Vehicle towing - Safety & The Law

Many people use tow dollies and tow bars to pull vehicles, myself included. I used to use a rented tow dolly since the vehicle I am pulling is front wheel drive. I have used my 1500 to pull a Ford Focus from coast to coast, South Carolina to California to Washington to Virginia. I have confidence in my truck's ability to pull the vehicle and stop it even without brakes on the dolly. The costs associated with renting the dolly have made me realize I would have done better buying my own.

Doing research, I found out that my Focus was able to be flat towed and that I didn't need a dolly, just a tow bar. As I did more and more research, I came across a lot of misinformation regarding the law and the safety of vehicle towing. This is especially prevalent in web sites that sell overpriced devices designed to keep you "legal", but these devices may themselves be unsafe. Here is an example of such misinformation. What this site is citing is trailer towing laws, but they don't make that clear. If you put a car on a flatbed trailer, then yes, these laws do apply, but a car is NOT a trailer because most states say that a trailer is a vehicle specifically designed to be pulled behind a motor vehicle. This site is much more credible. Not only does he cite his sources, but he is not trying to sell you anything.

The safety side is a bit more grey. Many RV'ers who are driving 40,000 lb motor homes pulling a 3,000 lb car swear that supplementary brakes in the towed vehicle make a huge difference. Others cite burnt out brakes and fires from brakes systems that stick on and that the weight difference between an RV and a "toad" car is so large that it shouldn't matter. There is a point to that. After all, a 40,000 lb coach is not going to stop on a dime even if it's empty.

I am now towing my Focus with a tow bar. I wired the flat four connector straight back to the car's brake lights with diodes from Radio Shack. I do believe that this setup is safer than the dolly because while neither had supplementary brakes, the dolly added 700 lbs to the towed load.

What are your thoughts?

Nice write-up.

In Louisiana the law says that whatever is attached to the rear of the vehicle is considered a trailer.....even if it is another vehicle. This includes pulling your best bro's "heavy chevy" with a tow rope. That "heavy chevy" is still considered a trailer in this state, and will be listed as such in the event of a crash. Just an FYI for anyone wanting to know.

BAILEY1 said:

Nice write-up.

In Louisiana the law says that whatever is attached to the rear of the vehicle is considered a trailer.....even if it is another vehicle. This includes pulling your best bro's "heavy chevy" with a tow rope. That "heavy chevy" is still considered a trailer in this state, and will be listed as such in the event of a crash. Just an FYI for anyone wanting to know.

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Thank you, but I have to disagree.

Louisiana law (RS 32:1 para 84) says a trailer is, "every single vehicle without motive power designed for carrying property or passengers wholly on its own structure, drawn by a motor vehicle which carries no part of the weight and load of the trailer on its own wheels and having two or more load carrying axles."

RS 32:341 says a trailer over 3,000 lbs needs brakes.

Now, my interpretation is that of a layman, so I may be wrong, but it seems to me that argument could be made that since a motor vehicle has motive power, that it is not a trailer. Even if it is, most compact cars and smaller weigh less than 3,000 lbs.

The only LA laws I could find regarding towed vehicles are RS 32:1735 and 32:1736 that deal with regulation of towing companies (1735) and operating rules of towing companies (1736).

RK