Towing without a car braking system??

I've got one and always will for a simple reason: Liability: Should I ever be involved in a serious accident (my fault or not) I don't want to be in court explaining why I didn't meet the states or Canadian requirements.

It also helps with an unexpected sudden braking situation and also ensures I meet the requirements during my travels.

My late husband and I towed a Blazer with our Foretravel DP for years without auxiliary brakes.

holstein13 wrote:
It seems silly to have a supplemental braking system on a toad when your coach has so much stopping power. But I've got it anyway.

I think the real value is if the toad ever gets disconnected. I'd hate to see my truck travel for a long distance and potentially injure someone. So from that perspective, I'm happy to have it.

I agree and I use one also, BUT, I will not leave the toad behind or make my wife drive it and follow the RV, IF the brake system ever fails, which they occasionally do. I know that I am legally allowed to continue my journey, with the vehicle in tow, until I repair my auxiliary brake system or get home.

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Your gross COMBINED vehicle weight rating (GCWR) means that your coach's engine, transmission, and braking system is designed to handle that amount of COMBINED weight, including your coach, your load, and anything in tow.
The towed braking system MAY allow your vehicle to stop a little quicker in an emergency situation.

Okay, I don't want to be the brake Nazi, but this statement is not at all accurate. If this were true then travel trailers and 5th wheels would not need brakes unless the people towing them exceeded the GCWR of their tow vehicle. Are you going to tow an 18,000 pound 5th wheel behind a 1 ton truck with no brakes on the trailer?

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I have not found one single state that required auxiliary braking on a "vehicle in tow". All of the responses I received were almost exactly the same as this one from Florida:

A vehicle towed behind a motor home would be exempt from the braking requirements in Florida statute 316.261 as a drive away, tow away operation. Please contact me if you have any other questions.

Lt. Jeff Frost
Florida Highway Patrol
Public Affairs Officer
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
2900 Apalachee Parkway, MS 45
850-617-2279
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
www.flhsmv.gov/fhp
Jefffrost@flhsmv.gov

I can guaranty that every company that sells braking systems will say that Florida REQUIRES a braking system but they cleverly fail to mention that the braking system is for trailers, which a toad is NOT. Do not confuse the two things being towed.
SOME states, such as California, only require a braking system if the combined vehicles CANNOT stop within a specified distance at a certain speed. This distance is fairly long and most RV's with properly operating brakes can bring everything to a halt well within the distance specified.

This is not correct either. Florida, like most other states including California, uses a braking performance chart to decide whether you need aux brakes or not. See 316.262 of the Florida codes. If your combination of vehicles can perform in accordance with the charts you do not need aux brakes. This is a near impossible law to enforce as the Highway Patrol is not going to make you drive down the road and slam on your brakes and measure the stopping distance.

Your reply from Lt. Frost is specific to "Drive away-Tow away" operations. That refers to commercial towing operators but even per the statute, they still have to be able to meet the same braking performance charts. So it's not relevant anyway.

msmith1199 wrote:

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I have not found one single state that required auxiliary braking on a "vehicle in tow". All of the responses I received were almost exactly the same as this one from Florida:

A vehicle towed behind a motor home would be exempt from the braking requirements in Florida statute 316.261 as a drive away, tow away operation. Please contact me if you have any other questions.

Lt. Jeff Frost
Florida Highway Patrol
Public Affairs Officer
Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
2900 Apalachee Parkway, MS 45
850-617-2279
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
www.flhsmv.gov/fhp
Jefffrost@flhsmv.gov

I can guaranty that every company that sells braking systems will say that Florida REQUIRES a braking system but they cleverly fail to mention that the braking system is for trailers, which a toad is NOT. Do not confuse the two things being towed.
SOME states, such as California, only require a braking system if the combined vehicles CANNOT stop within a specified distance at a certain speed. This distance is fairly long and most RV's with properly operating brakes can bring everything to a halt well within the distance specified.

This is not correct either. Florida, like most other states including California, uses a braking performance chart to decide whether you need aux brakes or not. See 316.262 of the Florida codes. If your combination of vehicles can perform in accordance with the charts you do not need aux brakes. This is a near impossible law to enforce as the Highway Patrol is not going to make you drive down the road and slam on your brakes and measure the stopping distance.

Your reply from Lt. Frost is specific to "Drive away-Tow away" operations. That refers to commercial towing operators but even per the statute, they still have to be able to meet the same braking performance charts. So it's not relevant anyway.

With all due respect, I save my emails from the states that I sent an inquire. Since I know that you were a former policeman I would be more than happy to forward the entire email, including my question and the officer's answer. At no time did I use the Commercial word and I specifically said a Class A motor home. Here is the question that I asked:
To: FHP
Subject: Vehicle towed behind an RV

Is an automobile towed behind a Class A motor home considered a trailer, which must have supplemental braking and a break away safety switch, or does it have some other classification that DOES NOT require a supplemental braking system.

As an example, I forwarded the same question to several other states and this is representative of the responses. This is from Connecticut and like Florida, it includes the person's name and phone number for anyone to call that disagrees:
"I concur with FL and CT would treat it the same way."

Respectfully,
Donald Bridge, Jr., Lieutenant
CT Dept. of Motor Vehicles
Commercial Vehicle Safety Division
60 State Street
Wethersfield, CT 06161
Phone: (860) 263-5446
Fax: (860) 263-5587

A supplemental braking system in a panic stop will shorten the braking distance of any RV/toad combination.

Regardless of the email and whether it's correct or not, (notice the FHP officer's title, Public Relations/Commercial Enforcement), having or not having aux brakes is a safety feature. As such, your domicile State's law regarding such is not applicable. Reciprocity agreements DO NOT pertain to safety issues. So while you may not need one in Florida you will need one in California...etc....Dennis

rgatijnet1 the information he gave you was wrong. Read the statutes for yourself. I gave you the numbers. Florida has a braking performance requirement and that is the same law most states use. I don't know if the performance measurements are all the same, but most states use this same type of law. If there were no braking performance charts in Florida, then it would be perfectly legal to tow your 35 foot DP behind your Jeep Wrangler and not have brakes on the DP. Now I am being absurd, but you get the point. If your toad was a 1 ton Chev 4x4 crew cab extended bed pickup, and your motorhome was a 25 foot gas powered class A, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you can't meet the requirements of the braking performance chart under Florida law and you would have to have aux brakes on the toad to be legal in Florida.

Executive wrote:
Regardless of the email and whether it's correct or not, (notice the FHP officer's title, Public Relations/Commercial Enforcement), having or not having aux brakes is a safety feature. As such, your domicile State's law regarding such is not applicable. Reciprocity agreements DO NOT pertain to safety issues. So while you may not need one in Florida you will need one in California...etc....Dennis

Obviously you do not believe me but the response from California said almost exactly what msmith1199 said:
Florida, like most other states including California, uses a braking performance chart to decide whether you need aux brakes or not. See 316.262 of the Florida codes. If your combination of vehicles can perform in accordance with the charts you do not need aux brakes. This is a near impossible law to enforce as the Highway Patrol is not going to make you drive down the road and slam on your brakes and measure the stopping distance.

I always get arguments whenever I post this stuff but NO ONE has ever made the own inquires and posted their responses, along with the person's name and phone number for all to verify.