awd man wrote:

Found this after much searching:

My son has advised me on this, he is a VOSA enforcment officer. As others have posted, yes it is now illegal to use a tow rope. Unless the vehicle poses a significunt danger as to postion to pedestrians or other road users if the vehicle is to be left in position, however the vehicle must not be moved if it where to be it would imped an investigation.
As regards to towing a vehicle home if it's deemed that it is only a short distance of up to a mile and will not be on Motorways a rope can be used, however the vehicle being towed must comply the Road Traffic Act and must have valid Insurance MoT and Road Excise Duty (tax).
If the vehicle doesn't comply it must be recovered by another means i e full recovery or suspened tow. An A frame towing device can be used by a private car to tow a non compliant vehicle as the towing car complies with the Road Traffic Act, but must not exceed maximum towing weight for that car that is towing.


However, someone else asked the police highways dept and they quoted the highways act which states it's not illigal to use a rope ..

One I have is solid so not sure about the sprung type. And the towing car does all the braking, the person behind simply steers as the bar is rigid.
As for towing or recovery, you can only tow a car off a motorway to next junction by rope or bar. You can only transport with wheel free or full lift. A frames are only legal if car being towed with light board from towing car. The rules are ridiculously complicated for the normal motorist and not easily accessed. There was a rule change about a frames and dolly Fred but can't find the legislation. Dolly frame must be legal as RAC and Aa have them folded into rear of vans. And A frames are used by campers towing small cars. Confused.com. and I'm supposed to advise my employees  2x TDV6. SE and HSE. Both returned to sender with issues👀
TDV8 Sport HSE...... Gone. Loved it but it didn't love me!!
Now rolling in MY10 Fullfat TDV8 Vogue. Slammed it to go round corners🙈
Cruising daily #56 mph in a Volvo V8. 😱
Lots of other toys in the cupboard...😜

simple1 wrote:

One I have is solid so not sure about the sprung type. And the towing car does all the braking, the person behind simply steers as the bar is rigid.
As for towing or recovery, you can only tow a car off a motorway to next junction by rope or bar. You can only transport with wheel free or full lift. A frames are only legal if car being towed with light board from towing car. The rules are ridiculously complicated for the normal motorist and not easily accessed. There was a rule change about a frames and dolly Fred but can't find the legislation. Dolly frame must be legal as RAC and Aa have them folded into rear of vans. And A frames are used by campers towing small cars. Confused.com. and I'm supposed to advise my employees

Dolly Fred....it that one of your employees  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
MERCEDES GL350 - Metallic Navy Blue w/Grey interior

GOING: BMW F31 335D MSport+ xDrive Touring
GONE: Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE - Stornaway Grey w/Black Interior (wish we'd kept it )
GONE: BMW F10 520D MSport - Carbon Black
GONE:MY12 RRS SDV6 HSE Sumatra/Ivory/Grand Black Privacy glass

Revenge of the iPhone. Spell check needs adjusted  2x TDV6. SE and HSE. Both returned to sender with issues👀
TDV8 Sport HSE...... Gone. Loved it but it didn't love me!!
Now rolling in MY10 Fullfat TDV8 Vogue. Slammed it to go round corners🙈
Cruising daily #56 mph in a Volvo V8. 😱
Lots of other toys in the cupboard...😜

They are more and more complicated...even the agencies dont always know the rules.

I certainly dont to any degree...but hence my attempt to define the difference between rescue/dragging etc and actually towing - which some people take as i have a car here and i need to get it there, so ill use a rope Mike

2014 Facelift Discovery

Most police officers don't seem to know the law correctly....having won several court cases for arguing the toss..

Ive been towed at 80mph on the motorway, we got pulled over and was asked to shorten the rope (it was abit long) .... not to get off the motorway....

A solid bar tow is the best.. having been towed several times on one and at some hair raising speeds.. ( my buddies always get their revenge when i'm the towee) and never managed to bend a hitch or a car front panel..

Yes i've always owned cars that seem to be prone for breaking down...  Why?.. Because i can....
RRS 2006 S/C Rimini Red Weekend toy
Subaru impreza 1998 2.0 340hp still here
Smart car 0.7 61 hp Carbon offset
Sierra cosworth 2.0 350 hp GONE
Various RS escorts, Vauxhall sri's Volvo T5's, BMW 3 series, fiestas (?) fiat's....
Mr Mischief - www.mischief-inc.co.uk

simple1 wrote:

One I have is solid so not sure about the sprung type. And the towing car does all the braking, the person behind simply steers as the bar is rigid.

Thanks Simples would this still be the case with the RRS as the tow eye is in the middle of the car? Most other cars have theirs to the side so the bar would be at an / angle?

An A-frame and a trailer lighting board kept for those emergency is best for those tow-home situations.

Take note of the driving licence changes for the GTW of what you can tow.

drdelrrs wrote:

An A-frame and a trailer lighting board kept for those emergency is best for those tow-home situations.

Take note of the driving licence changes for the GTW of what you can tow.

So how do these gippo fairground people get away with old knackard foden towing a trailer then attached to another trailer then attached to that their living quartes, their caravan
Oh i forgot, the law doesn't apply to them does it they make their own laws up.

Arent they done on artic licences, on the old construction and use regs on a rigid link between short lorry 1 and trailer 1?

Im not an expert though Mike

2014 Facelift Discovery

You shouldn't get snatch from the towed vehicle if the towed driver knows the rules on being towed ie the towed vehicle must keep the tow rope taught at all times, I get very frustrated when behind vehicles being towed are constantly breaking the rope due to rolling up behind the tow vehicle at junctions then waiting for the tower to take up the slack ie the towed vehicle are the brakes for both vehicles, therefore the bar is ideal for novices who have never been towed before

Seams VOSA arn't particularly interested either!

Dear Mr H,

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 15th November 2012, concerning
towing.

Unfortunately, this isn't something that you would be able to assist you
with here at VOSA. You would need to direct your enquiry to the Department
for Transport (DfT) to see if they are able to offer further assistance.
They can be reached on 0300 330 3000.

I hope this information has assisted you with your enquiry, but if you have
any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind Regards

Rebecca
Customer Service Centre
VOSA Operations Directorate
Tel: 0300 123 9000 RRS gone
Audi SQ5...Gone Audi Q7 S-Line 240 3.0TDI Gone
Audi A6 Allroad Sport 270 3.0TDI

Well the signature at the end of the letter explains why vosa couldn't help

awd man wrote:

Seams VOSA arn't particularly interested either!

Dear Mr H,

Thank you for your email enquiry dated 15th November 2012, concerning
towing.

Unfortunately, this isn't something that you would be able to assist you
with here at VOSA. You would need to direct your enquiry to the Department
for Transport (DfT) to see if they are able to offer further assistance.
They can be reached on 0300 330 3000.

I hope this information has assisted you with your enquiry, but if you have
any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind Regards

Rebecca
Customer Service Centre
VOSA Operations Directorate
Tel: 0300 123 9000

Errr....no  ON THE WAY: BMW F21 M140i
MERCEDES GL350 - Metallic Navy Blue w/Grey interior

GOING: BMW F31 335D MSport+ xDrive Touring
GONE: Land Rover Discovery 4 HSE - Stornaway Grey w/Black Interior (wish we'd kept it )
GONE: BMW F10 520D MSport - Carbon Black
GONE:MY12 RRS SDV6 HSE Sumatra/Ivory/Grand Black Privacy glass