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When you are towing, your caravan makes it impossible to use your car's rear view mirror, therefore you will need some towing mirrors. Your mirrors for towing must not project more than 200mm beyond the widest part of your car or caravan. Although for any cars sold after 26th January 2007 this is now 250mm.
As we have received so many questions regarding the law and towing mirrors, we decided to ask towing mirror manufacturer Milenco. This is what they had to say:
"We are awaiting further clarification of many points of laws and it is without doubt a fluid situation as a result of DOT contradicting information previously supplied to us and the clubs.
None of this has been tried in a court of law so every point could be argued.
The advice we have given as a manufacturer ensures the law will not be broken, and is on the side of caution as this is a safety critical area.
We expect this subject will run in the clubs for months.
Bottom line is, do you want to use mirrors to the 1971 standard or the 2003 standard.
We believe every car made since 2005 already has door mirrors made to the 2003 standard and it seems to us ridiculous to use mirrors not made to any standard or even the 37 year old standard."
It is also a legal requirement that any caravan mirror must be type approved and e-marked. Your caravan dealer or caravan accessory shop should be able to help you to purchase the correct towing mirrors.
There are many different types of mirrors and different ways of fixing them to your car. Again, your caravan accessory shop should be able to help you and will probably allow you to try them on your car before you buy them.
You can buy caravan mirrors with clamps to fix them on to your car mirrors, stretchy rubber bands which fit around the back of your car mirror, or even a mirror with a suction pad (although we're not sure how long this would stay on for at high speeds!).
You can buy either a flat glass mirror or a convex mirror. The convex mirror will obviously provide a wider field of vision but it is down to personal preference as to which you buy.
Remember, try the mirrors on your car before you buy them to check they fit as not all mirrors fit every car. Most caravan accessory shops would prefer you to get the right mirrors the first time, rather than you having to take some back for an exchange.
Also, remember to check that the mirrors are type approved and e-marked.
We use flat glass mirrors which fix on to our car mirrors using the stretchy rubber bands, which we cross over diagonally at the back to ensure a snug fit. We have always used these mirrors and find them extremely easy to fit and have very good vision of behind the car and caravan.
Please contact us if you have some Towing Mirrors which you would like to recommend to others.
We have just received the following e-mail from Joan - I can thoroughly recommend the stick on towing mirrors. They stick really well to the glass of my ordinary wing mirrors and can be adjusted by the electric mechanism that moves my car wing mirrors rather than having to be adjusted by hand as the other type have to be. As I do all my caravanning on my own, this makes it so much easier as I have no one to adjust the left hand mirror for me whilst I am in the driving seat. Having used both types I would now never go back to the type that attach to the wing mirror surround rather than the glass. Well worth the extra expense and much easier to use. Thanks for contacting us and recommending some towing mirrors Joan, and we say well done for towing and caravanning on your own!! |
Look around at the mirrors other caravanners use and ask their advice. Caravanners are very friendly people and love to be asked!
