A Frames are now approved in France? (1 Viewer)

J&S

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Hi I have just been told by the owner/trader of TowBars 2 TowCars Near Grimsby that since the A Frames he sells are marked as CE approved I can (as a visitor, not a resident in France or Germany) tow a my car in those countries for up to 6 Months.

He said the CE directive (not EU laws) allows travellers from one country to drive/use any vehicles/trailers & A Frames which are legally on the road in their own country for up to 6 months in any other country that has signed up to the CE directive.

He did add that since Spain had not signed up to the CE directive that I could not use it in over there.

He also commented that EU law is not the controlling thing with respect to A Frames, its the CE directive that matters...

Is he breaking British law saying things that are not true to prospective buyers of his A Frames ?????
 

GJH

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I don't pretend to understand the legislation involved and how it differs in different countries. However, perhaps one way to be certain is to ask the owner of the company if he will indemnify you against the results of any prosecution for using his product :)

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DuxDeluxe

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Hi I have just been told by the owner/trader of TowBars 2 TowCars Near Grimsby that since the A Frames he sells are marked as CE approved I can (as a visitor, not a resident in France or Germany) tow a my car in those countries for up to 6 Months.

He said the CE directive (not EU laws) allows travellers from one country to drive/use any vehicles/trailers & A Frames which are legally on the road in their own country for up to 6 months in any other country that has signed up to the CE directive.

He did add that since Spain had not signed up to the CE directive that I could not use it in over there.

He also commented that EU law is not the controlling thing with respect to A Frames, its the CE directive that matters...

Is he breaking British law saying things that are not true to prospective buyers of his A Frames ?????
Try telling that to "les Flics" when they pull you over and march to off to the cash machine to pay the fine....
 

big map

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propercorn_sweet_salt_tvk.jpg


Here you go Alan and this one is suitable for vegans (y)

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Feb 27, 2011
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I am with @GJH on this one. The EU can over ride certain laws but not all. Get some kind of indemnity off him or don't risk it.

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D

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I wonder how long it took him to come up with that one.

I love the sales pitches these guys come up with :rofl:

The CE mark is nothing more than the European equivalent of the old BSi mark - the kite mark. It signifies compliance with minimum health and safety standards to allow the product to be sold, nothing more. There is no such thing as a catch all "CE Directive" Each individual product that gains the mark has it's own set of standards written that are collectively referred to as the Product Directive.

There's no way that this could in any way override local law that defines a particular product as illegal to use.


It's up to you of course but I'd want a much more reliable guarantee than just taking the word of someone manufacturing or selling the product.
 

The Nomad

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The "CE compliance that he's talking about is ONLY with regard to the design of the towballmount. There is a CE STANDARD across Europe for towballmount bar and cup design to ensure any trailer will fit onto any towballmount. That is UTTERLY NOTHING to do with the design or manufacture of the rest of the unit, NOR to the illegality of its actual useto tow one road vehicle with anothet road vehicle in France,Germany,Spain, Portugal et al.
 

pappajohn

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Same tale as less scrupulous RV dealer saying you can drive ANY weight RV on a car licence....

Bullshit !

They will tell you anything to make a sale.
If that's the attitude of this dealer they need avoiding.

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Derbyshire wanderer

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As @Mikeco says, the Spanish prohibit the towing of vehicles unless broken down. I believe that there are French sellers as they see the law similar to us.
I use one and would be comfortable using it in France but if the French police were to stop me i would not try to convince them that I was right.
 

jonandshell

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Why don't we include A frames in the Brexit negotiations and see how far we get?:)

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J&S

J&S

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As @Mikeco says, the Spanish prohibit the towing of vehicles unless broken down. I believe that there are French sellers as they see the law similar to us.
I use one and would be comfortable using it in France but if the French police were to stop me i would not try to convince them that I was right.


My question was is he breaking British law? Not can I use it in Spain!

Anyway ...Thanks all of you or nearly all (as some seem to think its funny) for your comments and replies folks... At least most of you appreciate the importance of my question.
J&S Hurworth, Durham.
 

Kevan

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We have only been back from France for a week after the twin lakes trip, We towed our Skoda Citigo there and back saw loads of the law and even attracted the attention if the Gendarmarie
they walked over to us in a motorway air'e while my wife was giving our dog a comfort break, i thought, "here we go" one spoke good English and all they were interested in was how the system worked and how the servo was refilled to stop dead pedal, they seemed quite impressed and thanked me and wished us a safe onward journey. and while at twin lakes other Funsters were rolling in towing on A- Frames as well.(y)

So put the popcorn away;)
 

Xabia

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I won't clutter the thread up with a complete breakdown of the French legislation on towing with A frames and suggest that you refer this chap to the following law:

Article 311-1 of the Code de la Route. In simple terms it says that only a trailer may be towed behind a vehicle, an exception being allowed in the case of a breakdown. A trailer is defined as being unable to be capable of self propulsion.

Is he perhaps a close associate of Monsieur Hollande and been given special dispensation for the use of his A frames in France?

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Kevan

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Me and thousands of others, but then i haven't got a french law degree easy to quote french rules, all the EU law states is that if a trailer as got four wheels that are braked then all those brakes must work,
and i resent the IS HE statement
the post was a statement of fact and not open to Ridicule from other members:mad:
 

hilldweller

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But is he correct?

There is a simple question to ask "Please can you tell me the directive number so I can print it and take it with me".

CE approved means nothing just like that, you need the directive numbers to know what it is approved of. It could be the quality of the welding, it could be the quality of the zinc plating. It might be certified as a tow bar, which says it will bot break.

But this has nothing to do with road regulations. It could be "yes it is strong enough and will not rust" but that does not mean it meets traffic regs.

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Last edited:
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J&S

J&S

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This subject has been done to death a thousand times over so you must expect the negative comments on Fun. It is not illegal in the UK to tow with an A-frame, nor has it been proven to be legal.

Thank you for that but that wasn't my question. Its all them so called Funsters on here that cant understand a simple question and started rambilling on about the EU ect that are boring you...

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Derbyshire wanderer

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Thank you for that but that wasn't my question. Its all them so called Funsters on here that cant understand a simple question and started rambilling on about the EU ect that are boring you...
If you don't like the answer, don't ask the question
 

Xabia

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Me and thousands of others, but then i haven't got a french law degree easy to quote french rules, all the EU law states is that if a trailer as got four wheels that are braked then all those brakes must work,
and i resent the IS HE statement
the post was a statement of fact and not open to Ridicule from other members:mad:

EU rules have nothing to do with this question, each country within the EU has it's own traffic laws. For example, it is illegal to tow a vehicle in Spain, always has been, the only way that a broken down vehicle can be recovered is by a Grau (breakdown truck). I used to tow a car with an A frame through France and Spain but certainly don't do it now as I have no wish to fall foul of the Guardia Civil Tráfico.

The point of my post was to highlight the fact that the person who claimed that his device was legal in France was incorrect, if you don't believe me take a little time to read the detail within the Article.

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Kevan

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Is he perhaps a close associate of Monsieur Hollande and been given special dispensation for the use of his A frames in France?[/QUOTE]

Rude and condescending.
 
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Many of us have 'got away' with using A frames in France, even some of the French use them, but that doesn't make them legal if some policeman has had a bad day.
Usually the French police are pretty laid back, unlike the Spanish ones.

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