Car dolly/ A frame towing laws...anyone know the score?

Question

it seams a bit of a gray area.there's lots of contradicting info on line regarding them.some say as the A frame bolts direct to the car,[needing no second driver] it changes the cars class to a trailer thus no tax/mot/insurance is needed..ive also read its illegal to ''transport'' a car with a A frame BUT its legal to recover a car with it?....can anyone shed a bit light on the subject?...thanks

Answer 1

In the UK the use of A Frames or Dolly's is restricted to breakdown recovery only, the people who use them to tow cars behind motor homes are acting illegally but as yet the authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to this practise, that will probably change if a towed car breaks lose and causes a fatal accident.

New information.

With the A Frame it is legal provided the rear cross bar of the A Frame is permenately bolted to the car, when the towing bar is attached and a braking system installed the car becomes a four wheeled braked trailor and is legal in the UK and Europe.

Answer 2

Afternoon.

It seems that the car doesn't become a trailer when towed - that's where the problems start.

This means that without a driver, it's unbraked.

The maximum unbraked trailer weight is 750kg, but a car's kerb weight is used, so apparently the only suitable vehicle available in the UK is the Aixam.

Above this weight, an A frame can only be used to 'recover a vehicle to a place of safety' so dragging it 300 miles to the seaside would be a no-no. This also means that anything other than an Aixam would need tax, insurance & MOT, as well as a driver to use the brakes if not to steer.

With any axle clear of the ground, a car can be recovered without braking, MOT, tax or insurance.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

You're right about being a grey area, as a friend of mine asked if I could tow him home. I didn't think that you could but he said it was OK if we didn't use certain roads. I then went along with this and we went to buy a tow rope but was told in the motor spares shop that you couldn't tow but could pull someone out of a ditch. So while I don't know, I think that it should be clarified as to what's right and wrong.

Answer 4

based on the wording of the question, you are not in the US, so can't give you a nation specific answer.  here in the US you can tow a car on a dolly so long as the drive wheels are off the ground or disabled.