A-Frames & the Law

Some European countries have local laws that state you may not tow a motor vehicle
with another motor vehicle unless you are driving an authorised breakdown recovery vehicle.

1. You will not be towing a motor vehicle. You will be towing a car that is converted to a trailer. That complies with all European trailer legislation. That is identified as a trailer by the reflective triangles, the towing vehicle’s number plate, the brakes operated solely by braking in the towing vehicle, and the lights duplicating that of the towing vehicle.
2. Local laws (not European laws) apply if you are a resident and have lived there greater than six months, or if your vehicle is registered in that country. In which case A-frame towing would be illegal.
3. If you are travelling/holidaying for less than six months in that country then: no state has the power to reclassify a vehicle travelling from another state. As a visitor from another state you are legal under the powers of international traffic as defined in the Vienna convention, as long as your combination of vehicles are legal in your home country.
4. Your local police officer may not be familiar with international traffic and far more familiar with their local laws, and as such it is possible you may get stopped. This is why we provide translated documents explaining what you are towing and its legality, to produce if needed. The reality is that far fewer people are stopped than is suggested by word-of-mouth and internet posts. And often the people that are stopped are either not compliant and therefore rightly stopped, or are stopped for some other reason.
5. Despite installing hundreds of A-frames each year, we have only a couple of our customers being stopped abroad. One situation was because they had a brake light out on their towcar. After the light was sorted and the police officer was shown the braking system working, they were permitted to continue without a problem. Another was the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which upon presentation of their provided international traffic documentation, the towcar was permitted to continue. The truth is we get far more reports of successful trips passing numerous authorities without being stopped. The law is on your side if you do things properly. As a holidaymaker staying less than six months in a European country YOU ARE LEGAL provided your A-frame system complies with the required trailer legislation to be legal in UK.

1. A minimum braking efficiency of 50% across all four wheels must be achieved.
2. The braking efficiency must be met for any deceleration of greater than two metres per second.
3. If the trailer (towed car) has vacuum/electronic or assisted brakes, then the system must be operable.
4. The towcar must have a means of applying the brakes across all wheels if the towcar becomes detached from the motorhome to achieve a deceleration of two metres per second.
5. The towcar must have legal lights displayed at the rear to match the towing vehicle.
6. The towcar must be identified as a trailer by displaying reflective triangles and the towing vehicle’s number plate.
7. There should be no movement of the coupling or A-frame whilst travelling.
8. Powered braking systems must have a sustainable power supply from the tow vehicle.
9. The towcar must be able to reverse without brake drag.
10. The motorhome must have no manual controls or adjustment in the cab for the towcar braking system other than normal brake pedal application.

Inertia couplings are often used with single or multi axle trailers or caravans with axles closer than 1m apart. They are not suitable for a Towcar that has axles greater than 1m apart and will not meet the legislation criteria highlighted in points 1,3,4,7 and 9.

These systems can often provide a great deal more pedal pressure than a human foot. The portability and cheaper cost of these systems may seem appealing. However, these systems would not normally meet point 3, 4, 8 and sometimes 10 listed above.

1. No means to apply the brakes if the vehicle detaches from the towing vehicle.\
2. Adjustment or control over the trailers braking from the cabin of the towing vehicle.
3. Movement in the towing frame whilst towing (Inertia system).
4. Power assisted brakes on trailer not operable (vacuum servo not working).
5. Power supply (towcar’s battery) for braking system not maintained by towing vehicle.
6. The towcar must NOT have brake drag when reversing (a common problem with inertia
   systems).
7. 50%+ braking efficiency not being achieved across all four wheels.

The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Department for Transport, charged with operating the system of automotive type approval in the UK.

Put simply, type approval is the confirmation that production samples of a design will meet specified performance standards. The specification of the product is recorded and only that specification is approved.

We asked the VCA about obtaining European Type Approval for A-frames and received the following answer: “It is not possible to Type Approve A-frames for towing a car behind another vehicle. Only the vehicle categories listed in 2007-46 can be approved (cars, buses, goods vehicles and trailers).” 

Whilst type approval is not applicable on A-frames, it does not mean that towcars on A-frames are not safe or legal, nor that they are exempt from European legislation.

However, Towmaster has been FEA safety tested and destruction tested on a jig, very similar to the required testing that type approval would require.