Did you know that it’s illegal for your towing mirrors to protrude more than 20cm from the edges of your caravan? Or that it is an offence to tow in the outside lane of a motorway or dual carriageway with three or more lanes? Even if you did, you may well have some swotting up to do before you set off on holiday this summer. The fact is, there’s a lot more to the law on using a caravan than observing lower speed limits, and many of these regulations could quickly put an end to your caravan holiday if you got stopped by the police. Some of these laws are complicated or unclear in the printed literature available, so make sure you don’t become a victim of your own ignorance, by reading this plain-English guide to caravanning do’s and don’ts.

DRIVING LICENCE REQUIREMENTS
This is a complex and much-misunderstood issue that has often been incorrectly and misleadingly stated by the general press; even government departments have been known to get it wrong.
There are currently two different sets of rules that govern what you can drive on a Category B car licence without taking an additional test:
Licence gained before 1 January 1997
If you gained your driving licence before 1 January 1997, you will be entitled to drive any vehicle-and- trailer combination up to 8250kg total weight, of which the towing vehicle’s maximum weight must not exceed 7500kg. This right remains while you still have this particular licence, but is removed if it is withdrawn. This means that if you are disqualified or made to re-take the test you will lose the right to drive heavier vehicles without further testing and will revert to the post-1997 rules (see right). For pre-1997 licences that are still current at 70 years of age, there are some extra medical rules if you wish to renew an existing right to drive vehicle and trailer combinations of up to 8250kg maximum weight. To keep this entitlement you must take the D4 medical test, which your doctor will charge you for, and you must be able to pass the existing standard car eyesight test. Unless you satisfy these conditions you will also have to revert to the post-1997 rules. Details can be found on the DVLA website (www.dvla.gov.uk). Look for form INF40, also available from post offices or by telephone (0870 240 0009).
Licence gained after 1 January 1997
If you gained your licence on or after 1 January 1997, then you will be restricted to driving or towing with a car (or light commercial vehicle) with a maximum weight of 3500kg. Note this is not the actual weight as loaded, but the vehicle’s maximum allowable weight, or gross vehicle weight, as set by the manufacturers – you will find this in your car’s handbook.
You can tow a trailer or caravan with this licence, but its maximum weight must not exceed 750kg – giving a total possible maximum outfit weight of 4250kg. If you wish to pull a caravan weighing more than 750kg (in practice, this covers all conventional caravans), you must follow the restriction that the maximum allowed weight of the car-plus-caravan combination weighs no more than 3500kg, and that the caravan’s maximum weight does not exceed 100 percent of the car’s unladen weight (this is not the same as the car’s kerbweight – have a look at the panel on this page for a full explanation).
What makes this rule appear rather odd is that if you wish to tow a trailer that weighs over 750kg, you actually end up with a lower total limit for the car-plus-caravan outfit than you would if you were towing a trailer under 750kg, where the total can be 4250kg.
If you want to exceed any of the above limits, you need to take a further driving test. For post-1997 drivers, a B+E test (E refers to entitlement to tow trailers over 750kg) can be arranged to give you the same rights as the pre-1997 car driver. It is not a hard test for a seasoned caravanner, but a novice would need some instruction. Professional tuition is advisable but not compulsory, though you will need to do a lot of homework on the test details and minimum test vehicle requirements if you do this yourself. Some test details are available to view on the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) website (www.dsa.gov.uk – go to the Learners’ section) and on the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) (www.driving.org, which has a search facility for driving instructors by postcode).
Tests take place at Goods Vehicle Test Centres, but finding an instructor to help you practice may be hard. For advice on finding tuition and on arranging a test, your best bet would be to contact the DSA or DIA.
There are currently European Union (EU) proposals to change the maximum weight of trailers that can be towed by a car licence holder – at least so the regulations are easier to understand – so although existing rights will probably be preserved, future licence entitlements may well be different from those that currently exist. Concerned that any further changes will be a disincentive for young caravanners, the caravan industry in the UK is campaigning for ‘no change’, or at least only a minimal change, but as this article goes to press the outcome is still undecided.

HEALTH AND EYESIGHT
You are required by law to notify the DVLA of any ongoing condition that would affect your ability to drive. If you are in any doubt as to what should be reported, ask your doctor. For example, it is an offence to be driving a car when your eyesight – with glasses if necessary – has fallen below the standard needed to pass a normal driving test. You should have an eye test every two years or so to be sure of this, as eyesight does deteriorate with age.
There are rumours that the EU may strengthen the eyesight law in the future, with a compulsory eyesight test at regular intervals if the driver is over 50 years of age. This is not yet a foregone conclusion, although it does seem likely to gain general UK acceptance as a safety benefit. The old system of a licence until you are 70 with no further checks looks on the way out, and the advent of the photocard licence which has to be renewed every 10 years is probably just the first step.
Some recent research has suggested that several million of the 30 million licensed drivers in UK could fail this simple test. Again, this could put your insurance at risk as well as lead to prosecution.

MAXIMUM SIZE OF CARAVAN
The maximum dimensions of a trailer that can be towed by a car or light commercial vehicle in the UK (neither of which may have a maximum allowable weight over 3500kg) are fixed by law at 7m long (excluding the drawbar) and 2.3m wide (including any fixed body parts such as mudguards). Note that this restriction applies to caravans towed by all types of vehicle within this weight limit, including 4x4s and light trucks, so those 2.5m-wide German caravans you see being towed by Transit-type vans or 4x4s are almost certainly illegal.
This law should also apply to tourists from countries where the width limit is higher (as in Germany), but in practice few are ever prosecuted. If you want to tow a caravan over these size limits, then you must use a towing vehicle that has a maximum allowable weight of more than 3500kg (in practice, a heavy commercial – or goods – vehicle). In that case, the trailer can go right up to 12m long and 2.55m wide.