Is a toad a trailer?

Section 156 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law defines a trailer as:

“Any vehicle not propelled by its own power, drawn on the public highways by a motor vehicle as defined in section one hundred twenty-five operated thereon, except motorcycle side cars, vehicles being towed by a non-rigid support and vehicles designed and primarily used for other purposes and only occasionally drawn by such a motor vehicle.”

The "...vehicles being towed by a non-rigid support and vehicles designed and primarily used for other purposes and only occasionally drawn by such a motor vehicle." portion makes it pretty clear that NY at least, does not class a toad as a "trailer".

klutchdust wrote:
While driving across the fruited plain this week from Kansas to California an interesting thought came up. I was driving an Entegra class A towing a 1500 Chev. 4 down. As we hit the Ca. border the speed limit decreases to 55 IF you are towing a TRAILER. Up until then it was 75 all the way. Discuss amongst yourselves.


trail·er
?tr?l?r/Submit
noun
1.
an unpowered vehicle towed by another, in particular.

Yes, that's the dictionaries way of explaining it. But, when it comes to Department of Motor Vehicles for each and every state, the description will vary from state to state. As usual, one has to be sumacumlaud to interpret most of what's written in these manuals. And even then, it's subjectable. California and it's 55 mph rule has been a pain in the a$$ for decades. Every trucker who's ever set a tire in that state, hates it with a passion. About 99.999% of trailer towers, including RVs, and US MOTORCYCLE DRIVERS TOWING TRAILERS, all think it's totally worthless.

But, it is what it is and, either take a chance driving faster or, don't complain when you get bit. As for whether or not a toad is a trailer, again, in some cases, it is purely defined and straight to the point. But that's rare.
Scott

On the plus side, it's also a "trailer" when you pull into a campground, so you shouldn't be charged for an extra vehicle.

Norm

In general anytime you are pulling something wheeled behind you I would believe it is towing. And if you take into consideration the oppurtunity to extract money from an individual for the purpose of supporting the state, the answer becomes an emphatic YES.
And in thinking about this possibility, I wonder how long it will be before some state government decides they want BIG evil carbon spewing vehicles to pay, so lets start ticketing the ones towing a vehicle without a seperate specific trailer plate, instead of a vehicle registration plate.
Some petty beauracrat will probably try it one day.

It doesn't matter. California uses words "towed vehicle" in the code. See http://www.eyershitch.com/california-towing-laws.html