Towing company trailer offence

Jackmydad

AdrianC wrote: »

I presume we're talking about operating outside of the requirement for an O licence, just a .5t vehicle and .5t trailer with overrun brakes?

I find it hard to believe they actually tested the operation of the trailer brakes and their efficiency roadside, so I'm guessing this was something easily visually identifiable. Brake cables/rods knackered or missing? Something with the hitch?

You're the driver. Vehicle defects are your legal responsibility. They may also be the operator's responsibility, of course, but that doesn't mean it's not yours.
https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/blog/company-car-liability-who-s-responsible

If the trailer's provided by your employer, I presume there's a fault-reporting mechanism and some kind of maintenance program in place.

Bring in trailer MOTs...

Years ago I had a mate who used to do caravan and trailer servicing and repairs.
Some of the stuff he showed me was horrifying. Horseboxes where the floor had collapsed under the horses. You can imagine what that does to any horse in there.
But generally, brakes rotted out, cables gone, parts missing, rotten chassis, tyres perished, and so on.

These things hadn't been looked at for years in a lot of cases.
People would complain about his bill, and he'd say bring it in to get it serviced every 12 months, it'll save you money in the long run.
Not many did.
So yes, trailer MOTs. Good idea.

marlot

AdrianC wrote: »

Bring in trailer MOTs...

Fortunately incidents relating to trailers are very rare.

A recent Government reports says "The compulsory testing of light (O2) trailers in Great Britain could have a safety- related benefit of about £2.2m per year (using standard valuations and subject to a significant margin, +/-50%, of uncertainty), whereas testing and registration are estimated to cost motorists about £74m per year in fees (more in the initial set-up year) plus would require time to take trailers to test."

We'd do better spending the money on driver training.

marlot

From the recent report at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/818119/trailer-safety-statutory-report-web.pdf

From the main data source which covers all of 2017, there were approximately 20
collisions resulting in injury or death where a vehicle defect in a trailer was a
contributory factor, and that defect would have been identifiable if present at testing.
An in-depth study of road accidents suggests that trailer vehicle defects are not a
major cause of injury incidents. Breakdown, trunk road and off-road monitoring data
suggest tyre defects and hitching issues are amongst the more prevalent, within the
relatively low levels of incidents.

AdrianC

marlot wrote: »

Fortunately incidents relating to trailers are very rare.

A recent Government reports says "The compulsory testing of light (O2) trailers in Great Britain could have a safety- related benefit of about £2.2m per year (using standard valuations and subject to a significant margin, +/-50%, of uncertainty), whereas testing and registration are estimated to cost motorists about £74m per year in fees (more in the initial set-up year) plus would require time to take trailers to test."

It also says, just two paragraphs before your quote, that 50% of O2 trailers were "non-compliant" (= would fail a test) when stopped by DVSA.

Herzlos

Well over half of the trailers you see for sale online look like they'd fail a test too, so I can believe that.
It's rare to see one that looks like it's been properly maintained beyond the ones that have just been rebuilt.



I didn't see how often they were proposing testing, but presumably you could get away with doing them every ~3 years since they are mechanically pretty simple. I can't imagine the test would take very long at all, probably less time than you'd spend getting the trailer to the MOT center and back.

alan_d

Herzlos wrote: »

Well over half of the trailers you see for sale online look like they'd fail a test too, so I can believe that.
It's rare to see one that looks like it's been properly maintained beyond the ones that have just been rebuilt.

Agree, i've been trawling used trailers for weeks, and there are some absolute crates out there.
Bought a 2011 Ifor Williams in the end - which is excellent - but you'd expect that when starting with a top quality manufacturer, and not /that/ old.
Some of the home-brew stuff is shocking.

AdrianC

alan_d wrote: »

Some of the home-brew stuff is shocking.

Most of the home-brew stuff is already illegal, of course, since new home-built or heavily modified trailers have needed to be IVAd for at least five years.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/individual-vehicle-approval-iva-it

alan_d

AdrianC wrote: »

Most of the home-brew stuff is already illegal, of course, since new home-built or heavily modified trailers have needed to be IVAd for at least five years.

Yes, however it seems many are ignorant to that and just build it anyway, then try to sell it on to someone else who also has no idea.
Also towing speed and lane use laws - how often do you see someone towing zipping past you on the motorway at 70+ (when the towing limit is 60) or using the outside lane (when it's not permitted).
Or no towing mirrors when towing a caravan....
Or those that seem to have no idea of weight limits, and simply assume because it has a towbar it can tow whatever they want!
/rant over/

AdrianC

Indeed. But, of course, the B+E licence hasn't been given to people on passing their test for more than 20 years now - so that's going to start to fade away eventually.

Hopefully...

alan_d

AdrianC wrote: »

Indeed. But, of course, the B+E licence hasn't been given to people on passing their test for more than 20 years now - so that's going to start to fade away eventually.

Hopefully...

Good point - yet not everyone seems to know about that one.
I've done the B+E test, so that opens up much more flexibility
Even without it, the 3500kg overall limit goes quite a long way.