First the good news. If you passed your car (category B) licence before 1st Jan 1997 you 'inherited' the ability to drive vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes and to tow trailers.

And now the bad. If you passed your test after this date then you are restricted to vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and the trailers you can tow are very limited unless you pass what is commonly called the 'trailer test' but more accurately known as "B+E".

Safedrive Fleet & Instructor Training provide trailer training within a 30 mile radius of Chesterfield, Derby, Manchester, Stockport and Sheffield. Even if you don't use us for the training we are happy to answer your questions - we put safety before profit.

There is much smoke and mirrors talked about what you can and cannot legally tow and many of the people who ask us for help have already been told several conflicting versions. It is hardly surprising then that so many people continue to drive and tow trailers which they simply are not licensed for. Remember no licence = no insurance so there's at least 6 points and possibly a  ban. That old saying "Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law" certainly holds true here.

Our trailer specialist is a DSA ADI, Fleet driver trainer registered, HGV1, PSV and a qualified transport manager for both freight and passenger. We think we know our stuff.

To use our FREE 'Can I legally tow it' e-mail enquiry service please use the 'Contact Us' button.

You'll be pleased to know that in response to this Safedrive Fleet & Instructor Training have produced a 12 page booklet explaining this subject in layman's terms in keeping with the Safedrive ethos it is of course FREE - please use the 'Contact Us' button to request a copy. Once you know for sure whether you need to take the trailer (B+E) test you can decide what training you need.

We would of course recommend that if you are going to start towing regardless of whether you need to take the test  you should get some training. We would of course recommend that you use us for that training, but perhaps we are biased.

Like everything we do at Safedrive our courses are individual so if you'd like to know more about the courses we can provide, from familiarisation sessions through to test and beyond just call or e-mail.

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