Article in Daily Telegraph.
It appears that towing rules are to be relaxed - Caravan towing relaxed & HGV licencing/testing shortened
You currently can tow a trailer up to a maximum of 3.5 tons (Combined car & trailer weight) if you passed your test before 1997. Test passed after 1997 requires another Test.
To free up driving test spaces the "caravan test" is going to be waived.
UK Driving Test have a huge waiting lists.
Southern Ireland 1979 - "solved" their driving licence queues and created havoc.
Over 60,000 drivers were given a controversial “amnesty” in 1979 when they were granted a full driving licence without sitting a driving test due to a large backlog of applicants.
It took decades for the accident statistics to come back down.
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The issue is the B+E test.
As somebody who passed their test in the seventies I can drive an outfit with a combined 'plated' weight in excess of 3,500kg (there are, IIRC, lower limits if the trailer is unbraked). My children's generation, tested this century, need to pass a B+E test to go over 3,500kg. They could though drive my current outfit as the Berlingo/Xplore 304 combo slips under the limit.
To pass the driving test you must be able to:
* drive safely in different road and traffic conditions
* show that you know The Highway Code by the way you drive
I'm not clear how different it would be for me towing a larger car/van combo. There's an argument that understanding loading the 'van and ensuring you keep weights matched is no different under 3,500 from over. Watching people on sites leads me to concluded there are a lot of overloaded vans out there.
Caravan accidents resulting from overloading, too much weight at the rear, failure to handle sway etc are too common though usually only involve the two parts of the outfit and are low down on the list for KSI. I doubt the test has made much difference, most caravanners are my generation anyway so are grandfathered.
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I suspect it's not so much for people towing caravans which are generally owned by people who took their test before 97 anyway, but aimed at people towing trailers, carrying equipment such gardening firms, civil engineering, car transporters etc.
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Even the present government has to do something sensible occasionally even if it's for the wrong reason.
The trailer MAM being limited to the unladen weight of the car at least addresses the extra risk in towing heavy trailers but the train weight limit can actually stop people using a safer tow car.
The B&E test might result in people being better at reversing, which doesn't really matter from a safety perspective, but it doesn't stop them ignoring the trailer speed limits, loading badly or running with crumbling, under-inflated tyres on the trailer which I am pretty sure cover the cause of 99% of the annual upsets on the downhill section of the M5.
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>> Southern Ireland 1979 - "solved" their driving licence queues and created havoc.
>> Over 60,000 drivers were given a controversial “amnesty” in 1979 when they were granted a
>> full driving licence without sitting a driving test due to a large backlog of applicants.
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>> It took decades for the accident statistics to come back down.
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That, IIRC was as a result of driving test examiners being on strike for eighteen months. All provisional licence holders were granted a full licence and my cousin's wife, having left hers lapse, lost out.
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Changes afoot for towing the likes of caravans - Bromptonaut
