I just compared my license to my wife's and there are quite a few entitlement changes.
I passed in 94 and the wife passed in dec 97.
It would appear from the dvla web site
( www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/Cara...4 )
that an extra test is needed to tow trailers / caravans on licenses after 1st Jan 97.
What is the extra test ?
Or have I miss-understood the requirements.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 15/03/2009 at 17:10
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Working link tinyurl.com/2f4tao
See also tinyurl.com/c3cjsx
I think a normal caravan/trailer would be covered by a normal licence unde class B
Cars with and without trailers
Motor vehicles with a MAM not exceeding 3500kg having not more than eight passenger seats with a trailer up to 750kg. Combinations of towing vehicles in category B and a trailer, where the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3500kg and the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle
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No, you haven't misunderstood.
You now require a seperate test with a trailer before you can tow anything over a certain weight (which escapes me), but bascically anything more than a small trailer. Those who passed before 1997 are granted "grandfather rights" and that rule change does not apply.
Apart from having the attached trailer the test is pretty much the same as a car test, though I doubt that a turn in the road is involved for obvious reasons.
Edited by Robin Reliant on 14/03/2009 at 18:38
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Even if you have the entitlement, if you've not towed a trailer before I would get some training. I know I'd never try it without help first.
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Nor me ! Friend worked in a Rubbish dump - to brighten up the incredible boredom she encountered there they used to have a sweepstake on punters and their trailer reversing skills (or lack of them). Once you've been exposed to that level of humiliation there's nothing much else left for a chap.
Edited by Pugugly on 14/03/2009 at 19:55
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Presumably trailer includes caravans? Does that now mean most ordinary seized caravans require an additional test too? It's much easier reversing a trailer you can see over than a caravan you can't.
Is there an upper limit - can someone who has passed the trailer test with a small Halfords trailer then tow (and reverse!) a 4-wheel steered trailer?
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I often see trailer test takers at the HGV testing station I visit now and then.
I don't know about the road / driving part of the test, but I do know that the reversing bit is carried out at the testing station, and that the manoeuvre includes reversing from one lane to an adjacent lane , and stopping at the right place.
Lot's of the drivers are young women, and a few years ago horse boxes used to be a common sort of trailer but more recently, it seems that any largish sort of trailer will do.
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Full regulations here -
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/Cara...1
Ooops, already posted, sorry.
Edited by Robin Reliant on 15/03/2009 at 15:31
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