The logical conclusion of your statement is to abolish the MOT!
I don't think so. The MOT was introduced because of a known substantial problem - ie the number of accidents caused by unsafe cars. I know caravans appear to be the cause of a number of accidents, but I remain to be convinced that that is due to faults in the caravans rather than bad driving by their owners.
If you were advocating compulsory trailer driving tests I might agree.
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Is there a significant problem?
I'd say there is. Most of the people I know who own trailers do no maintenance on them at all ... and I guess that about half of the ones I've ever had to use (either towing myself or helping to load) have had a problem of some sort.
Brakes don't work, tyres worn, wheel bearings wrecked, ball-hitch too stiff to work reliably ... you name it, a depressingly large number of trailers have one or more of those problems.
A testing regime would be a great idea: the tests needn't be time-consuming or expensive, but they would encourage basic maintenance.
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The identification question is the biggest hurdle. How do you know the MOT cert applies to this unmarked trailer? Only by introducing the administrative sledgehammer of registration, which invites taxation "to cover expenses", SORN declarations, fruitless trips to the Post Office etc etc. The problem is probably not sizeable enough to warrant this.
But, where can you get these things checked? If I bought a trailer from ebay, used it once, then hitched it a year later I'd have no idea where to go to get it checked/repaired. So why not have a volutary MOT - require MOT stations to be able/willing to look over a trailer and pronouce it ok/not. At least some drivers could then be safer.
And, of course, either replace the traffic police that have vanished in recent years or develop a camera that is so good it can inspect trailer braking systems and take a picture if they are not up to scratch.
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Another question... are you obliged to tell your insurer that you tow? It's not a question that's come up whenever I've got a quote. If I had an accident because a wheel fell off my ill-maintained* trailer then would my insurance company have to pay out?
* - My trailer isn't ill maintained. In fact, it doesn't actually exist.
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Another question... are you obliged to tell your insurer that you tow? It's not a question that's come up whenever I've got a quote. If I had an accident because a wheel fell off my ill-maintained* trailer then would my insurance company have to pay out? * - My trailer isn't ill maintained. In fact, it doesn't actually exist.
No, my car insurance specifically includes cover for damage to others' property caused by, but not to, a trailer or caravan my car is towing.
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I'm pretty sure my policy states that my car has to be in a roadworthy condition for the insurance to be valid. Presumably the same is true for any trailer hitched to the car.
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A bit of education is mostly what is needed. Fifth gear showing a blowout on a trailer/ seized brake at motorway speeds showing the towing car snaking around and giving the driver a fright would be enough to get most people to at least check the state of their trailers. This of course assumes that a blowout or seized brake on a trailer would have a noticeable effect on the towing vehicle. Couple this with a few articles in local papers and you'll get the attention of most people.
Having a few traffic police at the local tip on a weekend morning in the summer checking out trailers would get to see most of them in the area I'd imagine.
teabelly
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I'm playing devil's advocate here because I happen to own 5 trailers of various kinds.
When I asked whether there was a problem, I meant were there a significant number of accidents caused by trailer faults?
Yes, we can all point to awful examples, and I confess I have towed a few of them in my time. But knowing that the brake rods had corroded or the tyres were 40 years old meant I drove very carefully. And I have been towing (and reversing !)trailers all my driving life.
Much more dangerous is the brand new caravan towed at 70mph+ in a cross-wind pulled by an inexperienced idiot in a fashion utility vehicle. Give him an MOT before you start picking on us rural bumpkins!
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Much more dangerous is the brand new caravan towed at 70mph+ in a cross-wind pulled by an inexperienced idiot in a fashion utility vehicle. Give him an MOT before you start picking on us rural bumpkins!
As ever, the choice lies between a massive amount of regulation & administration on the one hand, and a small amount of targetted education and enforcement or existing laws on the other.
Hmmmm.... any bets?
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>> Much more dangerous is the brand new caravan towed at 70mph+ >> in a cross-wind pulled by an inexperienced idiot in a fashion >> utility vehicle. Give him an MOT before you start picking on >> us rural bumpkins! >> As ever, the choice lies between a massive amount of regulation & administration on the one hand, and a small amount of targetted education and enforcement or existing laws on the other. Hmmmm.... any bets?
I think that in order to ensure that we come to a properly informed decision, a QUANGO needs to be set up to examine all possible options. This will doubtless consist of a dozen people who know virtually nothing about trailers, but are mates with the rught people.
