• Is it legal to allow an unlicensed driver to
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steer a broken-down vehicle while on tow? So far as we can ascertain, there is no law which requires a person steering a vehicle on tow to be experienced or to hold a driver's licence of any description, and it would seem the control of the towed vehicle is the responsibility of the driver of the towing vehicle under all conditions. Obviously, discretion must be used when handling heavy vehicles, but occasions arise where a driver on the recovery crew does not have the correct class of vehicle licence to cover the vehicle to be towed.
AYou are quite correct in your assumption that an unlicensed driver is permitted to steer a broken-down vehicle while it is being towed.
A person steering a towed vehicle is not -driving" it, was the decision arrived at in the case of Wallace v Major (1946) 2 All E.R. 87. In this case the person steering a vehicle which was being towed, was prosecuted for dangerous driving but it was held that he was not driving and the charge was dismissed. It follows if such work is not ''driving" it is not necessary to hold either an ordinary or an hgv driving licence to merely steer a towed vehicle.