Quite often there are situations when the engine breaks down in the car and it can no longer drive on its own. In such cases, it remains either to repair on site or tow the vehicle to the repair site. In order to avoid any emergency, it is necessary that the towing of the vehicle is carried out in accordance with the traffic rules.
In this article, we will consider the rules that must be observed while towing cars, as well as the conditions under which this is prohibited.
First of all, it is necessary to clarify the main two terms, which are very similar to each other - this is towing and towed.
towing car- this is directly the vehicle that pulls another vehicle with its power. In other words, the car that is in front.
Towed car- this is the vehicle that is pulled with a towline or a flexible or rigid hitch, i.e., which is behind and in most cases is broken.
For example, in this photo, the second car is towed, and, accordingly, the first is towing.
Immediately before starting the towing of the car, it is necessary that the following rules be met:
- On the vehicle that is being towed, the emergency flasher must be on at all times so that all participants behind them can understand that it is broken and accept additional measures when overtaking. If alarm does not work, then you need to install and secure the warning triangle on the back side.
- Previously, the rules provided that the towing vehicle must have lighting, namely . Now, all vehicles must always drive with their lights on, so this is no exception. As a light, you can turn on both fog lights and dipped. On new and modern cars are set, which may also apply.
- Many are interested in whether it is possible to tow a trailer - on the basis of traffic rules, towing a motorcycle with a side trailer is allowed. Without side trailer the use of a tug is prohibited.
Speed while towing
During towing, you must observe the speed of movement, which is regulated by the rules. The speed of any vehicle must not exceed 50 km/h. Moreover, the sections of the road along which the movement takes place do not play a role - the speed requirements are the same absolutely everywhere.
TO important points should be attributed to towing on motorways. There are no prescribed requirements when moving along them. As is known from the traffic rules, the fastest traffic is allowed on motorways, therefore they are provided minimum speed for all vehicles - at least 40 km/h. Therefore, towing on the motorway will not be prohibited if the speed is greater than this limit.
When is towing prohibited?
When towing any vehicle, it should be borne in mind that there are requirements under which this is prohibited. For such cases, it is possible to use only a tow truck.
So, towing is prohibited in the following cases:
- On a section of the road where a sign is installed prohibiting the movement of vehicles with a wagon or trailer. This sign also applies to towed vehicles. If there is such road sign towing is prohibited.
- You cannot tow vehicles such as a motorcycle that does not have a side trailer, as well as scooters and mopeds, scooters and bicycles. It is worth noting here that such vehicles cannot be used when being towed either under number one or number two.
- It is forbidden to tow two or more trailers car At the same time.
Violation - fine
For violation of the rules of towing, the code of offenses for drivers provides for a fine. In 2018, the fine for improper towing was set at 500 rubles or best case- warning.
How not to get into an accident?
Although the responsibility for traffic violations related to towing, an insignificant one is provided, the requirements and rules should still be observed. During improper transportation, an accident can occur due to a perfect mistake.
During such a movement, the towed vehicle must first of all keep a distance from the towing vehicle and keep tow rope in tension. He must not accelerate and approach closely, because this is fraught with a blow to rear bumper. When rebuilding, you also need to control the situation. The towed one should start rebuilding first, and only after that the towing one. Otherwise, a collision with other participants is possible.
Many owners of passenger cars periodically face the need to transport fairly large and heavy loads. Especially often, such a need arises among small businesses who need to transport their goods or materials for production, as well as among avid summer residents who need to bring garden equipment to the dacha, and from the dacha - the products of their summer labor. An indispensable assistant in these cases, it becomes a trailer, which significantly expands the transportation capabilities of the machine. But it is also often the source of problems with traffic inspectors.
The vast majority of car owners and, accordingly, owners driving license with category B, standard trailers are used for transportation, the weight limit for which is 750 kilograms. As you know, the law for drivers in category B is allowed to drive with a trailer of a car, the maximum weight of which in a loaded state is 3,500 kilograms.
If the fully loaded car itself weighs, say, 3,200 kilograms, then the total weight of the resulting road train is 3,950 kilograms. On the basis of such a simple calculation, some traffic police inspectors issue fines to drivers for exceeding the permitted weight, motivating their actions by the absence of an open category BE among the “violators”. But are the representatives of the law right in these cases?
What does the law actually say?
If we carefully read the description of category B, opening Article 25 of the Law 196-FZ (Chapter IV), then it will become clear to anyone that the requirement that a road train not exceed a weight of 3,500 kilograms applies only to those vehicles that carry heavy (more than 750 kilograms) trailer. For example, if your loaded trailer weighs 1,300 kilograms, then it can only be transported by a car weighing more than 1,300 but less than 2,200 kilograms.
