How to legally tow a car

Paulscholes69

I have tried to find information about any legal requirements for towing a car (behind another car). Things like min/max length of tow rope, warning signs etc.

This is due to having an accident in which the car infront was quick on the brakes when I pulled out infront of him (not close or dangerously) and the car being towed went into the back of the car that was towing it. The only damage to any car was on the car being towed as it went into the back of a toyota 4 x 4. They want to claim from my insurance, I want as many things in my favour to state it's not my fault/responsibilty. ( the tow rope was only about 1 meter long!)

Any help would be great.

rdwarr

I'd start asking questions about the towed car. The rope was obviously too short but:
Did the car have servo-assisted brakes? If so, was it possible to brake properly without the engine runing?
Was the "driver" insured?
Was the vehicle taxed and MOT'd?
Did it have an "on tow" sign and a lighting board at the back?
etc.

I'd say you didn't have a case to answer. If a cat had run out into the road the same thing would have happened and they wouldn't have sued it!

chrisw

Hmmm. I would still say its your fault as he had right of way and you pulled out into his path, regardless of the length of tow rope etc. Had I have been in the 4x4 I would certainly be a bit miffed that someone pulled out and then said it was my fault.

rdwarr

But the OP said "not close or dangerously" and that the towing car overreacted to this. Whether that's true or not is outside the scope of the original plea for help.
Now, if the 4x4 driver comes on with a different story...

*!*HIBS*!*

Also if the car being towed had a safe enough distance then there would not have been an accident or the damage would have been reduced. I think I saw on one of those police programmes (Police Camera Action) they pulled over a car being towed on the motorway because the rope was too short.

Alfie_E

I’ve no idea what the legal requirements for tow ropes are. I would suspect it’s only covered by legislation that covers general dangerousness. However, we can apply a bit of thought to the situation, to see what is needed. At the very least, the tow rope needs to be as long as the Highway Code Thinking Distance, for the maximum speed of travel. If it isn’t, and the towing car performs an emergency stop, the towed car will hit the back of the towing car. This assumes both cars are able to brake at the same rate.

For speeds over 10 MPH, even if the towing car brakes hard only briefly, the two cars will close up on each other by at least 3 metres. For “hard”, I assume same rate of braking as in the Typical Stopping Distances. For “briefly”, I assume two thirds of a second, which is the thinking time used in those distances. During that time, the cars will close up by 1.48m. Then they close up by another 1.48m, as the towed car, in turn, decelerates down to the slower speed.

harrie_2

the driver of the car being towed must have all round clear vision.could the towed car driver see through the windscreen of the 4x4?if not he was driving blind.

rdwarr

Good point harrie!
So, driving 1m behind the car in front with no forward visibility and no brake servo.
If I were the OP I'd be talking Police.

chrisw

In answer to the original question, there is no minimum length of tow rope or chain but the maximum length is 4.5m. Any tow rope longer than 1.5m must be marked to alert other road users.

See here.

Paulscholes69

Thanks for all your help. My insurance company seem fairly happy I'll be OK. The problem I have now is that if for any reason the other people decide not to make a claim because they realise they cant win, because I have told my insurance there could be a claim from them it will remain open for 6 months. They said this effectively takes me from 3 years no claims to zero. My insurance is due in 3 months and means I will get stung as result. The lady said that I need to get a quote for zero no claims then send of my certificate when I get it which could be 3 months into the insurance!

So if they don't try and claim it has actually caused me more hassle then them trying and failing!



Anyone else had experience of this?

Thanks again