No micks I am not stupid at all. As I already said when I last towed I had a car. I did use towing mirrors but did actually find I got a better view from the car mirror. I am now planning to tow with a much wider van. I knew the rules were something to do with the width of the vehicle so wasn't sure if this wider vehicle would need towing mirrors, hence me asking BEFORE I buy and tow the vehicle. Sorry I wasn't actually born with the expert knowledge you have obviously had since birth and didn't have to learn. But in my view doing research and asking questions before I tow with this vehicle is a sign of intelligence, not asking questions, going out and just towing without trying to acquire knowledge would be stupidity.
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It seems this is what you must aim to achieve, to comply with the law:
If the towing vehicle is wider than the caravan, one would assume that the blind spot area would be eliminated.
But would a standard door mirror give that 4m wide vision 20m back? Are towing mirrors more convex? With large vehicle mirrors (As seen on large vans etc), would those larger (4" diameter?) round convex blind spot mirrors suffice?
I guess plod won't be the least bit interested until there's an accident. I bet they then don't take long to jump in the drivers seat whilst a colleague gets the tape measure out!!
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miss baritone instead of going off on one ,the simple answer to your question is yes you will need mirrors simply to comply with the law .
whether you need them or use them is irrelevant .unless you want a fine and points get them
The op has their simple answer from a couple of posts. To recap. If your caravan body is wider than your tow vehicle body then you need towing mirrors... & a tape measure of course.
Quote: Originally posted by LlaniDavis on 10/7/2017
Quote: Originally posted by Andy Higham on 10/7/2017
I use a rear view camera on the caravan with a 4" screen stuck to the windscreen. It means I can also see what's directly behind me
Not legal.
The Law does not recognise a rear view camera as a required method to see behind you, plus it is illegal to have a screen visible to the driver operating whilst you are in forward motion.
I fitted the camera so the area behind the caravan is visible to me, it is in effect doing the same job as the rear view mirror on the windscreen.
The only screens that are illegal to be visible are "entertainment" screens, TV DVD etc. or are you saying sat nav, radio display, LCD dashboards etc are illegal
Quote: Originally posted by the black fox on 11/7/2017
miss baritone instead of going off on one ,the simple answer to your question is yes you will need mirrors simply to comply with the law .
whether you need them or use them is irrelevant .unless you want a fine and points get them
If someone calls me stupid when I am asking questions to gain knowledge I don't already have, before I go ahead and tow then I am perfectly entitled to go off on one as you put it.
I did find out the answer quite soon after I posted. I was given a link which showed me the information I needed. I said thank you and was happy with that. There is no need for anyone to make nasty comments because I didn't have knowledge before I posted.
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Lots of people fit their towing mirrors incorrectly.
When towing - the extra mirrors should be used to look directly backwards. This eliminates any blind spots. The car mirrors should then be set at a wider angle so you can see the rest of the road.
(And when overtaking - the headlights of the wagons - most lorry drivers will flash their lights when you are past)
As far as I know their is no specific requirement to use towing mirrors when towing. What there is a specific field of view that you are required to have and this is as illustrated in Muckers1884 post. Normally the only way to achieve this is with additional mirrors. It might be the combination of a Vivario van and a small van you might not need one. However I would still be inclined to fit them simply because having them gives the police one less reason to pull you over for a check.
For the record with my car van combination I fit them and use them because I can see better with them than without them
Quote: Originally posted by miss baritone on 12/7/2017
Quote:
If someone calls me stupid when I am asking questions to gain knowledge I don't already have, before I go ahead and tow then I am perfectly entitled to go off on one as you put it.
I did find out the answer quite soon after I posted. I was given a link which showed me the information I needed. I said thank you and was happy with that. There is no need for anyone to make nasty comments because I didn't have knowledge before I posted.
I wouldn't be too concerned by some of the answers as it was actually a very good question and yes virtually everyone needs towing mirrors, however you will see plenty of numpties who don't use them but should.
Quote: Originally posted by DarrenElbrow on 14/7/2017
You can actually be fined for having towing mirrors when not required as the overall width of the vehicle will be too wide
Not sure that information is correct. Would a car fitted with towing mirrors be wider than a truck or a bus?