In the same case, when the own loaded weight of the machine is less than 3,500 kilograms, i.e. corresponds to category B, the law does not require summing up the weight of the car and the trailer if the weight of the trailer does not exceed 750 kilograms. This means that the driver of a car weighing 3,200 kilograms may well carry a 750-kilogram trailer on our roads, and there is no violation in this. To drive such a road train, a license with an open category B is quite enough. This standard corresponds to similar regulatory requirements of any European country.
What is category BE?
The BE subcategory is indeed necessary for driving cars with a trailer, but far from all cases fall under its action. All the same article 25 very clearly describes in which cases rights with an open subcategory BE are needed. This is the transportation of a trailer weighing more than 750 kilograms in a loaded state with a category B machine, i.e. the total weight of which maximum load no more than 3,500 kilograms. Wherein Weight Limit loaded trailer may exceed the weight of the unladen vehicle that transports it.
If it so happened that you need to periodically use a heavy trailer weighing more than 750 kilograms, you will have to take care of opening a driver's license for the BE category. To do this, you need to be trained in a driving school, i.e. learn the traffic rules related to driving with a trailer and pass an exam for practical driving. You should know that only those who have spent more than one year behind the wheel and have not received penalties from traffic police officers can open the BE category.
Experienced drivers can give beginners some advice regarding driving on the road. passenger car with a trailer.
- The quieter you go, the more stable the trailer. Ride on high speed it is difficult to hitch a trailer, because when a certain speed threshold is exceeded, it starts to swing to the sides, which reduces the stability of your road train. Therefore, it is better not to rush.
- The optimal road train consists of an all-wheel drive, long-wheelbase, heavy machine with a short rear overhang and a two-axle long-wheelbase trailer, the center of gravity of which is as low as possible, and the track is as wide as possible. The link must be long.
- The unsuccessful road train consists of a front-wheel drive short-base vehicle with a long rear overhang, low-power and light, coupled with a short drawbar with a single-axle, high and narrow-gauge trailer.
- You should be especially careful if rear suspension the car is heavily worn, and the tire pressure is lower than required by the standard. Negatively affects the stability of the train trailer overload and improper loading, when the ball has to minimum weight. In addition, deterioration driving performance trailer is inevitable if it is “shod” in tires of different quality.
Trailer towing vehicle passenger type The task is very difficult even for experienced drivers. And the whole difficulty lies not so much in the need to have high driving skills, but in the legal framework, which is interpreted by some inspectors in different ways.
The most common situation on the road
To make it easier to understand what exactly the problem is, it is necessary to analyze this specific situation using a practical example, which is very common on our roads. Imagine that a driver is towing a trailer behind the wheel of a passenger vehicle, with a maximum weight of 750 and 3200 kilograms, respectively. At one of the traffic police posts, a law enforcement officer stops the car and claims that further movement impossible due to the driver's lack of group E category. At the same time, the traffic police officer refers to the eighth paragraph of the Federal legislative project Russian Federation.
As this one says legislative act, category of group B allows towing a trailer by a passenger-type vehicle with a maximum mass of 3.5 tons. Thus, based on our example, the combined mass of a vehicle with a trailer is almost four tons, which excludes the vehicle we are considering in this article from the rules. That is why traffic officers very often fine drivers, referring to the absence of a category of group E. In addition, paragraph 7 of the same legal document, in which it is written in black and white that if there is a category of groups B, C and D, cars are allowed a vehicle to transport a trailer weighing up to 750 kg, it is generally preferred to be hushed up. Thus, for towing a trailer, one category B is sufficient in the case of the example we are considering.
However, that's not all. The eighth paragraph of the government decree states that it is allowed to transport trailers weighing more than 750 kg in two cases, namely if the mass of the loaded trailer does not exceed the base mass of the vehicle, as well as if the total mass of the vehicle and the trailer is within three and a half tons .
Nevertheless, legislation is good, but it is even better when it is respected. As statistics show, every year the number of drivers' appeals to the Traffic Safety Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation about illegal prosecution increases at a catastrophic pace. Traffic police inspectors calmly record offenses and draw up administrative protocols for drivers, the basis for which is a violation of the prescribed rules for driving a vehicle with a trailer without category E, referring to the seventh paragraph of the previously mentioned bill.
What does the law say?
