A Frames in Spain (1 Viewer)

slobadoberbob

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can a HYMER tow a car Jim?

Absolutely not fishing. I've never been convinced they are illegal. Just a super way to tow.

If I wanted an A Frame I'd buy one from the states where the A is reversed, the ball is on the car and when not in use the whole A just folds up and remains securely attached behind the motorhome. :thumb:

Can a HYMER tow a car Jim? or will the back fall off? :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: I agree Yanks can do it with no issues as they have serious towing gear.. if not wrong 5,000 lbs is the minimum fitted .i.e a Reece... but I doubt many European motorhomes (not I did not say eurobox or ice-cream vans) can actually tow the weight safely of a car.

Bob:Blush: p.s so where are you now on your travels?
 

peter marshall

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Hi Jim
Yes we saw them , they will never learn, people her in La Manga are still useing them and others say they will still buy them, the mind boggles, Pete :Doh::Doh:
 
Jul 29, 2007
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Just because one country in 50 in Europe think they are illegal does not make them so. i have no need for a car, if i did, it would be an A frame for sure. All that messing with trailers, what a pain. A frames; Legal and cool:thumb:

Isn't it the case that their not legal in the UK but not illegal either. :Smile:

This post by Brian Kirby summed it up for me.

What the DfT said is that when towed on an A-frame a car could be considered a trailer, not that it becomes a trailer. That was not a legal judgement, it was the opinion of a civil servant. It is of relevance in UK only, because the person concerned is a British civil servant, with no jurisdiction whatever outside the UK. It is a get-around, a fiddle, a somewhat specious argument, to make using an A-frame on UK roads arguably permissible, based on the practice not being banned under current UK legislation. However, this concerns only towing, not the vehicles themselves, or the means by which they are towed.

To prove his opinion one way or other, there will have to be specific UK legislation, or a court case that would establish a comon law precedent. However, even the latter would not be conclusive, because the decision could be reversed by another case, or on appeal, unless and until appealed to the Law Lords for determination. Somehow, I think Hell will freeze first!

When we come to France or Spain his opinion becomes totally irrelevant because, apart from its being based on a liberal interpretation of UK law, it cannot supplant French or Spanish laws that actually ban one vehicle (meaning vehicle as defined under either Spanish, or French, law - not as defined in Wikipedia ) from towing another.


Ian
 
Feb 22, 2008
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There were several with toads on a frames on the Santander ferry when we came over a month ago, many motorhomers may not read this forum and others will just take their chances with the Spanish police :Smile:

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slobadoberbob

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Larry that is often the case

There were several with toads on a frames on the Santander ferry when we came over a month ago, many motorhomers may not read this forum and others will just take their chances with the Spanish police :Smile:

As I see it Larry it is often the case that people just do not know, or they ignore the law of the country they visit.. hoping they will not be stopped and fined. It always amazes me that people in general do not research anything about the destination, the customs or the local laws or even national laws.

They own for the better part expensive motorhomes or RV's and I like to protect my investment.. that means I do not give anyone the chance to impound it because I could not be bothered to check.

Bob
 
Feb 22, 2008
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As I see it Larry it is often the case that people just do not know, or they ignore the law of the country they visit.. hoping they will not be stopped and fined. It always amazes me that people in general do not research anything about the destination, the customs or the local laws or even national laws.

They own for the better part expensive motorhomes or RV's and I like to protect my investment.. that means I do not give anyone the chance to impound it because I could not be bothered to check.

Bob

When I drive in another country I always check the laws with regard to driving as far as I can but these are often extensive and varied and a great deal is much the same as ours although in all cases there is a need to apply common sense.
As far as common law in other countries when travelling I think it would be impossible to understand and remember all. You can only behave in a manner that you consider to be correct.

Larry
 

patyogi

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Feb 8, 2012
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Coincidence

Maybe it is, but we have been in Cartagena for about 4 months, on and off. We have seen a lot of m/homes and cars pulled over on the old favorite spot, a gloretta 'r/about' guess what, all with GB plates.
We spoke to one of the detainee's, they were stopped for over 45 mins, recognized him as he pulled in near the bar we were sat at. Being as nosey as usual I went over and asked what he was pulled for.
He replied they (Old Bill) wanted all of his docs. and they emphasized not copies, then asked how long he had been in Spain and when he was due too return.

I wonder if tourists are now the euro fine gunfodder, if so are not the Spanish going to shoot themselves in the foot. With the amount of foreign m/home drivers in the country at the mo they must be making a fortune, we all need food, diesel, booze, fags, don't we?
We must contribute a goodly bit towards the economy.

We have decided for the next couple of years we will do the rest of Europe, Germany, France, Italy and maybe Greece again.
I'm afraid we are Spained out!

Maybe it's because I drive a left hooker, on first spotting us in a line of vehicles they usually look away, touch wood, got all the docs. but don't need a shifty 40 minute interview.

Travel safe, be streetwise and don't take too much notice of terrible road stories, most are urban myths.:thumb:

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John & Joan

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We have decided for the next couple of years we will do the rest of Europe, Germany, France, Italy and maybe Greece again.
I'm afraid we are Spained out!

Maybe it's because I drive a left hooker, on first spotting us in a line of vehicles they usually look away, touch wood, got all the docs. but don't need a shifty 40 minute interview.

We thought the same and decided to try the south of France instead. However due to a breakdown of our Gasparini that needed to be dealt with at the factory we decided to go to Italy via the long way through France then along the Med to Itally.

We set off mid January and as we went further south it got colder and colder. From Buchy down all the Aires were frozen. At Narbonne Plage it was bitterly cold and very windy. We got snow all the way across to Italy and it got to be 2ft deep by Bologna.

We got back to Narbonne and it was colder. We had planned to continue south to Cartegena. However, We thought that our leisure batteries had failed, so decided to cut the trip short and return to the UK. This was after we had to replace starter battery and alternator regulater in Italy. We got to Calais on Friday 10th Feb and after 2 nights on a CL near Birmingham on hookup when the batteries were tested today they were fine. All that our various problems could be put down to, was the extreme cold.

We thought it would be nice in the south of France but at minus 11c at night and minus 6c during the best days we decided that France and Italy are definitely out for us and southern Spain is the way to go. We do have a car on a trailer on tow behind our S700 Hymer normally, but left it behind this trip. We have never had to pay for two sites as the MH and Trailer fit OK even with a Safari Room.

We are now square wheeled for a while on a CL having covered over 4000 miles in 6 weeks all of it wilding or on Aires.

John
 
Apr 7, 2008
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Just follow the rules and all will be well.

We have a Eura Mobil Contura 705 on a Merc 316 Sprintshift and tow a Smart Car on a Bantam Trailer.
We see plenty of people who are 'A Framing' stopped at the side of the road after being stopped by the police when we are on our travels through Spain and France. We all know what to expect if the police stop us, a good bollocking, a fine or even worse the police confiscate the A Frame leaving some folks in a bit of a mess. It beggars belief that people still think it's OK to use an A Frame. It's not. I don't have a great deal of time for the moaning and groaning that continues about this subject, lets get everyones brain into gear and scrap the A Frame.
Although sometimes it is a bit of a pain strapping the car to the trailer the thing is we're legal. The tyres on the car are off the road and we still achieve 25mpg.
 

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