Trailer test - so annoying!

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6103claire

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I guess i'm not the only person frustrated by the law concerning the trailer test! it really annoys me as i have attempted it 4 times and failed each time. i wouldnt mind if i had failed on reversing etc but i have failed on things that are nothing to do with the trailer, such as setting off at a blind junction when it was clear, only for a car to come flying round the corner way over the speed limit! i carried on as if i had stopped i would have been in the middle of the road, but apparently thins was wrong according to the examiner and i should have stopped!

i know that it is a good idea in the sense that it teaches people to drive with trailers properly but its so difficult to pass - surely everyone is not going to fork out the hundreds of pounds it costs to pass their test! i think we should have to do a course for a day or similar and show a certain level of competence.

Just annoyed as i am reluctant to pay hundreds of pounds to do a course when i have no problems, just make silly mistakes on the road! have been looking at getting a small 3.5 tonne horse box as i could drive this on a normal license but cant afford one!
 
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i know that it is a good idea in the sense that it teaches people to drive with trailers properly but its so difficult to pass - surely everyone is not going to fork out the hundreds of pounds it costs to pass their test! i think we should have to do a course for a day or similar and show a certain level of competence.

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That's what you are doing at the moment....the test is to prove you have attained the required level of competence
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Claire,

Have you tried to take your test when the roads are quiet? Stupid question but thats why I failed my driving test first time.

Oh and good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed for next time for you !!!
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Oh dear - I have to take mine as I passed my driving test on 05-Feb-97 and the law came into effect on 01-Feb-97... annoying but worth it I think as I for one am not confident!
 
I know but its just really annoying as i keep failing on stupid mistakes that arent really to do with the trailer! i understand why you have to be at that level but its just annoying when you cant pass it!! suppose i'll have to try have a training session on the road - will have to save some money!
 
The tralier test annoys me. My mum can legally tow, yet she has absolutely no more towing experience than I have! She has been towing for 6 years, yet cannot reverse at all but is still allowed on the roads. Ggrrrrrr! I wouldn't mind if it wasn't so expensive to sit!
 
havn't attempted my test yet but will have to take it soon as parents moving to america so dad is no longer able to drive me around! its a bloomin' stupid thing though coz i drive the cattle trailers round the farm at work whereas my dad has never towed a trailer until we sold our lorry last summer. He can't revers it to save his life! when we get onto the showground we usually swap so I can park it for him lol.

i think they shouldn't be a test but a compulsary training course for EVERYONE with perhaps an assesment at the end.
 
I try to get times when the roads are quiet but the centres are in cities and so its busy pretty much all the time and there are loads of lanes!!!

DVLA arent very good when it comes to explaining the law, i have been onto them loads, i dont think they really know either, its complicated. Basically you can drive a trailer heavier than 750 kg as long as the gross weight of the trailer (for an Ifor Williams 510 thats 2.5tonnes) doesnt exceed the unladen weight of the vehicle (my defender is 1.5 tonnes) - so thats no good, and the combination doesnt exceed 3.5 tonnes. Basically you cant tow a horse trailer as its way too heavy!!
 
Really? I thought you could drive a trailer up to 750kgs but no heavier well thats what my examiner said when i asked him after i past my driving test at the end of last year.
 
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Really? I thought you could drive a trailer up to 750kgs but no heavier well thats what my examiner said when i asked him after i past my driving test at the end of last year.

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Which is fine as long as you don't want to tow a horse anywhere...
 
Exactly, no one really knows! yeh thats right, when i rang DVLA it took me ages to get them to confirm that this was the law. Also the examiner i had in one of my tests said that there was no way i could drive a horse trailer without the test. I can drive with a small caravan as the Max gross weight for that is just under a tonne and is therefore less than the unladen (kerb) weight of the car. It has took me months to get my head round this!!
 
Well I'm still confused!! But I still don't have insurance on my 4x4 out here (they have equally stupid rules!!)

I feel for you guys, it does seem that the DVLA don't really know, cos in UK I drove a Range Rover and then a Defender and had one of those Rice trailers that take 3 horses and was very heavy and managed to tow it on my standrad licence??
 
You are just like Troggy. When she was learning she only had a couple of actual lessons, the rest was just practice. As I passed my test before 1997 (well, before 1897 but that's another matter...), technically I am qualified to tow a trailer so I could out with her, with L plates, and she could practise. We used to go to supermarket car parks at weekends and practise parking in the bays. She used to tow the horse everywhere anyway, but she always drives her quite slowly so she had to learn to tow at a faster pace for the test. A mirror for the hitching/unhitching bit is helpful too, as even if you are expert at it something always seems to go wrong on the day. You will get there, just keep slogging away. It is a vile test, very long and involved, but definitely worthwhile. You will never have any nerves when towing once you have passed.
 
Yeh, they also told me i wasnt driving fast enough in the test, although this wasnt a fail! you get so used to driving slow cos of the horses in the back that its hard to speed up!

I am tempted to drive on my own locally to hunt etc but i darent cos i heard of a girl that had a minor accident whilst doing this which the police got involved in and she lost her licence, had to resit her driving test and was fined £3000! i darent cos i rely on my car for my job! i should rebook the test really but i keep putting it off cos its alot of money 0 £90 a time plus a day off work for me and mum who has to take me!
 
I agree! It is a joke! You can drive a bloomin' (smallish) horsebox yet not a trailer. Id towed for about 4 years before I took the test so was pretty damn competent Id say (well Ive seen other people who've towed for yonks and some are dreadful!). I always drove very carefully yet confidently. I failed the test twice on really stupid things like not doing the speed limit (ie. I was UNDER it a tiny bit!) simply because Ive always been used to towing with horses inside so the fact that in the test I was meant to tow as if it was empty (which it was obviously) meant I had to speed up far quicker than I normally would have done etc. which I found very strange!

I passed third time. They were VERY picky in the tests though I have to say. Almost petty, in my other test I failed on not checking one mirror enough which was trash because everytime I looked in it I noticed the instuctor looking in it as well, so she never saw me doing it! very very odd.

Its not a good idea IMO simply because if they want to make the roads safer then EVERYONE (ie. not dependent on when you passed your car test) who tows should have to do it. It makes no sense for SOME to do it and not others.

I know some people who still tow happily without ever having done the test. It is very expensive. I also agree it should be a course, rather than a test.
 
Chex, I totally agree.... Ive got a little 3.5T lorry as I didnt want to spend the money on the test which I could have spent on a lorry! It annoyed me as my grandma who really shouldnt be on the road could tow it and I cant!

Do agree that its a good idea as its taken me a while to get used to driving the lorry but its so annoying we are penalised AGAIN for being young!
 
As with any new laws there has to be a date when the law comes into force. Unfortunately some passing their test one day can legally tow & some taking their test 24 houirs later cannot.

Having a course on towing my be preferred by some people but at the end of a course there is normally a test not just a pass because you attended.

I had instruction on towing many years ago & as a result have never had problems with any of the manoevres, this was when instruction was not readily available.

But after all this discussion it's nice to find that being of 'a certain age' actually has a perk...I'm old enough to tow without a test!
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