eb%2008.pdf) its about the legalities of a trailer
General Baxter
09-11-10, 06:37 PM
mike,
if you passed your car test after 1997 you can only take a 750kg trailer, but the trainweight cant go over 3500kg
say your car is 2760kg and the trailer is 750kg you cant tow it
cars 1000kg (can tow up to 2500kg) but you can still only tow a 750kg trailer
well this is what i got told when i passed my trailer test
mike,
if you passed your car test after 1997 you can only take a 750kg trailer, but the trainweight cant go over 3500kg
say your car is 2760kg and the trailer is 750kg you cant tow it
cars 1000kg (can tow up to 2500kg) but you can still only tow a 750kg trailer
well this is what i got told when i passed my trailer test
So its just the weight of the trailer you go by? So if i get a 750kg trailer i can put my 900kg nova on it?
so INF30 contradicts that.
there has been a lot of misinformation put about on the subject. if you passed your test in 1997, then you are now 30, there are lots of blokes driiving vans & trailers with lightweight minidiggers at exactly 3500kg on utility contracts. as long as the trailer is braked and is 85%(rule of thumb) of the weight of the towing vehicle, then it is still legal to drive as long as the total train weight is 3500kg or less.
a farmer friend was told by the dvla that his son couldn't actually tow any form of trailer when he passed his test in 2000......
the law is actually quite good, and allows people to tow quite big stuff, ie. caravans & small cars on legal trailers, as long as they don't exceed the above figures.
pre 97 allowed everyone to legally drive 7.5tonners & 3.5t vans with 3.5t trailers on a car licence, post 97 it is down to 3.5t max, simple as that.
General Baxter
09-11-10, 06:44 PM
So its just the weight of the trailer you go by? So if i get a 750kg trailer i can put my 900kg nova on it?
no as the trailer weight would be 1650kg then
So its just the weight of the trailer you go by? So if i get a 750kg trailer i can put my 900kg nova on it?
you need a vehicle that weighs a minimum of 1.7t to tow a 990kg nova on a 400kg trailer and that still allows for you, some fuel & about 100kg of shyte in the back, or you get a 2t tow vehicle & you are covered, as long as the car trailer is braked.
no as the trailer weight would be 1650kg then
the 750kg trailer limit is for total weight of an unbraked trailer, think those fisher price things outside halfrauds...... the trailer would weigh 400ish kg unladen
no as the trailer weight would be 1650kg then
Right that's what i thought. It was total weight.
General Baxter
09-11-10, 06:51 PM
so why did i need to do a trailer test for a 1ton braked trailer on a 2.5ton LDV convoy? dont tell me how slow it was ether lol
you need to know unladen & gross plated weight of a trailer.
so why did i need to do a trailer test for a 1ton braked trailer on a 2.5ton LVD convoy?
beats me. maybe your employer at the time was misinformed, and seeing the crap that turns up in the post in our office on a daily basis, i can see why...
we are buried in driver cpc stuff at the moment, 'you must send your staff immediately etc....' when it is actually down to the driver to do it & not the haulier.
or maybe your employers insurance demanded it.....
ignorance is bliss and also no defence in law
Misinformation then,id like to see a case made of it when the police dont truly know themselves
well, as we found out in the small claims court, arguing about whether an engine was repaired or not did not need a magistrate who knew a single thing about engines...........so you'd be lucky to get off scot free.... and as most cops rely on people to admit to something, even if it isn't an actual offence, & just take the fixed penalty & fine.....it would be a moot point.
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