Plans To Scrap Trailer Towing Test Raise Safety Concerns
Proposed government plans to scrap the trailer towing test have led to safety concerns among road safety charities…
Scrapping the Trailer Towing Test?
Road charities fear that government proposals to scrap the trailer towing test could lead to an increasing number of road collisions. The proposal was included in the DVSA’s ongoing public consultation, which aims to speed up the licensing process; not to mention speeding up the process of getting HGV drivers on the road. However, road charity IAM RoadSmart has stressed that the HGV driver shortage shouldn’t lead to compromises on safety.
As it stands, people who passed their driving test after January 1st 1997 are able to drive a vehicle weighing up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM) and towing a trailer of up to 750kg. The DVSA believes that scrapping additional testing could free up the time of examiners; many of whom are struggling with rising demand brought about by an increasing number of so-called ‘staycations’. The DVSA claims that it’d always recommend additional testing, but that it wouldn’t necessarily need to be mandatory for drivers.
The Importance of Training
According to IAM RoadSmart, scrapping the mandatory nature of trailer testing would simply lead to fewer people taking the specific training. In particular, this could lead to a lack of knowledge in terms of how to handle emergency situations.
Neil Greig, speaking for the charity, explained “if a test is no longer a requirement, this raises some serious safety concerns. Especially at this busy holiday time. We are very concerned the decision will exacerbate an existing safety situation as currently, as per DVSA’s own safety checks, up to one in six caravans they stopped had a serious safety issue, while four in 10 small trailers were also found with serious safety issues”.
He continued, “many of these could have been avoided by better training and awareness of towing safety best practice. The DSA had a clear safety reason for introducing the test in 1997, and these reasons are still valid. People need proper training to be able to drive an articulated vehicle, particularly when they are doing so for the first time”.
Motorway Myths: Separating The Fact From The Fiction – https://autoserveclub.co.uk/blog/motorway-myths-separating-the-fact-from-the-fiction/
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