Towing, be it a caravan, horse box or trailer of garden refuse, brings with it inherent dangers and a series of supplementary rules. The basics are widely known: 50mph is your top speed on single carriageways, for instance, and on motorways the outside lane is a no-no. However, many people don’t realise their current licence may not allow them to legally tow certain vehicles. The legislation and its restrictions are geared around weight and when you took your test. They are complicated and we will endeavour to simplify the rules for you.
Before 1997 it was very easy to tow a trailer if you had a full car licence, just hook it up make sure the trailer was safe for the road and off you go. However, after 1997 life changed, with a raft of legislation restricting who is licensed to tow trailers and what type of trailers we could tow.
So, drivers do not need any training if they passed their driving test before January 1, 1997. For you, your car licence allows you to drive vehicles up to 7500kg and a total vehicle plus trailer to a maximum weight of 8250kg. These so called “grandfather rights” stay with pre-1997 licence holders until the age of 70, unless we lose our licence through disqualification.
Anyone who passed the standard car driving test after January 1, 1997, can legally use a 3,500kg (maximum) vehicle to draw a trailer or caravan weighing up to 750kg (ie: maximum combined weight of 4,250kg). You’ll need to have passed an additional towing driving test to gain your official DVLA “B+E” category licence to drive combinations weighing more, which more often than not include horse boxes, boat trailers etc.
Most modern trailers have a Maximum Gross weight on their ID plate which will give you your load levels and exceeding these will bring you into conflict with the law.
The fine for 'driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence' is a £1000 and 3 - 6 penalty points. An unlicensed driver would be unlikely to have valid insurance which carries a further fine of £5,000 and 3 - 6 penalty points. For a new driver, this could mean losing their licence altogether under the New Drivers Act, and having to retake their theory and practical tests.
Legalities aside, we would advise anyone (especially new drivers) to consider a towing training course for your own peace of mind, even if you have a pre-1997 driving license. Towing a trailer of any description is very different to just driving a standard vehicle and there are more considerations that you need to be aware of. Safety is paramount and anything that can be done to improve this is of utmost importance.
Fairway’s trailer towing training courses are designed to give you the confidence and extra skills required to tow any type of trailer safely. The courses are flexible and length of course is recommended on your ability to ensure you pass the B+E test quickly and effectively.
