- Thread starter rcx132
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zzr1200
Working at 650 ft on open steel work.
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RCX, what would make it illegal?
Normally the steering wheel would be strapped in the straight ahead position, but most cars steering column locks in the ahead position, not recommended to rely on the steering lock but possible.
If the car is in gear the recovery driver will soon feel it, a rear end lift is not usual depends on the cars condition/damage.
I can't see why the vehicle couldn't be legal here, there's plenty of American commercial recovery trucks in England, it has English vehicle registration plate numbers.
PS. The only thing l can see that is illegal, is the towed vehicle is not strapped to the
tow truck and there's no towing board fitted, but that the drivers fault not the tow vehicles.
Normally the steering wheel would be strapped in the straight ahead position, but most cars steering column locks in the ahead position, not recommended to rely on the steering lock but possible.
If the car is in gear the recovery driver will soon feel it, a rear end lift is not usual depends on the cars condition/damage.
I can't see why the vehicle couldn't be legal here, there's plenty of American commercial recovery trucks in England, it has English vehicle registration plate numbers.
PS. The only thing l can see that is illegal, is the towed vehicle is not strapped to the
tow truck and there's no towing board fitted, but that the drivers fault not the tow vehicles.
rcx132
Philip
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A few reasons I'd think it's illegal. It's easy to cause damage if the car is in gear. You just don't know the status of the car, what if it has a transmission brake and you're pulling against the brakes, overheating them and causing microfractures. Plus our towing laws are pretty strict and the car is still on the ground. And videos of similar trucks show that the car being towed often slips off.
eLuSiVeMiTe
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Done properly.
Few vids ahead of the link posted originally.
The point here is it's a REPO truck and their aim is to get the vehicle moved/recovered quickly they would then do the other bits once they'd got the vehicle off the driveway. That video was only done for the purpose of demonstration, I doubt anyone would be repossessing a 56 plate Astra van, must be worth all of £500 from a repo point of view
Screwdriver
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In America, I should think the need for speed is more about trying to avoid a gunfight...
slim_boy_fat
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zzr1200
Working at 650 ft on open steel work.
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- Location
- Glapwell, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK
You can/could tell generally if the car is in gear by the way it rolled when towing, or by looking to see if the manual gearlever is in neutral or an auto in park.
Pulling against the brakes:- transmission brakes are usually only on 4x4's plus you also have to allow for limited slip centre diffs, so are generally a flatbed recovery unit. If the brakes were damaged by towing that would be a civil matter for the vehicle owners to take up with the tow truck owners, IMO. Unless by having a handbrake applied it cause another accident, which the cause could be directly connected to the handbrake being applied.
The recovery unit shown in the video is a purpose built recovery suspended tow unit not an imposed load (5th wheel or tow ball) and as such does not have to comply with the law covering general towing law of car type vehicles, because it is a commercial style recovery truck.
Also l believe purpose built/desgined recovery vehicles are exempt from MOT, Tacho regs and standard weight limits but must be able to show they are designed for the weights towed.
Last edited:
rcx132
Philip
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It was this video that made me think there's legal issues, skip straight to 3:07, you can see the car is being pulled against it's transmission, and then falls off the rig. There's a whole string of video of this same tow company and the cars keep falling off and they don't care:
zzr1200
Working at 650 ft on open steel work.
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The video you connected to doesn't appear to have been filmed in the UK, none of the rear number plates are yellow...
Plus the first possibly illegal thing might have been the driver parking the vehicle on private land.
colnerov
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Hi, There's nothing wrong with the trucks, it's the way they have been demonstrated in the video's. In the States they are used for repossession and towaway work where the aim is to quickly pick the vehicle up and remove it away from the property and then secure the vehicle to the spec frame. If they need to they can put the other axle onto dolly's and then they are good to go.
Colin
Colin
mcostello
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A good driver over here does not hardly stop the process when grabbing the vehicle. Slam on the brakes while shifting the lever to move the lock bars, hit the gas and gone. Took ages longer to type this than get the grab.
