55mph Towing limit

[Norcalslowpoke]

"lowest common denominator"

My take is that I'm not that upset at the 55 for trailers. Couple reasons:

I don't tow that often...and there are probably a lot of folks like me. They only take their boat out, rent a u-haul trailer, or tow any kind of load very infrequently and don't understand the dangers of of towing (less braking etc) and how to properly load them. Better that these folks (maybe me..) are going a bit slower.

Some of the trailers get used infrequently and have crap tires, bearings etc.

Of course it sucks for those that tow often, and have their shit together...but there are a lot of trailers that I see that I'm pretty happy are not moving at 70mph..

 

[Smash Allen]

"lowest common denominator"

My take is that I'm not that upset at the 55 for trailers. Couple reasons:

I don't tow that often...and there are probably a lot of folks like me. They only take their boat out, rent a u-haul trailer, or tow any kind of load very infrequently and don't understand the dangers of of towing (less braking etc) and how to properly load them. Better that these folks (maybe me..) are going a bit slower.

Some of the trailers get used infrequently and have crap tires, bearings etc.

Of course it sucks for those that tow often, and have their shit together...but there are a lot of trailers that I see that I'm pretty happy are not moving at 70mph..

it should be if you don't have a commercial drivers license then you can only tow at 55

if you have a cdl then you should be allowed to tow up to speed limit since the cdl comes with more responsibility and training.

silly to treat packnrat who has 30 years cdl driving the same as westie

 

[packnrat]

i would like to see it where ALL on the "open" rd do the same speed.
in and around any city keep it at 55 mph. out away from it all. let er rip at 65 mph. and the chp are to not give out warnings.

but also NOBODY should be allowed to tow anything, without learning how to tow and have such endorsement on there driving permit. (this include any rental truck over 1/2 ton). --clearance thing there--.

knowledge is key.

thanks for the boost smash allen.
yes i have the decades worth of driving, been to a number of safety schools. even had a racing permit at one time. (scca).
safety is a on going thing in my line of work. we do classes every six months.
flyers each month.

and i have years of driving in very bad weather. ice and snow. and desert heat till midnight - 4 am.
i can not count the number of miles i have done in reverse. let alone forward.

no i can not back up doubles. never needed to know how.
past number of months and into the summer i drive the yard goat all night, must bump a good 100 docks a shift.
will let the younger plebs do all the hard stuff these days.


.

 

[clutchslip]

it should be if you don't have a commercial drivers license then you can only tow at 55

if you have a cdl then you should be allowed to tow up to speed limit since the cdl comes with more responsibility and training.

silly to treat packnrat who has 30 years cdl driving the same as westie

He can drive things that others can't, now. [EDIT: I miss read the post] I think it would be nice to have a written test to get another "towing" endorsement, so at least there was some common understanding of how to tow.

However, I also think that safety has too much to do with the poor choice in vehicles towing and the really lousy vehicles being towed. For example: Change the rules to demand trailer brakes on all trailers, and larger/ better tires and dual axles on trailers over a certain size. Make trailers hit the weigh stations, and rule that your towing vehicle must weigh X-times the tow weight. Then we are getting somewhere with some of the real problems.

 

[rkorner]

He can drive things that others can't, now. [EDIT: I miss read the post] I think it would be nice to have a written test to get another "towing" endorsement, so at least there was some common understanding of how to tow.

However, I also think that safety has too much to do with the poor choice in vehicles towing and the really lousy vehicles being towed. For example: Change the rules to demand trailer brakes on all trailers, and larger/ better tires and dual axles on trailers over a certain size. Make trailers hit the weigh stations, and rule that your towing vehicle must weight X-times the tow weight. Then we are getting somewhere with some of the real problems.

Any trailer with 2 or more axles are already required to have some form of brakes on at least one axle, depending on what the trailer gvwr is, the tires/axles/brakes are all built to suit. (I.e. tires/wheels are bigger, bigger axles Yada yada)

there are already laws on everything you've post, other than having all trailer hitting the weigh stations, and the vehicle weight (sort of)

everywhere in the country except for the west coast we are allowed to tow the same or close to ther same as other vehicles, and everything just flows so much better, he'll I've towed my 5th wheel all the way across the country with the cruise set at 75 without issue, just like many many many other people.

 

[clutchslip]

Any trailer with 2 or more axles are already required to have some form of brakes on at least one axle, depending on what the trailer gvwr is, the tires/axles/brakes are all built to suit. (I.e. tires/wheels are bigger, bigger axles Yada yada)

there are already laws on everything you've post, other than having all trailer hitting the weigh stations, and the vehicle weight (sort of)

everywhere in the country except for the west coast we are allowed to tow the same or close to ther same as other vehicles, and everything just flows so much better, he'll I've towed my 5th wheel all the way across the country with the cruise set at 75 without issue, just like many many many other people.

Not all states have the same rules. Here: AAA trailer speeds in U.S. And 55 is close to 65, is it not? I can still go 55 in a 55 in CA. That never made sense to me.
Subtle differences in my post. I said brakes on all trailers. And axles/tires maybe should be improved on smaller trailers, for the higher speeds. The rules may need adjusting and more enforcement. That is my point. Not that there are no rules.

I don't think I have ever seen a study that breaks out towing accidents specifically. It would be helpful at this point.

 

[rkorner]

Not all states have the same rules. Here: AAA trailer speeds in U.S. And 55 is close to 65, is it not? I can still go 55 in a 55 in CA. That never made sense to me.
Subtle differences in my post. I said brakes on all trailers. And axles/tires maybe should be improved on smaller trailers, for the higher speeds. The rules may need adjusting and more enforcement. That is my point. Not that there are no rules.

I don't think I have ever seen a study that breaks out towing accidents specifically. It would be helpful at this point.

Yes all states are a little different but outside of city limits for the most part drivers with trailers are not limited so much. Hell even if drivers were allowed to do 65 without having to worry about getting pulled over for it I think it would be better.

I'm sure there are some things that can be tweaked but for the most part the current rules on trailers are adequate. (Sans the speed limit thing)

as far as the brakes and wheels go it just depends on what the trailer is made for. No one is going to put a 10k rated axle on an 8ft trailer meant to haul a couple motorcycles or jet skis or anything under 5k. Yeah there are idiots that do really stupid stuff (I'll be the first to admit I've done some retarded stuff with trailers.) But making laws for the lowest denominator is getting out of hand.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

When getting on the highway, and trying to merge, with a truck in the way, it creates problems more often than not.

But it seems that most drivers in the area like to merge at 45 mph and immediately dive for the #1 lane...