Q Where we work we have a lot of electric vehicles
Page 47
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
which sometimes have to be towed a fair distance. They are towed by a Land-Rover on a tow-bar We were wondering if the driver being towed needs a car licence or can the vehicle be driven on a provisional driving licence?
AIf the vehicle being towed is attached to the towing vehicle by a rigid tow-bar then the person in the towed vehicle can be regarded as a -steersman" and not a "driver". In that case he does not need a driving licence at all.
Support for this comes from case law. Initially, in Wallace v Major (1946) 2 Al? ER87 it was held that a person steering a towed vehicle is not driving it and therefore does not need a driving licence. This was qualified at a later date in Regina v MacDononagh (1974) RTR 372.
In that case the Lord Chief Justice said, in reference to Wallace v Major: "We respectfully doubt whether the correct conclusion was reached on the facts of that case. The court seemed to have regarded the defendant merely as a steersman and to have ignored his responsibility for the use of the brake."
Thus, towed with a rigid tow-bar, the towed vehicle can be brought to a halt by the driver of the towing vehicle applying the brake and the person in the towed vehicle has no responsibility in that direction.