In order to reduce the illegal actions of inspectors and exclude cases of violation of official powers by traffic police officers, Lieutenant General V. N. Kiryanov, who holds the post of head of the traffic police of the Russian Federation, gave some clarifications to the rules traffic. According to his explanation, when stopping a driver driving a vehicle of a light type with a trailer weighing more than 750 kilograms, the inspector must rely solely on paragraph 8. If the vehicle does not fall under this description, then the work of the inspector should be regulated only by the seventh paragraph, which allows the towing of a trailer in the presence of category B, regardless of the total mass of the vehicle and trailer. This clarification is fully consistent with the international convention on road traffic and does not violate the traffic rules of Russia.
Recently, my friends decided to purchase a boat from the well-known St. Petersburg manufacturer "Mobile Group". The boat, frankly, turned out to be not a boat, but almost a ship - a 9-meter vessel with a wheelhouse and a huge cockpit ... So, having arrived from Murmansk itself, they, not wanting to linger, had already decided to leave, but ... someone accidentally threw a phrase suddenly stopped all their intentions:
- Guys, everything is in order, are there rights, are the categories all open?
- Categories? Rights? For what? the owner of the ship asks in bewilderment.
- How to what? On a trailer. You will carry the boat on a trailer, and the boat is large and weighs far from half a ton. Need an open category E...
And then - a silent scene - annoyance on frozen faces, frowning eyebrows and confusion in his eyes.
So, my friends, water motorists, motorists, rescue drivers and fishermen - in a word, all those who drive with and without a category, with and without rights ... To everyone who is not uninterested in the rules for transporting a trailer and heavy equipment, I propose to figure out what's what, where and how much.
So, category E:
E to B or E to C?
What are the conditions, requirements, penalties, training?
First, let's understand the concepts. I'll start in order, with the most important, in my opinion.
Category
The rules for passing qualifying exams and issuing driver's licenses indicate that (see paragraph 4):
“Driver's licenses with permission marks in columns "A", "B", "C", "D" and "E" confirm the right to drive vehicles of the corresponding categories:
1) category "A" - motorcycles, motor scooters and other motor vehicles;
2) category "B" - cars, the maximum permitted weight of which does not exceed 3500 kilograms and the number of seats, in addition to the driver's seat, does not exceed 8;
3) category "C" - cars, except for those belonging to category "D", the maximum authorized mass of which exceeds 3500 kilograms;
4) category "D" - cars designed for the carriage of passengers and having more than 8 seats, in addition to the driver's seat;
5) category "E" - combinations of vehicles with a tractor belonging to categories "B", "C" or "D", which the driver has the right to drive, but which do not themselves fall into one of these categories or into these categories.
In the forms of driver's licenses, as you probably noticed more than once, the categories are marked in the same way (with the exception of category A).
Trailer
Trailer - a vehicle not equipped with an engine and intended for movement in combination with a power-driven vehicle. The term also applies to semi-trailers and trailers-dissolutions (SDA).
Comments to the SDA add: “A mechanical vehicle with a trailer (trailers) of any type is a road train or a combination of vehicles, where a mechanical vehicle acts as a tractor. The trailer is characterized by the fact that it is attached to the vehicle tractor from behind by using rigid connecting hinge elements. When using trailers, in all cases, it must be taken into account that actual weight trailer with a load should not exceed the corresponding parameter set by the manufacturer of the tractor vehicle as the maximum allowable.
Permissible maximum weight
Permissible maximum mass - the mass of the equipped vehicle with cargo, driver and passengers, established by the manufacturer as the maximum allowable. For the permitted maximum mass of the composition of vehicles, i.e. coupled and moving as a whole, the sum of the permitted maximum masses of the vehicles included in the composition (SDA) is taken.
And Comments to the SDA: “The permitted maximum mass is the sum of the mass of the equipped vehicle and the mass of the maximum allowable payload, determined by the vehicle manufacturer and including the mass of the cargo, the mass (weight) of the driver and passengers.
The value of the permitted maximum weight for specific model The vehicle is indicated in the vehicle passport, as well as in the certificate of its registration.
Curb weight of the vehicle
The curb weight of the vehicle is the weight of the vehicle (“tare weight”) with full charge fuel and lubricants and coolant, a set of tools, spare parts and accessories provided for by the instruction (manual) for the operation of the vehicle and the Basic Provisions. (Comments to traffic rules. General provisions).
And now it's time to take up the analysis of resolutions, orders and regulations of the government of the Russian Federation.
What do we have today? I will speak in an accessible and understandable language. Those who need the legislative part of this report will be provided with the necessary links and a list of documents.
