Be honest, when you are sat waiting for something how often does the Guinness surfer advert of the 90s run through the back of your mind? “Waiting, that’s what he does….Tick followed tock followed tick..” supplemented by that amazing soundtrack of Leftfield… yeah, I recall it often.
Today is just one of those occasions, I’m sat in a waiting room, about to meet a man about a dog. This dead time waiting for someone has given me space to consider the recent announcement of the new rules on towing a trailer.
To understand what has happened, we need to know what was in place and how this now effects UK licence holders, so hold tight here is a summary:
If you passed your full driving test before Jan 1st 1997, you would have BE privileges on your UK licence. Meaning you could drive a vehicle and trailer of a combined Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) of 8,250Kg (that’s a maximum of a 7,500kg vehicle with a 750kg trailer)
So, If you passed your driving test after Jan 1st 1997, then you can drive a vehicle up to 3,500kg MAM towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM (up to 4,250kg in total) Which is pretty useless in when considering caravanning. In this context, the rules stipulate that you can tow a trailer over 750kg as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg
To tow anything heavier, you would need to sit an extra test to gain the BE categories on your licence.
A full explanation can be found on the GOV.UK website
Over the years, this has placed quite a complex problem on manufactures and dealerships matching cars to caravans making sure they are suitable for towing (matching) and ensuring they are within the legalities of the drivers licence and any restrictions. Upcoming vehicles are heavier due to their hybrid or electric power-trains and that means finding an acceptable caravan and car combination for under 3,500kg is a very difficult prospect.
Ok, so for the good news. From the 20th September 2021 test bookings for car and trailer driving tests are being cancelled. Further law changes this Autumn will mean If you passed your car driving test from 1 January 1997 and need the BE categories, you’ll be allowed to tow trailers up to 3,500kg MAM when the law changes. In fact, you will automatically have B+E added to your licence when you require a new Photo Id driving licence.
3,500Kg MAM caters for pretty much all caravans on sale in the UK. So, checks on weights now revolve around a good match from car to caravan, the ability of the towing vehicle to legally and safely pull a chosen caravan and that the caravan itself has not been overloaded. That’s an article for another day…
So, all good then. Well this is where my opinion is split. On one hand it is great that the legislation is changing to allow all UK licence holders to hitch up and head off. It is great news for anyone wanting to upgrade or update a caravan to something bigger. But on the other hand, does this now mean our roads could potentially be full of people with no prior training or experience hitching up a 2 tonne caravan and heading off to the Cornish coast. The likelihood is yes, and if the truth be known it already happens.
With the upcoming changes, wouldn’t it be a good concept to see manufacturers, dealers and insurance companies offer a tangible, financial or lucrative incentive to the driver to take on board some extra training? Sure, the national clubs offer training packages, but these are only available for members and for those who seek extra tuition. It is not offered at the point of sale or as a part of the new caravan.
A concept like, get £500 cashback off the price of a new caravan if training is booked? or a percentage off an insurance premium? Maybe dealerships could offer training as part of the starter package? I have no doubt the industry will discuss ways of improving driving standards and methods to encourage new caravaners to take on board extra training. We will have to wait to see what happens with regards to driving standards and the position of the caravanning industry. As I stated earlier. Tick followed tock followed tick….
I read and enjoy your output very much, your content (like this one) is always of value and on the button.
I’ve been towing as a caravaner since the 1970’s (I started very young) and as you say at the time had no training. Just learn as you go, however, we started with an Ace Airstream, which was the smallest caravan available at the time and have progressed over the years to larger vans.
While I’ve witnessed some extreme towing activities while travelling from site to site, the only issues that have caused me to be in danger have been from the inexperience young drivers who just don’t understand what happens when they cause a caravan to snake.
I agree that some form of basic test should be passed before you are allowed to tow a large caravan.
This is the opinion of a person who holds an LGV Class 1, and has driven HGV’s with weights of up to 85 tons. Our roads are very busy and a short test would help road safety in general.
Hi Dan, I found this through looking for a video on this change, I thought if anyones done a video on this “Dan has” but found this article instead! I found your channel 2 years ago when we were looking at caravanning for the first time due to lost Covid holidays (my family have caravanned for years and my dad runs a site) being only 32 at the time I had the task of finding a car and van combo to get under the 3500kg rule, we managed it with our lovely 2005 lunar Quasar which has an incredibly low MTPLM of 1300 I believe, this article and the news as of a weeks time is music to my ears, I know what you’re saying with the first timers with potentially 5 tons on the road but for me and my family even without a trailer test I have 2 seasons under my belt now and couldn’t be happier at the prospect of shopping for a caravan and car without the dreaded, “yes but” in the back of my head all the time!
Hope you and family are all safe and well I’m a huge fan!