 | Home > Off Topic > Towing mirrors and the law explained |
 
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5115   
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I recently posted an article about Grand Aero towing Mirrors and several of the replies in that thread questioned the law on towing mirrors or were confused or were slightly ignorant of it.
So here is an explanation of towing mirror law, but remember if you do not comply with this law on mirrors while towing you can get 3 penalty points and be fined a £1000.00. The law states that while towing a trailer you must have an adequate view of the road behind you. If your caravan or trailer is wider than the rear of the towing vehicle, you must fit suitable towing mirrors. The law requires you to be able to see when sitting in the driving position of your towing vehicle for a distance of 20 metres to the rear, and from that point 4 metres out into the carriageway on the offside, and along the kerb to the nearside – a large area! In other words the law specifies that you need to be able to see clearly an area that is four metres wide from both sides of your trailer or caravan at a distance of 20 metres behind the driver. This is quite a large area and can be partly obscured by the corners of your caravan, and if you rely on normal Defender mirrors even pushed out these will not give the required by law rear field of view. Some may think that they are OK because they can adjust their door mirrors so that they have some rearward vision but what they see is simply not good enough 
Plus without towing mirrors, it is quite easy to miss a cyclist or a motorcyclist, and you are also much less likely to spot a car moving out from behind to overtake. Plus you cannot see your wheels when manoeuvring or turning at sharp junctions. This is the view in your mirrors that complies with the law Click image to enlarge As I have said towing without proper mirrors can result in a police prosecution in the form of three points on your license and a fine of up to £1,000. And believe me when I say I have seen many Land Rovers towing large trailers and caravans pulled over by the police and VOSA to check your mirrors. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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5th Apr 2016 12:33pm |
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| ARC99 Member Since: 19 Feb 2013 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 1831  
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If I may just add a useful link from the Caravan Club technical Office issued in 2009.
http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/1022769...ors-mo.pdf If anyone does use the link go to the section with the legislation and click on "the latest regulation" and go to page 29 and read on. Don't make old people mad. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to  us off.
Richard |
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5th Apr 2016 1:29pm |
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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006  
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Thanks for the links to the source legislation. I will check that I comply. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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5th Apr 2016 2:51pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971 
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Sorry, this is quite a long post. The key thing is that I don't thing the CC article is that useful and there's a picture down the bottom from the law-bit.
I'm not sure the Caravan Club article actually clarifies the law though, and I did read through all of that the other day. It starts off by saying that mirrors need to meed various regulations. Things like you need two, they have to be E marked, they can't stick out further than 20cm, they have to be attached properly... blah. I don't think there is any law beyond "adequate" and I think the Caravan Club say that too, because:
So, the further documentation cited. Fun fun fun 
I love that eyes are called "ocular points" 
Then there's a load of stuff about type approval, dimensions, how to determine where the ocular points are, nothing about trailers. Click image to enlarge 79/795 EEC reads the same. Again nothing about trailers and lots about "what's a mirror?" 86/562 EEC: Blah blah type approval blah 88/321 EEC: Refers to mirrors, type approval and larger vehicles. Not relevant to this discussion, nothing to do with trailers, field of view, anything really. 2003/97 EC: Starts by saying "we've defined what you need for vehicles, but have realised that trailers change things a bit..." "also there are things that aren't mirrors too". Class N1 and M1 vehicles (Defenders, light commercials, cars) have to have an interior rear view mirror (Class 1) unless it would be pointless and you can't see anything backwards (like you have a bulkhead) and two small Class 3 exterior mirrors, one on either side, unless you fit the larger Class 2 mirrors. N1 is the same: Click image to enlarge After telling some so more things about how hard to hit the mirror to test it, they have some updated pictures and descriptions:
Click image to enlarge Right. 2005/27 EC: pretty quick read, basically there is some overlap between commercial vehicle classes, and where a smaller one is closely related to a bigger one and could reasonably be expected to have bigger mirrors, fit bigger mirrors. Not relevant to N1 class though, it's about the N2 (3.5-7.5t) and N3 (7.5t+) boundary. ECE Regulation 46 and latest amendment: Don't really add anything. Nothing about trailers in any of those documents, only about the towing vehicle. I think if you can see the sides of your trailer you're fine in the eyes of the law. Obviously sometimes bigger mirrors might help so long as they don't fall foul of another law - there are lots of regulations are how wobbly they can be at speed, how to hit them with a hammer and how far they can stick out. IMO so long as you can see the sides of your trailer you're fine. I'm not sure if the stock Defender interior mirror actually meets the regs too. Sigh. |
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5th Apr 2016 7:28pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17610 
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IMHO Defender mirrors work fine if you fit them on the extended arms used on the n/s of a military Wolf. Keep them in (legal) if not towing, click them out when towing.
Very simple if you tow often and don't want to keep fitting and removing tin tent mirrors. |
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5th Apr 2016 9:26pm |
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| lambert.the.farmer Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: harrogate Posts: 2006
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I have just measured my biggest trailer and it is just short of an inch and 3/4 narrower than the extent of the mirrors on each side meaning that my factory mirrors correctly adjusted are sufficient to satisfy the requirements as I understand them, that is I can see the rear corners of the trailer and a swathe of road to either side. Rhubarb and custard let fly with their secret weapon.
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6th Apr 2016 9:47am |
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| dave18 Member Since: 11 Jul 2015 Location: Gorleston, Great Yarmouth Posts: 497 
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Yay more fun from the house of fun !!!! Don't you love our laws and regs !!!!!
Looks a bit of a mine field. But one thing I noticed is that the first picture shown with the wing mirrior extensions I think if you angled them so the 2nd row door handle was where the 1st door handle would normally be then you would have the field view!! Then of course it depends if you have stock or aftermarket mirrors flat or convex, Stock arms or Wolf Arms. Persoannly think best bet is see what you can see with your current mirriors and if you cant see then fit extra, Remember the defender was always designed as a tow vehicle and that is suposidly one of the reasons why the arms have two positions in for normal and out for towing. |
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6th Apr 2016 11:06am |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5115
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Lambert.the.farmer.
The only way to truly tell if your Defender door mirrors meet the requirements of the law, is to park on a straight road with the trailer attached and then get someone to stand twenty metres behind level with the edge of the trailer, and then pace four meters to the side level with the rear edge if you can see the person in your mirrors from the driving seat is all is well, you may find you can from the driver’s side but not from the passenger’s side. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at.. http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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6th Apr 2016 11:09am |
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| WarPig Member Since: 04 Dec 2009 Location: Sheffield Posts: 1748 
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Ooooh, thats my photo, I must now be famous 
Also, its good if you are able to see the actual sides of your caravan/trailer. |
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8th Apr 2016 11:14pm |
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