Safe Speed Forums

I may need to move a sorned "immobile" vehicle about half a mile. It can be towed but is not capable of moving under its own steam! (brakes function, engine doesnt)

If it is being towed, is it a "Trailer" or am I commiting an offence by using an unlicenced/un-MOT'd vehicle!

Or am I legal because I am taking it to a "place of repair"??

(I am a self employed mechannic the "destination" is my other operating site)

Serious question!

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

If you're towing it using an A frame, AFAICT it's a trailer. However, it must meet the requirements for trailers under the construction and use regs and so all the brakes must work while under tow (which normally needs some extra cabling). See http://www.towtal.co.uk/aframe.asp for some info. Even if it is a trailer, it still won't be completely legal because the brakes must also be "auto reverse", i.e. automatically disengage when the trailer is reversed as do the brakes on a caravan.

If you're towing it on a rope or a rigid bar, it's a car and AFAICT it must be insured but need not be MOT'd if you're taking it to a pre-booked place of repair. However, I'm not sure about the tax situation. Pragmatically, you can't tax it without an MOT and you can't get an MOT until it's repaired. I know that you can drive an untaxed car to and from a pre-arranged MOT test, but I'm not sure about whether that also applies for places of repair.

Of course, the car must be safe to tow!

HTH,

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Will

A couple of years ago I looked at using a towing dolly (the ones that lift the front wheels off the ground) to tow a race car to a track. I found that the towed car still had to be road legal in order to tow in this way.

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Speed camera policy Kills

I could be wrong, but I believe you have to tow it on a full trailer. I cannot for the life of me remember where I read it, but years ago when I had to move a similar 'old beater' we rented a 4 wheel car trailer and took it to the local scrappy!

An easier solution might be to employ the services of a vehicle transporting company who charge by the mile. They are then responsible for providing the legal roadworthiness malarky.

Well, I asked the Police about this a few years ago and they said that one axle had to be off the ground. If that was the case it was perfectly legal.

Maybe the law's changed.

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If I have to explain you won't understand.

Out of interest, I heard somewhere that there are some exceptions for a car's "final journey" ie. to the scrap yard.

Is there any truth in this? I remember an old boss of mine happily drove his uninsured, untaxed, unMOTd Lada to the scrapyard after the company got fed up of it taking up a parking space. I would imagine that you would actually need insurance.

I ask because I need to get rid of an old Passat with a smashed windscreen (drives fine otherwise, if you ignore the lack of an alternator) and don't really want to pay £50 to get it collected.