Towing without the test!

gina2201

gina2201

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sorry.... but i think if you were towing a litghweight (cattle type) trailer with a smaller vehicle and its maximum authorised mass (MAM) came under 3500kg then you might get away with it, but if the trailer was that light i don't think i'd want my horse (who weighs nearly that much) to travel in it except in dire emergency.
 
My friend who is 22 tows one horse without having taken her test, it is a shortwheel base 4x4 and rice trailer, they went and weighed it all and was fine.
 
Trust me you have to do the test, there is no way out of it and daisychain your friend is driving illegally and her insurance is not valid ! - so that means her car isnt insured, her horse isnt insured and who ever she crashes into can sue her and she will also lose her licence.
It says that if the total weight of the trailer - fully loaded - weighs less than your car and the combo weighs less than 3.5tn then you can drive it. For a fully loaded trailer to weigh less than your car you have to driving a tank ! or have one of the small trailers - flat bed or type that you could fit a lawn mower own - NOT a horse trailer.
I looked into it for months asnd if I could have found a way out of it I would ! instead I am taking lessons and have my test next week.
Sorry if this sounds harsh but I really wouldnt want anybody to make a mistake and lose their license!
Take a few lessons, drive with L Plates with someone who did pass their test before 97 in the car with you and take your test.
Sx
 
daisychain, it isn't based on what you are 'actually' towing, it is what the combined MAM is, ie. what the car and trailer is capable of towing. The police won't bother to take you to a weigh bridge, they will just look up the MAM.
Your friend may think that she can do it like this but it is illegal and therefore she is invalidating her insurance and everything by not having the correct licence.
I know of someone in a similar position that got caught.
 
[ QUOTE ]
my hubby is 44, passed his test at about 18 should he have to do the test?

im confused

[/ QUOTE ]

No because he passed his test before 1997.
 
I don't mean towing a horse in such a light trailer!!!!

I mean a trailer just "a trailer" to carry odds and sods in, I have my parents for towing if I needed to tow a horse!

But I do intend on doing the test for myself so I can take myself off elsewhere....
 
These really vile people who have now left my yard (thank god) had an 18 year old daughter. They reckoned they rang DVLA & went through all the weights with some poor bloke. Anyway, apparently he sent them a print out of what she could tow, which she carried with her, she used to tow a Bateson double horse trailer, sometimes with 2 horses & towed it with a land rover defender. Several people at the yard questioned this, but got shouted down. Might be worth checking in case the hideous ones were right, they were certainly convinced they were, but then they were always right about everything!
 
I know I wouldn't be able to tow a horse trailer with horses in! I will be doing the test at a later date! Thought it may be useful to tow a little trailer though.

I actually thought it was just ANY trailer you had to take a test for post Jan '97 but that website seems to suggest that within certain constraints I can?

Not a big concern but useful all the same.
 
Somethimes you can get away with the weights, my friend has a landrover and pulls a very light aluminium trailer and is not over the weights or limits! they have had it all checked as they were stopped by vosa one day! So it is possible!
 
Actually i did think it was a bit odd, but apparently they had it all weighed by the appropriate sources and was all fine... but i must admit i did have my doubts too.
 
With a little dinky trailer like these:
http://www.indespension.co.uk/b2c/app/I00800?ZNPANO=110&slnk=1 I think you'd probably be fine, the MAM is less than 1000kgs, so as long as the car isn't massive then it should be under the 3500kgs. Its just horse trailers that are problem
frown.gif
 
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