A little more education for all drivers could make our roads far safer than trailer MOTs ever will.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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All trailers in NSW, Australia have an annual inspection, manufacturers serial No is used for Identification or alternatively if homemade then a number stamped on the structure. Seems to work very well. It is just a simple tyres and brake test and a structural inspection. NSW has a much higher percentage of trailers per household than the UK.
It's nothing to do with the skill of the driver, it is simply to prevent accidents due to brake and tyre failure. Back in the UK I watched one wheel fall off a caravan a few weeks ago....closed two lanes of the M5 in the westcountry on a saturday.....absolute Chaos, luckily no other car involved but both the 'van and tow vehicle suffered severe damage. Occupants were lucky to limp away.
StarGazer
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And how would this be policed exactly?
As I've ranted on previouse occasions almost every farm and civil engineers trailer either has no number plate, incorrect number plate or no lights!
Nobody gives a stuff about them!!!!
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>>Nobody gives a stuff about them!!!!
I suppose that was my point. Number plates? Lights? Roadworthy? Not a hope!
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A section on the local news last year during peak caravan season followed a day of Police spot checks on caravans on their way west.
Over 50% of the caravans had what the Police referred to as "Serious safety concerns" (I think that was the phrase). A number were told to leave their caravans until they could get them trailered away, some were told to leave and get a repair.
Rotten tyres and knackered wheel bearings seemed to be the order of the day.
I don't know what the solution is, just that there is a massive problem.
V
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Add to that, there would have to be a way of registering the trailer's age, because obviously newer developments in design could not be applied retrospectively.
I'm thinking about over-run brakes, steady bars or whatever they are called, shock-absorbers, lighting rules, different kinds of coupling (ball, hitch with pin, ex-army type claws), trip wires on handbrakes , emergency chain coupling, the latest auto-reverse locks, and so on.
An example of the absurdity that will creep in:
When I bought a boat trailer some years ago, I was given a free red high-intensity fog light and told I ought to fit it, in order to comply with the latest regulations. But the towing vehicle (1961 Land-Rover) did not have to have such a light, so of course there was no provision on the wiring socket for it.
Conversely an older trailer, without a fog-light, could be pulled by a later car, with a light.
When I pull my ex-army trailer with the car, it plugs into all the modern lights (except fog lamp). When I pull it with my 1949 tractor, it has no lights or indicators at all, because the tractor has no electrics apart from ignition and starter motor.
So on what basis would the trailer be MOTed?
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Separate registration of trailers already the case in France and at least for caravans (more recently )in Holland.
Cliff's point is a good one but it would be resonably straightforward to design a schedule of checks bases on C&U requirements plus other items such as steady bars as fitted. Isn't ABS handled that way? not mandatory but if fitted it must be working. The trailer he refers to would be tested on that basis and on the test centre's "shore" supply rather than the host vehicle electrics - these might need to be tested seperately as part of its MoT.
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It occurs to me that light trailer legislation has not caught up with other motoring developments.
I'd propose that cars towing light luggage trailers up to 750kg gross weight, which do not need brakes, should be subject to the same speed limits as solo cars. Extra conditions would apply, though, like maximum trailer width, length and height. Also the actual laden weight of the trailer should not exceed half the weight of the towing vehicle.
This relaxation would encourage many owners to downsize from estate cars to smaller hatchbacks - say from a Peougeot 406 estate to a 307 hatch, without penalty. There would be savings in fuel consumption as the trailer would only be used when needed. Also if these trailers had an inbuilt collapsible section in the drawbar it would offer a little extra crash protection for rear seat passengers in the event borderline injury/non-injury rear-end impacts.
Cheers, SS
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Trailers under 750kg of weight are allowed to go at the full 130km/h in Austria.
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Another big issue should be, those who don't KNOW the Law regarding the max. speed and travelling in the Third lane with trailers on Motorways.
Although some trailer specifications allow 4 wheel trailers with a wheelbase greater than 1000mm, closed coupled and other details are allowed to travel greater than 60mph and in the Third lane on motorways.
Not the average 2 or 4 wheel trailers (boat/caravan/box/universal)
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Caravans should also have an anual mot, as an ex. caravanner I would have liked someone else to check my van over before use, especially the brakes.
seen one this year where the chassis had snapped due to rust on the A frame, another had popped off the ball as the coupling was seized, seen lots without lights.
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Hi,
The trailers behind HGVs are identified by a plate, usually rivetted to the chassis, and are subject to an MOT. They are tested in conjunction with whichever tractor unit takes the trailer to the testing station.
number_cruncher
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