TOWING DINGIES SAFELY

Like all things in life, we humans have to balance our desires against the risks of financial and personal loss. Maybe it is too risky to have a large dingy. This article outlines the various considerations on the size and weight of towed vehicles.

Motorhomes weigh three to eight times more than vehicles most of us have experience driving. They tip the scales at 7 to 15 tons and require significantly different driving habits than most of us have used for most of our lives. They don't start, turn, and stop as responsively as a 3000 to 5000 pound car. Truck and Bus drivers get specialized training so that they can drive heavy vehicles safely. They must also pass commercial drivers license test periodically and get a physical every two years. Most of us don't get any training to drive the motorhome, we just get in and drive. Whether RV's should be considered as commercial vehicles and therefore require a commercial license to operate, is the subject of a different article that one of us should write.

When the weight of a car, in the form of a dingy, is added to the weight of a motor home, responsiveness gets worse. This additional weight is perhaps pushing the situation to unsafe and perhaps illegal conditions. We can usually compensate for the lack of starting, and maybe slow down a little in the turns because we don't want to break the dishes as they fall out of the cabinets. The big problem is when a "stopping emergency" comes up. Increasing following distance from a car's 2 seconds to the recommended 5 seconds as specified in commercial drivers exams, will definitely help us have enough time to slow for a stupid driver who cuts off our path. But then we get frustrated when people continually fill the hole that is created when we increase this following distance. This forces us to move further and further behind. Even driving safely, there are still times when we just have to lay on the brakes and get stopped. Emergency stopping a motorhome is tough. The most difficult stopping situations happen at highway speeds going down steep grades. Momentum and gravity combine to provide a real driving challenge. Dingies simply make all stopping situations more difficult.

Personal safety of those riding with us or driving near us is of primary concern, but there are at least two other concerns to deal with. Those are legal and financial. Lets first talk legal. Most states in the US and provinces of Canada have loosely enforced laws limiting the weight of towed vehicles (dingies) to 3000 lb. unless they have on board brakes and break-away detection and activation. State Regulations for towed vehicle weight (that which is being towed) without supplemental brakes vary from as low as 1000 lbs to 4400 lbs.  Therefore, for those of us who travel in more than one State, it would be wise to just have a supplemental brake installed to be ‘Safe and Legal’ in any State we happen to be driving in. These laws are satisfied with electric brakes on trailer and fifth wheels where the on brake controller in the tow vehicle operates the service brakes under normal conditions and the break-away activates the electric brakes using a battery that is in the trailer or fifth wheel. Commercial vehicles have similar designs for service and break-away braking. As some of you might have heard, British Columbia Canada is now aggressively enforcing their 1400 kg (3014 lb.) limit and are issuing citations for violations. They also force the disconnection of the dingy at the time of the ticket. It must be driven separately out of BC. There are only a few dingies that weigh less than 3000 lb., and none that have break-away safely brakes. Most of us are therefore breaking the law and risk punishment if caught. Towing with a dolly only makes the problem worse because of the additional weight and safety lighting required.

Now lets talk financial. Suppose that we get into an accident where stopping the vehicles becomes a significant part of deciding who's liable for the loss. The loss could be significant - that's why we all carry high limit liability insurance. If it can be shown that the overweight laws were violated, then it might implicate the dingy owner as the liable party. It's difficult to blame the manufacturer of the motor home or the chassis, since they have disclaimers stating that no more than 1500 lb. can be towed behind their chassis without onboard brakes. This is the case for Ford, Chevrolet, and Freightliner. I am researching the others. The Gross Combined Weight (GCW) and Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) legal definition, comes from commercial vehicles designations and do not apply to the safe operation of a motorhome. The GCW and GVW are used by motorhome manufactures to stipulate weight as concerned with warranty of products. If they can show that an owner has significantly overloaded a vehicle, they may choose not to warranty to failed axle or transmission, etc. Each Manufacture states separately how much weight can be towed behind their motorhome. This weight is not necessarily the difference between GCW and GVW.

My argument to you all is to pick the lightest possible dingy and learn how to drive the combined weight safely. Check the owners manual of your motorhome for the towed weight limits, and the owners manual of the dingy for its curb weight and other towed limitations. Lets drive safely and legally out there. In another article, I will outline the merits of the available towed car braking systems.