2 wheel car dolly - towing in France - is it legal?

[magpies]

Hi
I need to recover a friends car from south of France and only have a 2 wheeled dolly - the type where the dolly wheels are wide apart (fitting outside the car being towed), along with propper wheel holding straps and trailer board. Is this rig allowed in France?

[Corpulent Tosser]

My understanding is even a-frames are not allowed, and my further understanding is the dolly is only allowed here for recovery, I would doubt it is legal for any more than recovery to a place of repair.

Can't you borrow a trailer ?

[shovelheadrob]

If it is legal in the UK then it is legal in France, unfortunately this probably isn't unless you have one of these these

[Pontoneer]

My understanding re dollies is as follows ( only for the UK ; don't know the situation in France ) .

1) if any of the car's wheels are on the ground , it must be road legal ( taxed , insured , MOT'd )

2) if the rig weighs more than 750Kg ( dolly + towed car ) , the dolly must be braked .

3) the towed combo must not weigh more than the kerbweight of the tow car , or the towing limit stipulated by the manufacturers .

4) such a rig to be used for recovery only of a broken down vehicle within the UK , not for transportation of a driveable vehicle . I 'think' there is no stipulation as to how far you can recover a vehicle ( just as there is no stipulation how far you can drive to an MOT ) so in theory if one of my cars broke down in the south of England , I could recover it home to Scotland .

As already stated , I have no idea of the situation in France .

[KevinOctiScout]

shovelheadrob said:

If it is legal in the UK then it is legal in France, unfortunately this probably isn't unless you have one of these these

Why would that be the case? Each country has it's own Road Traffic Laws, there is no complete EU wide standard road law.

[Flatinfourth]

I have done loads of trips with a dolly in the past, my understanding is that dollies and a frames are effectively for recovery only, so to me that means the recovery rules apply as if you were doing any other kind of recovery.
mileage limit, must be facing home when loaded etc, mileage limit was 100 miles as the crow flies from base when I was recovering, understand that might have been shortened to 60 miles. If you are not a recovery operation then it is not a recovery. If it is a commercial lift use a trailer, if it is a private lift use a trailer!

[shovelheadrob]

KevinOctiScout said:

shovelheadrob said:

If it is legal in the UK then it is legal in France, unfortunately this probably isn't unless you have one of these these

Why would that be the case? Each country has it's own Road Traffic Laws, there is no complete EU wide standard road law.

I was led to believe that EU countries have an agreement that if the vehicle complies with the construction & use regulations of it's country of registration then it is permitted in other EU countries. Certain other requirements/additions may have to be met i.e. winter tyres in some Scandanavian countries along with daytime lights, carrying hi-vis, warning triangle, spare bulbs etc. If we had to comply with other countries then all our caravans & trailers would have to be registerd & tested seperately, but not yet.

[leyorkie]

UK legislation applies to UK registered vehicle, eg if you hire a tow-a-van trailer here you can take it to France. But any trailer attached to a French car with gross weight of over 500 kg has to have its own registration and insurance, same for a caravan, but you don't see them turning caravans back at the port.
From a practical view point do you really want to do that distance with a dolly? Hire a trailer £50/day and you can relax and probably travel quicker.
Or join the AA and wait a week