Is it allowed to tow a vehicle?

During his or her lifetime, a driver has had to break down or have a problem with his or her vehicle, even if only once. But to take it back to a garage for repair or home, you must tow it, since it is immobilized. And if we usually use a towing service; there are those who decide to tow their cars themselves. Is it legal? An analysis of the regulations governing transport shows that this is not prohibited. However, certain conditions must be met to allow this to happen. Which ones?

The conditions relating to the tugboat

Who can tow a vehicle? Certainly, not all 4-wheeled vehicles can tow a car. Certain conditions must be met; if only the possession of an adequate driving licence by the tug is mentioned. Thus, if the vehicle to be towed weighs less than 3.5 tonnes, the driver must have a B permit. However, for heavy goods vehicles, a C permit would be required. In addition, the relevant legislation also specifies that the tractor must be more massive than the towed one, to avoid accidents. Moreover, it is imperative that the tug uses an approved and rigid coupling to ensure that there is no travel.

The criteria for the towed car

But even if the tractor meets all these criteria, no towing action can be performed if the immobilized car does not have a tow bar hitch. Similarly, it is essential that the vehicle has warning lights at the rear. In the event of a defect, the tug must install red light bars and orientation lights to ensure safe traffic flow. Of course, a second driver will be useful to drive the towed car.

The rules to be followed during towing

According to the relevant legislation, towing your own car must not be done over a long distance. If not, it would be better to use a real professional. In addition, when a car is towed by a private individual, a maximum speed of 50 km/h must be respected to avoid possible travel. Not to mention that it is forbidden to tow a broken car on motorways and other highways. This could interfere with traffic flow. Thus, it is better to opt for secondary axes, if any.

What is towing?

Driving should go smoothly, however, for many reasons, it happens on the road that one or more wheels are punctured. Without a spare wheel, you can do nothing even though you learned how to change it in your code of conduct.

Passionate about cars and mechanics, the car maintenance mechanic repairs and carries out routine maintenance on increasingly sophisticated vehicles. The skills necessary to exercise this profession having followed the evolution of new electronic equipment (ABS system, on-board computer, GPS, airbags, air conditioning, alarm…), the mechanic of yesteryear is now replaced by the mechanic car maintenance technician.