So:
1. If you are driving your light vehicle, truck or bus and a trailer attached to it, whose permissible maximum weight does not exceed 750 kg, then it is enough for you to have an open category B, C or D, respectively (clause 1.7. Decree dated December 15, 1999 N 1396 On approval of the rules for passing qualifying exams and issuing a driver's license).
| B | |
| C |  |
For example. Let's say I need to transport a snowmobile in my little car. The car weighs 1400 kg (that is, it belongs to category B). A small trailer weighing, say, 700 kg is quite suitable for this. When checking driving license, it is enough for the inspector to see open category"IN".
2. If the permitted maximum mass of your trailer does not exceed the mass of an equipped vehicle belonging to category "B", and the permitted maximum mass of such a combination of vehicles does not exceed 3500 kilograms, when driving it, you need a driving license of category "B" ( Clause 1.8 of Resolution No. 1396 of December 15, 1999 On Approving the Rules for Passing Qualification Examinations and Issuing Driving Licenses).
| B |  |
where Msts - Permissible maximum mass of the vehicle composition
For example . An example of such transportation: a trailer - 1000 kg, and a car - 2000 kg (belongs to category B). Trailer over 750 kg. And it seems that category E is already needed. But ... clause 1.8 of the Decree, which many people forget about or simply do not know about, allows us to transport such a train in the presence of only category B. After all, the mass of such a train does not exceed 3500 kg.
3. If you have a trailer with a maximum permitted weight of more than 750 kg, then make sure that your category (B, C, D) has category E.
| B+E |  |
| C+E |  |
where Mp is the Permissible mass of the trailer (indicated in the PTS)
In special marks on your certificate should be noted: E to B, E to C or E to D (clause 34 of the Appendix to the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated July 20, 2000 No. 782).
Yes, I draw your attention to the following fact. According to the Federal Law "On Road Safety", the right to drive trains of vehicles (category E) is granted to persons with categories "B", "C" or "D" if they have experience in driving a vehicle of the corresponding category at least 12 months.
Yes, and do not forget about the age restrictions.
Category A - from 16 years old
Category B - from 18 years old
Category C - from 18 years old
Category D - from 20 years old.
Dimensions
Many drivers are overcome by the question of exceeding the dimensions when transporting a particular cargo. So, traffic rules tell us that:
"23.4. Cargo protruding beyond the dimensions of the vehicle in front or behind by more than 1 m or from the side by more than 0.4 m from the outer edge side light, should be marked with identification marks " Oversized cargo", and in dark time days and under conditions insufficient visibility, in addition, in front - with a flashlight or light reflector white color, behind - a flashlight or a red reflector.
If the dimensions of your vehicle with or without cargo exceed:
2.55 m - in width,
4 m - in height (from the surface of the carriageway)
20 m - in length (including one trailer),
or the cargo carried protrudes more than 2 m beyond the back point of the clearance,
then the movement of such a vehicle is carried out in accordance with special rules (clause 23.5 of the SDA).
Education
Driving instruction of the required category is carried out in many driving schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
So, in St. Petersburg, training lasts about 1.5 months. The cost of training fluctuates from 12 to 15 thousand rubles. As a rule, category E to B is more expensive.
In Moscow, as it turned out, driving lessons with a trailer are a little cheaper. There is even the option of “one hit with two birds with one stone” - for 9200 rubles you will be taught categories E to B and E to C. If you take these categories separately, then the cost will be about 6400 rubles for each individual category.
Passing the exam takes place in two stages - on the site and driving around the city. You don't have to give up theory.
Cars are usually UAZ, ZIL and GAZ. There are jeeps, too.
fines
As for fines, according to the innovations that came into force on January 1, 2008, the punishment for driving a vehicle by a person who does not have the right to drive this vehicle is a fine of 2,500 rubles (clause 12.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) .
My advice to you, and not only mine. During a conversation with a traffic police officer, I came to the conclusion that it is better to carry a copy of the Resolution with you.
As for the comments to the Rules of the Road, I will only say that they, as such, have no legal force. But for even greater confidence, comments edited by the head of the Department of Road Safety V.N. Kiryanov will not interfere.
Below is a list of legislative documents and necessary links.
Sonya Romashkina
P.S. And my friends, by the way, stayed in St. Petersburg not for 2 days, as expected, but for two weeks. During this time, they managed to study not only all the legislation of the Russian Federation, traffic police posts and driving schools, but also enjoy the cultural life of the northern capital. No, in the end they left, and left, frankly, satisfied, but ... how much time, effort and money they spent because of ignorance of just a few points of legislation.
So, here, ladies and gentlemen, the choice is yours - to be prepared and confident, or to drive "maybe".
1. DECISION No. 1396 of December 15, 1999 “On APPROVAL OF THE RULES FOR PASSING QUALIFICATION EXAMS AND ISSUING DRIVER'S LICENSE”.
