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Its not law, but you must have a clear veiw of the road behind you.

Coming up the A1 on sunday i think only 50% had towing mirrors, some towing with estates with no chance of seeing behind them!

I dont use mirrors, but i can see though the van, and down both sides, cos my cars mirrors are wider than the van anyway

hi see

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/search.asp?search=mirrors&searchMode=allwords&searchIn=Topic&forum=8&searchSort=dateDESC&Submit=Start+Search

The law as said above just says that you should have a clear view, I have started to tow our van and I feel more Comfortable with a mirror on the drivers side, so I bought a suck it and see mirror, which is great.

Better feeling safe than being sorry.

Shirley

i spoke with a traffic officer regarding this and his reply was that you must have a clear view down the n/s of the caravan.

which would mean that if you dont have a wider mirror on the n/s you are breaking the law.

hope it helps

We have been having the same debate as we are off on holidays with sister & brother in law who say it is not law to have towing mirrors but we have seen notice stating different, and I quote pge 191 of Towsure Brochure "UK LAW When towing, offside mirror must be fitted with a towing mirror"

Therefore they are also going to use towing mirrors, although they can see clearly either side....

I was away at the weekend and was quite shocked to see how many caravanners were breaking the law by fitting only 1 towing mirror or no towing mirrors. I think its true to say it seems you are unlikley to be prosecuted for this in the UK but countless UK Caravanners have been given spot fines in France where the French police view this very seriously.

I am certian JT will ensure the statement in the towsure catalogue is corrected for 2007 where there is also new leglislation.

Please see cut and paste previous post below :-

Perhaps I can help. We have worked with the Department of Transport on clarification of this issue in the past.

The requirement to have a mirror fitted to give the driver a view to the rear is contained in Regulation 33 (7) Construction and Use.

Simply if a driver does not have a view to the rear because he is towing a caravan which is wider than his car then he must have mirrors fitted to give him adequate view of the outfit.

Car manufacturers only type approve the mirrors on the car to give you a view the rear of your car (Regulation 33 (7)).

They are not Type Approved to give you a view of anything wider than your car therefore, If your caravan is wider than your car it is a legal requirement in order to comply with Regulation 33 that you fit additional mirrors.

Regulation 33 (4) (c) allows him to fit an additional mirror providing that mirror does not project more than 20cm beyond the overall width of the caravan.

In the case of all cars sold after 26/01/2007 or cars with mirrors complying with Directive 2003/97 or 2005/27 this distance is 25cm.

We have not heard of the Police enforcing this in the UK but certainly in France, the French Police do so.

I hope this helps.

Nigel Milbank

Milenco Limited

01908 220102

Buy a mirror ya cheapskate!!!!

It costs a few quid, but it will save you big time on repairing your caravan scrapes and dings, and the court costs from running someone down or hitting their van/car/gates etc.

On the road you really need to be able to see down the sides of the van, not only for length of vehicle for tucking in when overtaking, but also to see where your caravan wheels are when turning or manouevring.

How can anyone function in their van without proper mirrors!!??!