SLROC Forum

there is a grey area around smaller vans i drive a fleet van for british gas and we had an issue in fife where one of our engineers was stopped and fined, he argued it was a car derived van, we went to fife police HQ in glenrothes with our fleet manager and spoke to the man in charge of traffic, he explained the "panel van " rule  but couldnt define a panel van vs car derived to an exact point, it ended with kangoo/berlingo/caddy as car derived and transit /vivaro as panel vans, which in my mind was clear, the one that caused the stink was ford transit connect which was really inbetween, the company has now decided the whole fleet has to be treated as panel vans and use the lower limits, our entire fleet now has limiters,
as for crew cabs etc its something to do with weight limits like the mot, my 110 van side states 2895kgs or similar but some say 3500kgs making them class seven

i will throw some water on the fat
once going down to england with the caravan( over 70 mph)i was passed with a dodge ram also towing a caravan must have been doing 90 at least    and comming back home passed an escort towing a caravan up shap only to be passed by him going down the other side never seen him again
now despite the fact that i was over the speed limit  the dodge was a crew cab and well over the limit as to an escort towing and going at more than 70 

Piper, one of my pals had a transit connect, and she was told that they came under the catagory of panel van so she fell under the speed restriction.
It is a grey area though, and an awfull lot of van drivers especially delivery drivers dont know the meaning of a speed limit!!!! Found this out when the Goddess got smashed into by a speeding delivery driver. 
Same applies to towing laws. When i go to dog shows, ive seen mainly panel vans,full of dogs,towing ridiculously big caravans, overtaking me on the dual carriageways!! Crazy!! 

A car derived van would be an Vauxhall Astra van, or a Ford Escort van. Anything other type of van has a different speed limit.

So is there a difference between a defender county and a hardtop.......................??

So is there a difference between a defender county and a hardtop.......................??

Taxation class - I think a County is PLG whereas a van (and double cab) is LGV (cheaper tax but slower speed limit).  This is due to max payload.

Some speed cameras have mass sensors.  A van without a trailer can pass a camera over the vehicle weight speed limit but under the road speed limit and not get flashed - however do the same speed with a trailer on (as if you would) and you'll get flashed. . . go on, ask me how I know. . . 

Probably an urban myth, but the speed cameras introduced in Sweden lasted less than three weeks. 60% of Swedish males own a hunting rifle. 

the m9 at stirling has a weigh bridge on the road     at the time of fitting (it was a north american indian that was in charge) there biggest sales was to replace the weigh bridge control panels (stainless steel box at the side of the road) that the american truckers had shot to pieces

did he bring you a special set of wheels back if he was up the a9 colin?

Richard,not even close to the mark! try again.

Thought i would have a nose :

Clarification of national speed limits for vans at :
  http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/speedmanagement/vanspeedlimits.html

Caravans, trailers and commercial vehicles at :
  http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/CaravansTrailersCommercialVehicles/index.htm

I didn't realise that 'if banned' you lose your towing licence.

Jules

Welcome to the forum.

 'If banned you loose your Driving licence
& hence also your trailer towing licence'.
 Untill your ban is up.

What do you mean,
 have you seen someplace that the penalty a court imposes would go further than a ban,
& when you get your licence back you loose your Granddad rights to towing?
Cant see that being upheld in any court or higher court, that imposes to great a penalty on some that the same ban would not
impose on others.
Such as one person can not drive,
another person can not drive & after the ban can not do part of their job.

Can you point out where you see the extra penalty of no longer being able to tow, (untill you take and pass a trailer test)
i can not find it on your links,
or am i just missing it?

george

Sorry,
see it now in black and white, but am finding it hard to believe.
http://www.a-tconsulting.co.uk/caravan_tech/towing_and_the_law.html

'if you lose your licence through disqualification, then on its return you will be treated as though you gained it post 1st Jan 1997.'

That is some big wake up call,
need to check that that has been actually legally introduced & can be imposed.
cheers
george

yes that is some wake up call
american caravans and fifth wheel towable caravans   were to wide for the legislation allso some european makes were over the width limit i read or heard somewhare that this was changing  BUT ACCORDING TO THE CARAVAN BLURB IT IHAS NOT?

Have a look at this
 http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/law/dimensions.aspx
hopefully it will help to clarify the legal situation regarding towing.

Cheers

Neil

thanks for that    i knew i had not been imaginning it         the bit that george quoted is out of date     on the width