Towing Mirrors

[gillberry]

We have a classic Cheltenham Nyala and Cheltenhams were designed so that you can see thru them with your rear view mirror while driving . Now this is really beneficial but while at the annual rally last week I found I was the only one with towing mirrors as all the other older owners stated that as rear view was not restricted you don't need towing mirrors . Does anyone know the law well enough to confirm this ?
In the mean time I will carry on using towing mirrors .

[Dav]

There is no requirement in law other than:-
A car towing a caravan, if first used on or after 1 June 1978 and before 26 January 2010 (ie the majority of cars in use now) must have:
a) at least one exterior mirror fitted on the offside of the vehicle: and
b) at least one interior mirror, unless a mirror so fitted would give the driver no view to the rear of the vehicle; and
c) at least one exterior mirror fitted on the nearside of the vehicle unless an interior mirror gives the driver an adequate view to the rear.
These mirrors must comply with the requirements in EC Directives 71/127, 79/795, 86/562 or 88/321 or ECE Regulation 46.01. That is, they must comply with the old/existing requirements for mirrors, unless they already comply with EC Directives 2003/97 or 2005/27 which are not yet obligatory for cars. Future situations: A car towing a caravan, first used on or after 26 January 2010, comes under item 9 of the table in The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) (Amendment) (No 4) Regulations 2005 and as such must have mirrors complying with Directives 2003/97 and 2005/27; that is, the mirrors must show the new e-mark as set out in this new legislation. Members wishing to confirm the compliance of a specific mirror with this legislation are advised to seek advice from the mirror manufacturer, distributor or retailer.

This information is from the caravan club technical leaflets.

Hope this helps. Dave

[gillberry]

Hi thanks for the reply but having looked on the web for info it all seems vague as regards our caravan , point c you make well our caravan was designed with a good thru vision which I have to say I use unless I need to pull out or check whats on my nearside . As I said I will caryy on using towing mirrors becuase I enjoy having a greater feild of vision , I just wondered how the law stood .

[Derek UK]

I suspect that most, if not all, of the people you met who don't have extended mirrors, also have much wider tow cars. Means they can still use their door mirrors properly. The Amazon is surprisingly narrow by modern standards. Drive up behind a combi and you'll see what I mean. You may be able to see "something" through the caravan but the view won't be ideal. The Amazon interior mirror is tiny so you might find adding a clip on panorama one to it helps a lot. Use what you feel safe with. I'd rather see too much than too little.

[eldrichard2005]

Hi There has been recent changes in Mirrors they need to be fitted if you can not see the rear of the van by law

And mirrors need to have a (E) stamp on them

I have Milenco ones with the E stamp on my 02 v70 and there great
I toew a Eccles mooontsone2007 and thats 7ft 2" wide
Cheers

Ritchie