Tow rope`s outlawed,is this true?

[Old Merc]

A friend of mine tells me that towing a car with a tow rope will be illegal after July 1st !! ?? towing with a proper solid tow bar is permitted.

[Super Slo Mo]

Don't think so, there are certain rules you should follow, but I've seen nothing about outed being outlawed, although have heard other people on about it. Bit of an urban myth I think.

[grumpy52]

Prof recpvery or machanics must use solid bars.bloody lethal things.
Another case of idiots making the rules!
Nearly as bad as all fire estingishers must be red !

[R0G]

From my bad memory on this ....

A tow rope should only be used to move a vehicle from a place of danger to the nearest place of safety

Using a tow rope for more than this could result in a charge of an unsafe combination

Not certain how good my memory is .......

[kambites]

The highway code just seems to say:

"In the event of a breakdown, be aware that towing a vehicle on a tow rope is potentially dangerous. You should consider professional recovery."


I hate the things though, I always use a sprung towing-bar.

[McSam]

R0G said:

From my bad memory on this ....

A tow rope should only be used to move a vehicle from a place of danger to the nearest place of safety

Using a tow rope for more than this could result in a charge of an unsafe combination

Not certain how good my memory is .......

From my experiences using tow ropes to take cars longer distances than simply off a road, this certainly should be the case.. Probably the most dangerous and certainly most nerve-wracking thing I've done on the road!

[EDLT]

Tow ropes have been 'for emergencies only' for a while. I think the police give a bit of leeway unless they see you dragging a car onto the motorway.

[GadgeS3C]

McSam said:

From my experiences using tow ropes to take cars longer distances than simply off a road, this certainly should be the case.. Probably the most dangerous and certainly most nerve-wracking thing I've done on the road!

You should try it with motorbikes

[McSam]

No ta!

[mccrackenj]

Relax - tow ropes aren't being outlawed. It's only the spelling of 'ropes' with an apostrophe that's being outlawed - and about time too.




Sorry - a bad morning has brought out my inner pedant today. Normal service will resume later etc etc

[R0G]

mccrackenj said:

Sorry - a bad morning has brought out my inner pedant today. Norma service will resume later etc etc

Who is this woman called Norma you mentioned ? - LOL

[y2blade]

mccrackenj said:

Relax - tow ropes aren't being outlawed. It's only the spelling of 'ropes' with an apostrophe that's being outlawed - and about time too.




Sorry - a bad morning has brought out my inner pedant today. Norma service will resume later etc etc

[YorkshirePudding]

y2blade said:

mccrackenj said:

Relax - tow ropes aren't being outlawed. It's only the spelling of 'ropes' with an apostrophe that's being outlawed - and about time too.




Sorry - a bad morning has brought out my inner pedant today. Norma service will resume later etc etc

[stewy68]

GadgeS3C said:

You should try it with motorbikes

Had a tow from a mate on an AR50 when I was about 16. I was on a pedal bike at the time scary stuff! (disclaimer: this was before the days of Lycra fetishists and pseudo Tour-De-France pks).

[CO2000]

GadgeS3C said:

McSam said:

From my experiences using tow ropes to take cars longer distances than simply off a road, this certainly should be the case.. Probably the most dangerous and certainly most nerve-wracking thing I've done on the road!

You should try it with motorbikes

About 20 years ago I got towed by my Dad in his Belmont & I was in my Lotus Europa. My head was level with his bumper, couldn't see anything other than that ! scary stuff indeed.

[MarkRSi]

McSam said:

From my experiences using tow ropes to take cars longer distances than simply off a road, this certainly should be the case.. Probably the most dangerous and certainly most nerve-wracking thing I've done on the road!

Last year I was towing my winter hack (205) in my MR2, old man was in the 205. Had a scary moment when turning right onto a main-ish road (30 limit) when the rope got caught under the 205's wheels after realised I hadn't ripped the rear off the MR2 there was more panic as traffic approached but luckily saw what was going on, kept back and allowed us to carry on.

Old man basically kept the brakes on lightly all the way to keep the rope tight, okay the brakes here fked but it was being towed to the scrappy anyway


I can see why tow-bars are a better solution...

[mccrackenj]

YorkshirePudding said:

y2blade said:

mccrackenj said:

Relax - tow ropes aren't being outlawed. It's only the spelling of 'ropes' with an apostrophe that's being outlawed - and about time too.




Sorry - a bad morning has brought out my inner pedant today. Norma service will resume later etc etc

err, "Norma! I've inadvertantly mentioned you on the internet. Sorry!"

[bimsb6]

grumpy52 said:

Nearly as bad as all fire estingishers must be red !

not all fire extinguishers are red .

[matthias73]

grumpy52 said:

Prof recpvery or machanics must use solid bars.bloody lethal things.
Another case of idiots making the rules!
Nearly as bad as all fire estingishers must be red !

Have you ever tried looking for a red fire extuingisher when the emergency/warning lighting is red?
They should be rainbow coloured to avoid general confusion.

[StealthSteve]

matthias73 said:

Have you ever tried looking for a red fire extuingisher when the emergency/warning lighting is red?
They should be rainbow coloured to avoid general confusion.

True enough.

I always user solid bars, but once with a mate using an Auto-Corsa at 1am we had to improvise with a hoody; using it's sleeves round towing eyes with a 106 was scary stuff and being wet when the time came to undo the 'cuffs' of it they were solid.. but it was all I had in the boot at the time and was a 40quid hoody.. had to wait 4 days until I could prise it off. never again.

Not heard anything about ropes being 'not to use' tho.