Do I Really Need A Brake Buddy

rgatijnet1 wrote:

msturtz wrote:
Just a point of fact. A vehicle in tow for legal purposes is in fact a trailer. I can prove why. The state I live in doesn't allow double recreational towing. If as some posters assert that my towed vehicle is not a "trailer" then on trips where I want to bring our boat I should be able to hitch the boat to the vehicle in tow. That way I can bring both the boat and toad. Btw I know I can't I would get pulled over by a LEO in short order. Btw I have a CDL. A trailer is ANYTHING articulated towed behind another vehicle.

Send an email to your State Highway Patrol and get an answer from them about a vehicle in tow behind an RV. Your answer will be the same one that I got. When was the last time you saw a wrecker operator put a supplemental braking system in any vehicle they hooked up to?
Remember that a private RV IS NOT a commercial vehicle.

A wrecker has a specific license and specially equipped vehicle and trained operators to allow them to tow disabled vehicles without supplemental braking. Even they can't legally tow a another trailer behind a toad vehicle. As to asking a local State Highway Patrol officer as to if something is a "trailer" or not is not legally defensible. The reason is they are not attorneys and they have not seen the setup. However, if they see a setup where a vehicle is being towed behind a motorhome they would call it a trailer. In fact, the accident investigators would write a ticket where the weight of the toad exceeded the lower of the motorhome chassis trailer weight for trailer brakes or the state limit for trailers. If you are towing something that something is a trailer regardless of what it is or may be used for when it isn't being towed. I really don't understand the point of not using supplemental brakes on a vehicle in tow. It is just foolish coach manufacturers design their coaches to be able to stop a coach at GVWR not a coach and trailer (or toad) at GCWR. Just to be really clear. A vehicle in tow does NOT meet the legal definition of a motor vehicle in Washington State law:
RCW 47.04.010
(21) "Operator." Every person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle as herein defined;
(19) "Motor vehicle." Every vehicle, as herein defined, which is in itself a self-propelled unit;

Here is Kansas definition of a "trailer":
2014 Kansas Statutes
Chapter 8 AUTOMOBILES AND OTHER VEHICLES
Article 14 UNIFORM ACT REGULATING TRAFFIC; DEFINITIONS
8-1479 "Trailer" defined.
Universal Citation: KS Stat § 8-1479 (2014)
8-1479.?"Trailer" defined. "Trailer" means every vehicle with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying persons or property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle, and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle.
History:?L. 1974, ch. 33, § 8-1479; July 1.

Note: the definition of a motor vehicle it must be powered on its own. When a motor vehicle is being towed it is not "self-propelled" nor does it have an "operator" as defined by the statue. There are very similar statutes in every state.