bammargera
18-12-07, 11:53 PM
Hello there,
Last week I went to rent a car transporter trailer to tow my old rally car down South for its new buyer. I was aware that in 1997 that the law changed, so I went online to do some research and found this on a government website that also has this example...
Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.
For example:
A vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle
So I did a few sums, my rallye car is about 700kgs, the trailor about 500kgs and my Golf VR6 which I was going to tow it just over 1300kg. So by the law I found stated above, the MAM is about 2600kgs and the weight of the towing vehicle is more than the trailor, so technically it is legal for me to tow it?
However when I got down there to pick the trailor up, they said I could not hire it, so I asked why. They showed me the law book they had which states the EXACT same as above and so I showed him my example and he got confused and just said "You cant hire it". He started talking about the trailor needing to be braked and blah blah blah, but I think he was trying to do a dodge because he didnt know what he was talking about.
Could you please help me clarify this as it seems like a very GREY area. Also I am building a new race car that will be under 500kg's so lighter than my previous rally car, and if what I'm saying is correct, I will not need to sit the B+E entitlement.
Thanks a lot for your help in advance.
Mark
Last week I went to rent a car transporter trailer to tow my old rally car down South for its new buyer. I was aware that in 1997 that the law changed, so I went online to do some research and found this on a government website that also has this example...
Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.
For example:
A vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle
So I did a few sums, my rallye car is about 700kgs, the trailor about 500kgs and my Golf VR6 which I was going to tow it just over 1300kg. So by the law I found stated above, the MAM is about 2600kgs and the weight of the towing vehicle is more than the trailor, so technically it is legal for me to tow it?
However when I got down there to pick the trailor up, they said I could not hire it, so I asked why. They showed me the law book they had which states the EXACT same as above and so I showed him my example and he got confused and just said "You cant hire it". He started talking about the trailor needing to be braked and blah blah blah, but I think he was trying to do a dodge because he didnt know what he was talking about.
Could you please help me clarify this as it seems like a very GREY area. Also I am building a new race car that will be under 500kg's so lighter than my previous rally car, and if what I'm saying is correct, I will not need to sit the B+E entitlement.
Thanks a lot for your help in advance.
Mark