mowermech wrote:
D.E.Bishop wrote:
Just curious, if as I believed it is, CA auxiliary brake law is a performance law, ie, Must be able to stop in X - Distance at Y - Speed and I can pass that test, am I legal to tow without an auxiliary brake system in the other 48 continental states?
As those of us from CA know, the test is very expensive to administer and, therefore, most combinations of RV and Towed are safe in CA. If I were in say, be in New York and towing my Sidekick without an auxiliary system, does NY law rule or does CA law rule.
Just wondering, not worried, just wondering.
Legal in other states? Maybe.
CA is a little more liberal in that the distance within which you must be able to stop is 45 feet, IIRC. Many other states require stopping within 40 feet, as does FMVSS.
At least one state requires that the driver of a towing unit must have control over the brakes on the towed unit. All electric brake controllers that I know of have a manual control on them. Surge brakes, however, have only minimal driver control. Does this mean that surge type brakes are illegal in that state? I don't know if it has ever been brought out in court.
Generally speaking, Reciprocity Agreements between the various states cover only driver's licensing, vehicle registration, and insurance. Equipment rules (brakes, tires extending beyond the body, lights, etc.) are not covered by Reciprocity. So, technically, if your state requires brakes on only one axle of a tandem axle trailer, that trailer would be illegal to use in Montana. In your example, if the braking performance law in New York requires stopping within 40 feet, and you met the CA guidelines by being able to stop in 43.5 feet, you would not be legal in New York.
This post is not intended to start an argument, it is just what I have learned since my post on 11-19-17. mowermech is correct regarding reciprocity laws. Equipment laws are generally the providence of the Federal Government and while I have not been able to verify the following, it has been indicated that if a motorized vehicle meets the braking laws of the registered state that those laws apply for the entire country.
Regarding braking tests, the legal requirements are so complex that it is ridicules. In CA, the law states from 20 mph an RV towing a motorized vehicle must stop within 50 at a speed of 20 mph. Highway traffic and safety engineers over the years have developed general guidelines that are accepted as standards. Those guidelines set certain standards of street conditions, tire type and weather and on and on. So those standards say that an average car can or should be able to stop at 20 mph within 19 feet. Their standards do not suggest that a heavy vehicle like a 30 foot RV can perform at that level. The State of California must agree because they allow 2.5 times that standard for a RV that is probably at 3 times the weight of an average car.
A LEO speaking in another forum has stated that in determining cause and responsibility, laws other than the stopping distance will be used in assigning blame because the exact conditions that existed at the time of an accident cannot be duplicated later, if at all. That is one reason a LEO's testimony is allowed to be based in part "On his professional opinion".
The California VC section involved is Sec. 26454.
With all due respect to everyone, common sense in not so common and each of us must make our own decisions and be held accountable for those decisions.
We are changing toweds again and the cost of a supplemental braking system will be included in the purchase price, including the outrageous installation cost of approximately $700. So as far as I am concerned, it has been laid to rest.
