Car Trailer and Caravan mot's

[Rednop1]

Anybody else heard anything about car trailer and caravan mot's being introduced from Jan 19

Cutting a very long story short I met somebody that heavily involved with Dvsa and the Police and he told that me that they were introducing mot's for caravan and car trailer from Jan 2019

Which in my eyes wouldn't be a bad thing it would help removed a lot of the home built trailers some of which are very dangerous and some of the 10-15 year old trailers and caravans that have never had their brakes serviced from new but could this also be away of also catching people that are not driving with the correct licences?

He said the test was going to be around £40 

anybody else heard anything?

[BenD]

like you say it wouldnt be a bad thing. some of the trailers ive seen knocking around are terrible

[neptune]

Not sure how they would manage any form of traceability on this to link an mot to a specific trailer. 

[Kevin Pullen]

Not saying it’s not a reasonable idea but the subject of MOTs for caravans and trailers has been discussed by MPs on and off for years normally through private members bills. Before MOTs can be ordered, there's got to be a registration scheme for them. That would take a lot of organizing.  And nothing on DVLA website at all

 

https://www.gov.uk/annual-test-for-lorries-buses-and-trailers

[XTR2Turbo]

I can't see this being workable. Most MOT stations would need huge investment to accommodate trailers.  Special lifts, different brake testers to accommodate close coupled trailer axles etc.

Most don't seem to even have space to pull in and turn around with a trailer

 

[Kevin Wood]

1 minute ago, XTR2Turbo said:

I can't see this being workable. Most MOT stations would need huge investment to accommodate trailers.  Special lifts, different brake testers to accommodate close coupled trailer axles etc.

Most don't seem to even have space to pull in and turn around with a trailer

 

Yep, I wonder how they'd cope with my glider trailer that's about 9m long, and has a load that's pretty vulnerable once it's removed unless it's actually flying?

IMHO, unroadworthy trailers, whilst causing the odd spectacular incident, are a drop in the ocean compared with unroadworthy / uninsured / untaxed cars. The latter are all registered, too, so "easy" to track, in theory.

[maurici]

In Spain, any caravan/trailer that has a mma over 750kg, needs an MOT, a Registation number displayed along the towing car one, be registered in the "trafic athority" and has its own insurance.

From my understanding, that is how it works in most of Europe... and from what I know, if you tow your trailer/caravan in spain without the above, you can be charged with an AMAZING fine... so... be carefull when going to camp to spain!!

[jeff oakley]

The article below was raised after the EU proposed mot for all towed vehicles, but it did not get passed. The complexity of  this is of such a magnitude it will not happen.

Every vehicle would need to have a registration document, so every horse box, boat trailer, camping trailer, box trailer and mammoth task and the amount of accidents that are casued by them is insignificant.

I know the police and the DSVA have had a purge before pulling trailers over and giving them a roadside test, which has pulled badly made ones off the road. Common problems they find are as follows, 

Overloaded, this is not just the trailer but the total kerbweight of the unit.

Poor tyres

lack of brakes

No weight signs on the trailer

Incorrect lighting and reflectors

Lights not working

Number plates not matching

Poor condition of mud guards etc.

They can issue a notice to stop you moving if the defects are enough. A couple of years ago they set up near a local race track and pulled over a lot of trailers many of which had faults.

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/whats-on/caravan-club-news/no-mots-for-caravans-and-light-trailers/index/

[JulianE]

In the past the police have issued defect notices on trailers so they have to be checked at an MOT station , nuts really when test centres are not set up for them as above ,  luckily being familiar with them doesn't cause my work an issue and as we service trailers too that helps . But it would cause most MOT centres a problem . 

It will be interesting to see what happens in Europe in the future with regards this and undoubtedly we will follow what they do , the same as we have done with the new MOT this year .

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

21 hours ago, maurici said:

In Spain, any caravan/trailer that has a mma over 750kg, needs an MOT, a Registation number displayed along the towing car one, be registered in the "trafic athority" and has its own insurance.

From my understanding, that is how it works in most of Europe... and from what I know, if you tow your trailer/caravan in spain without the above, you can be charged with an AMAZING fine... so... be carefull when going to camp to spain!!

Really? thats the first time i've heard that.

Many thousands of Brits (myself included) tow abroad every year, and i've never seen that rule published in any guides.