Towing in a car that has no Gross Train Weight

Frozen_up_north

I used to work with a former police traffic inspector and at that time I had a Jeep Cherokee with a tow bar fitted. The subject of towing weight came up and he said quite simply if he attended a collision where a vehicle was towing and he suspected the collision was as a result of poor weight distribution, an unsuitable vehicle for the caravan/trailer, etc. he would examine the rating on the plate on the vehicle. Straightforward as far as he was concerned.

As others have mentioned, the police and insurance are the problem if you are involved in a collision, or maybe even if you aren't and are stopped by the police.

fwor

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950603#Comment_81950603

Yes, I know. I've already said that's it's easy to get a towbar in the UK just for carrying bike racks. The German towbar can be used for towing, as well as carrying bike racks.

The reason I want to know is because - in theory - if it is possible to make a towbar that is fully legal for towing in Germany, then you can do the same in the UK. But you can't if you don't know why it's illegal to use one for towing in the UK. So far this thread doesn't seem to have found any direct prohibition at all.

WellKnownSid

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950578#Comment_81950578

Same in Spain - adding a towbar requires an inspection and new ficha technica issued which will include the modifications which will then be re-inspected at each iTV.

We have very relaxed rules for pretty much everything in the UK.

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950729#Comment_81950729

You can't. As your car has not been approved for towing in the UK. Manufacture never submitted it for homologation.

Herzlos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950498#Comment_81950498

There will be a plated weight for the gross vehicle weight. If there's no train weight then they can't exceed the vehicle weight.

So they could tow as long as car + trailer + contents were under the vehicle weight, which limits the towing to virtually anything except a bike rack.

Herzlos

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950417#Comment_81950417

The plate is a legal requirement in the UK. So are you saying your mystery BMW never had one from the factory, or that the plate is there but doesn't have a GTW?

If the latter, it's not type approved to tow. If the former I'm not sure it's legal.

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950729#Comment_81950729

No, it cannot.

That German TuV approval is needed for a bar to attach a bike rack to. In the UK, no such approval is needed.

UNECE type approval applies to all EU and other UNECE countries equally. That's the bit that BMW didn't bother approving your car for towing.
Some, like Germany, put extra approval rules in place. That's the bit that the bar needs for a rack in Germany, but not the UK.

Look on the VIN plate. There's space for four weights.
GVW
GTW (this is the one that may be blank)
1- front axle
2- rear axle

fwor

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81950833#Comment_81950833

A load plate is not a legal requirement in the UK for a passenger car. This is what C&U says:

"Plates for goods vehicles and buses

66.—(1) This regulation applies to—

(a)a wheeled heavy motor car or motor car first used on or after 1st January 1968 not being—

(i)a dual-purpose vehicle;

(ii)an agricultural motor vehicle;

(iii)a works truck;

(iv)a pedestrian-controlled vehicle; F1...

(v)save as provided in sub-paragraph (b) below, a passenger vehicle; [F2or

(vi)a vehicle which is exempt from section 63(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 by virtue of regulation 14(6) of the Motor Vehicles (Approval) Regulations 1996.]

(b)a bus (whether or not it is an articulated bus) first used on or after 1st April 1982;"

(my bold).

fwor

Edit: I should add that the car does have a load plate - it's located behind a rear door, which is why I couldn't find it - the online guides show it located below the A pillar (probably on a US-spec car).

It does not display a GTW, but that's exactly as expected, because the car was approved without one.

So the question remains unanswered: where does it specify - in the Road Traffic Act or the Construction and Use Regulations or any related document that if the car has no defined GTW you are not allowed to tow a trailer (where the total weight of car and trailer does not exceed that maximum allowed weight for the car)?

I should add that the German towbar is specifically sold on the basis that you can actually tow with it - apparently it took a long time to get approval for this but, as already said, there are no details that I can find online about what that process entailed.

Car_54

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81951058#Comment_81951058

Not so.

66(1(a)) applies to a motor car UNLESS it is one of those exceptions listed in paras (i) to (vi) (dual-purpose vehicles etc).

A motor car is not a "passenger vehicle" within the meaning of the regs. See section 3, which explains:

A motor car is defined as "a mechanically propelled vehicle, not being a motor tractor, a motor cycle or an invalid carriage, which is constructed itself to carry a load or passengers …"

Whereas a passenger vehicle is defined as "a vehicle constructed solely for the carriage of passengers and their effects", i.e. no load except the passengers' bits and bobs. In other words, a bus or minibus.

So a load plate is indeed required for a "normal" motor car.