Wednesday 27 July 2016

B+E Car and Trailer Licence- Do I need it?

'You are supposed to do another test for you to tow a trailer? Really?'

'I don't need a trailer licence as I am over 40'

'It is only a small trailer, so what does it matter?'

These are a few of the comments that regularly come up when people talk to me about getting the category B+E on their drivers licence. So in this post I am hoping to clear up a few of the confusions, myths and wishful thoughts that may or may not be wrong with regard with one's right to pull a trailer.

First off, and this is the key one, you are not required to take a Trailer Test if you passed your normal driving test before the 1st of January 1997. So good news if you did, bad news if you didn't. If you are unsure when you passed your test, you can find out your pass date on the back of your plastic driver's licence.

So what does the B+E category entitle you to drive/pull? Officially it entitles to drive any vehicle up to a Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) of 3.5 tonnes (so a large transit van, for example) with a trailer that exceeds a 750kg MAM. You can tow a trailer with a lower MAM than 750kg on your regular car licence.

An issued that sometimes will come up here is that people assume that if the combination of the car and the trailer is less than 3.5 tonnes MAM then they can drive without a Trailer Licence. THIS IS FALSE! And just to repeat myself, if you want to tow anything over 750kg you will need the B+E entitlement.

The test itself is relatively straight forward, with a 45 minute drive, a reversing manoeuvre and a demonstration to show that you can couple and uncouple the trailer safely. If you require any more information then please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.