I don't know if it has to be the road lights on the caravan or if alternative ones could be used. I can still remember, when cars had to have parking lights when left on the road at night, one could buy small plug in lights that fastened to side window and showed red rearwards and white forwards,I've not seen them for years!! (I was very young when I saw them!! LOL)
As I said above with my homemade lead which connects the caravan battery to the caravan's road lights I keep the 'van hooked up to a mains socket in our adjacent garage. I don't imagine it would flatten the caravan battery even if it were not connected up to the hookup though I'm not absolutely sure about that. Even if it did flatten the 'van battery one could still re-charge it one has a ehu on the sites one uses.
In the days before it became legal to leave an unlit car on a street-lit road it was quite common to use a low-wattage bulb (with clear and red lenses) in a holder held in place by the closed window, wired to a lighter plug or other connection.
Regretably, I can't imagine Velcroed lights remaining on a caravan for very long!
I don't think there's any objection to LED lights as long as they comply with relevant EU standards and are positioned in accordance with Contruction and Use guidelines, and imagine most new caravans now would have them fitted as original equipment.
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It was my understanding as stated above you cannot leave the caravan on a road at night as it doesnt have the same exemption given to a car. But if it is hitched to the car the whole outfit becomes one vehicle, there for being exempt?
If you did make up a patch lead as discribed to keep the side lights on for one night would it matter much as it will recharge as you travel to site the next day.
If this is a regular occurrence, it would be pretty simple to wire up a switch inside the van using the leisure battery to power the side lights. It wouldnt take a lot to rig up a flasher unit for the hazards so if the van had to be left solo on a road, like above in spain.
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Quote: Originally posted by floggitt on 08/12/2009
It was my understanding as stated above you cannot leave the caravan on a road at night as it doesnt have the same exemption given to a car. But if it is hitched to the car the whole outfit becomes one vehicle, there for being exempt?
This is of course correct, but being a pragmatic sort I would suggest that you could leave your caravan outside your house on the road with impunity. Yes you may commit a parking violation but then if nobody is inconvenienced and nobody reports the offence to the relevant authority there is no penalty to pay. How often do you see a police car or a parking warden down your cul de sac? If the answer to that question is the same as mine it will be never so there is no problem with leaving the van there as long as your neighbours are not going to complain.
The same thing applies to houses that have covenants about keeping a caravan on the premises, in any instance the only thing the covenant holder can do is to ask you to remove your van and you were going to do that any way, so each time you need it outside just park it there overnight and move it the next day and there is nothing they can do.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013