2. ORDER of February 19, 1999 N 120 "ON APPROVAL OF SAMPLES OF DRIVER'S LICENSE" (as amended by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation of July 20, 2000 N 782).
4. Appendix to the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia dated July 20, 2000 N 782 "INSTRUCTION ON THE PROCEDURE FOR ORGANIZING WORK ON ACCEPTING QUALIFICATION EXAMS AND ISSUING DRIVER'S LICENSE IN SUB-DIVISIONS OF THE STATE INSPECTION OF ROAD SAFETY OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS RADIO.
5. FEDERAL LAW "ON ROAD SAFETY" (Adopted State Duma November 15, 1995).
6. ORDER dated June 8, 1999 N 410 “ON IMPROVEMENT OF NORMATIVE AND LEGAL REGULATION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE ROAD INSPECTION SERVICE AND ORGANIZATION OF TRAFFIC OF THE STATE INSPECTION OF ROAD SAFETY OF THE MINISTRY OF THE INTERNAL FEDERAL AFFAIRS”.
7. CODE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEGAL VIOLATIONS (Adopted by the State Duma on December 20, 2001).
8. Comments on the Rules of the Road of the Russian Federation and on the main provisions on the admission of vehicles to operation and duties officials on ensuring road safety (as of January 1, 2007, under the editorship of the Chief State Inspector of Road Safety of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General of Militia V.N. Kiryanov).
www.mvd.ru
What category of license is needed to drive a car with a trailer? Is category "B" enough? In what cases is it necessary to obtain a subcategory "E"? In order to correctly answer the questions posed and not get confused, you first need to understand the terminology.
So let's start with the car:
Vehicle weight without load is the dead weight of the empty vehicle.
Weight of equipped car- the mass of a fully fueled car, including necessary spare parts, but excluding the weight of the transported cargo, driver and passengers.
Permitted maximum vehicle weight- the mass of the equipped car + the mass of the transported cargo, the driver and passengers.
You will find the necessary information by looking at the certificate of registration of the vehicle of your car.
With trailers, the situation is similar:
trailer capacity is the weight of the load that the trailer is designed to carry.
Trailer curb weight- its own weight, including the necessary spare parts and excluding the transported cargo.
Gross trailer weight(it is also the permitted maximum weight) is the curb weight + carrying capacity.
With regard to the gross weight, trailers are divided into the following categories:
O1 - light trailers with gross weight up to 750 kg (inclusive)
O2 - trailers with a gross weight of more than 750 kg and up to 3500 kg (inclusive)
O3 - up to 10,000 kg (inclusive)
O4 - over 10,000 kg
Now let's move on to answering the question.
Let's start with the lightest trailers in the category O1 (up to 750 kg). Because total weight road trains (car + trailer) in this case does not matter, then it is enough for the driver to have a category "B" license. The same rule applies to other categories - "C", "C1", "D", "D1".
Trailer with a gross weight of up to 750 kg - subcategory "E" is not needed.
To drive a vehicle with a trailer with a gross weight up to 3500 kg (O2), subcategory "E" is required for all of the above categories of rights. But there is a small exception.
License category "B" gives the right to drive a vehicle or road train, the maximum mass of which does not exceed 3500 kg. Therefore, if the sum of the maximum mass of the car and the total mass of the trailer does not exceed 3500 kg, then a category “B” license is sufficient, provided that full mass trailer does not exceed the weight of the car without load. The latter also applies to categories "C1" and "D1".
Gross trailer weight ≥ 3500 kg = BE, CE, DE
(Max weight auto + (gross trailer weight ≤ unladen vehicle weight)) ≤ 3500 kg = B
Vehicle unladen weight ≥ Gross trailer weight ≥ 3500 kg = C1E, D1E
And finally trailers categories O3 And O4. Their gross weight is more than 3500 kg and category "B" in principle does not give the right to drive such heavyweights. For all other categories of rights - subcategory "E" is required. Note that for categories C1E and D1E, the total mass of the train must not exceed 12,000 kg, and the total mass of the trailer must not exceed the mass of the vehicle without load.
Gross trailer weight > 3500 kg = CE, DE
(Maximum vehicle weight + (gross trailer weight ≤ unladen vehicle weight)) ≤ 12,000 kg = C1E, D1E
Finally, one more important condition. When choosing a trailer, remember - the gross weight of the trailer must not exceed the towing characteristics of the vehicle set by the manufacturer.
For details see: Federal Law N 196-FZ "On Road Safety", Chapter IV. BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFE ROAD TRAFFIC, Article 25. Basic provisions regarding admission to driving vehicles.
