Towing In Europe

Originally posted by seasickrick Originally posted by JimC Originally posted by seasickrick There have been a few incindents where boats have been hit from the back/side and insurance claims and insurance claims have been dismissed... Do you have a verifiable source for that or is it rumour? A policeman friend of mine has been involved in a case involving a fireball that had its rear quater removed. All was well with the claim until it was pointed out that the lightboard was mounted to the transom (with mast support) and not on the arms supplied with the trailer that have the required reflectors on. If the road base was not type approved it would have been a clear cut case with the driver who hit the boat at fault. I wasn't using the arms supplied with my roadbase until I heard this.

There is no attempt to 'outlaw'  trailers produced before the 'improved' regulations came in - They will remain 'legal'.

However I'm sure the suitability of the 'new' regulations will be tested in a court of law at some point.  Lengthy 'floating' bars will break at some point, even if they dont cause other avoidable accidents first,  and eventually somebody is going to be hit by the resulting debris .. and so legal process at some point seems inevitable.  'Approved type' status does imply an improvement to general safety does it not ?  And when somebody eventually claims the exact opposite what should happen ?

A suitable qualified engineering expert witness will inevitably be called by one party or another.  To put it simply many would quite enjoy themselves outlining the design considerations that SHOULD have been incorporated into any 'approved' trailer standards or design.  This is not exactly advanced stuff ...

Fancy defending the new status quo at that point anybody ?   Dinghy trailing could/should have been excluded or treated in a different manner in  a 'general catch-all' move for more comprehensive trailer regulations.  The lash-up we now face is simply an engineering joke ...  more cost + less safe  = poor deal for all. 
    

I think i'll just keep an older trailer for the foreseeable.

You could buy my old trailer 

Originally posted by Noah I think the chance of being ticketed for using a new trailer 'incorrectly' is very slim. First, do the regs state use, or just construction of the equipment? 2nd, does the increasingly rare policeman in a car either know about these regs or care? Provided you are displaying the correct index number and lights, I doubt it. Also, the CE plate would need to be inspected and deciphered to determine when the road base was built and therefore which rules apply. The design is ludicrous and completely inappropriate for towing dingies. I'll stick to the combined mast support and lighting board hiung on the rudder fittings.

1.  There are  roads policing Officers who are also Vehicle Examiners 

2. DVSA (VOSAas was)  can stop anyone at any time and failing to stop  for a uniformedDVSA enforcement Officer or Marked  Enforcement Vehicle  is an Offence  equivalent to failing to stop for a Constable.  The DVSA have been taking an interest in  Horseboxes and  motorsport  transporters