driving licence help

[BoroDave74]

John's link is indeed misleading by making no mention of "grandfather rights". However they certainly do exist. License categories are clearly marked on your license.

I can confirm however licenses earned prior to 1/1/97 are entitled to drive combinations with a gross train weight in excess of 3500kgs plated.
I passed my driving test on 3/1/97 and passed my B+E on Monday .

The DVLA test is pretty thorough and takes up to 90 minutes; coupling, uncoupling, reversing S into a bay, braking exercise, driving on a variety of roads, uphill starts, downhill starts, level starts, starts with hazards, a series of "show me" "tell me" questions and general highway code questions.

Expect to need training to pass regardless of how long you've been driving and get a couple of hundred pounds ready for it too.

I can recommend an ADI for anyone South Norfolk/Suffolk wanting to do this.

[kentish_bloke]

Text below taken from here :-

Category B: Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM and with up to eight passenger seats

Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.

For example:

a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle

Whereas

the same vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes when coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.5 tonnes would fall within category B+E. This is because although the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is within the 3.5 tonnes MAM limit, the MAM of the trailer is more than the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle

Vehicle manufacturers normally recommend a maximum weight of trailer appropriate to their vehicle. Details can usually be found in the vehicle's handbook or obtained from car dealerships. The size of the trailer recommended for an average family car with an unladen weight of around 1 tonne would be well within the new category B threshold.


So, the unladen weight doesn't matter? Looks like it matters alot!

[bluetba]

edited

[John LE]

Text below taken from here :-

Category B: Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM and with up to eight passenger seats

Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.

For example:

a vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.25 tonnes could be driven by the holder of a category B entitlement. This is because the MAM of the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes and also the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle

Whereas

the same vehicle with an unladen weight of 1.25 tonnes and a MAM of 2 tonnes when coupled with a trailer with a MAM of 1.5 tonnes would fall within category B+E. This is because although the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is within the 3.5 tonnes MAM limit, the MAM of the trailer is more than the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle

Vehicle manufacturers normally recommend a maximum weight of trailer appropriate to their vehicle. Details can usually be found in the vehicle's handbook or obtained from car dealerships. The size of the trailer recommended for an average family car with an unladen weight of around 1 tonne would be well within the new category B threshold.


So, the unladen weight doesn't matter? Looks like it matters alot!

Could you read my post please, the unladen weight of the trailer does not matter. I made no mention of the car's unladen weight

[John LE]

Here is yet another website explaining things

http://www.campingandcaravanningclub...e/areyoulegal/

[kentish_bloke]

Could you read my post please, the unladen weight of the trailer does not matter. I made no mention of the car's unladen weight

if you read my post correctly, youll see that it doesnt mention the unladen weight of the trailer, its the unladen weight of the drawing vehicle that is mentioned in bold!

now, the laden weight of the trailer is whats used for calculation, otherwise whats the point? any muppet can overload a trailer! the maximum load you can put on a trailer is the difference between its unladen weight & its laden weight.

as my previous post says :-

Ok, lets do the maths here.

The trailer you're looking at has an unladen weight of 500kg, the car you want to tow is 900kg, this makes 1400kg laden.

So long as the unladen weight of your Vectra isn't under 1400kg or over 2100kg then you should be ok.

[bigron1988]

The trailer you're looking at has an unladen weight of 500kg, the car you want to tow is 900kg, this makes 1400kg laden.

So long as the unladen weight of your Vectra isn't under 1400kg or over 2100kg then you should be ok.

hopefully this is right

[kentish_bloke]

hopefully this is right

simple maths really, all you have to remember is that the trailer must not weigh more than the car & the car/trailer/load does not exceed 3500 kg in total, you should be ok on your current license.

its all in black & white on the links i put on my previous posts & the ones john.robertson2 put on his posts

[bigron1988]

simple maths really, all you have to remember is that the trailer must not weigh more than the car & the car/trailer/load does not exceed 3500 kg in total, you should be ok on your current license.

its all in black & white on the links i put on my previous posts & the ones john.robertson2 put on his posts

thanks for your help guys

[John LE]

simple maths really, all you have to remember is that the trailer must not weigh more than the car & the car/trailer/load does not exceed 3500 kg in total, you should be ok on your current license.

its all in black & white on the links i put on my previous posts & the ones john.robertson2 put on his posts

And although common sense, the weight of the trailer should not exceed that of the tow vehicle

This subject really is a pain in the ass, the DVLA are very contradictory by saying you can't tow a trailer over 750kg UNLESS etc. etc.

This results in folk saying you can't tow over 750 kg full stop which as you now see is wrong. Hope we have helped you a bit with this mate. Worth still looking to get a B+E test though as if you get a car bigger than the Vectra (land rover etc) you are approaching a laden weight of 2500-2700kg leaving very little towing capability

It's about time there were more about this subject in the press to let people see the real rules