Towing regulations

I looked the link with length and all I can say is I pulled 53ft trailers nation wide, excluding AK & HI. 75ft over all and never bothered on length. There are roads with length restrictions, check a trucker Atlas.

LWiddis made an interesting comment. With the thousands of laws in each and every state we all break laws and on a daily basis.

Lwiddis wrote:
So if you don’t get caught and cited, or the chances are low, it’s ok to violate another state’s laws?

In a word, yup.

The difference of being caught for over length, too much weight V. something like speeding is with a speeding ticket you sign it and on down the road you go. Over length you have to correct it before you can move on down the road

drsteve wrote:
Cops are generally not going to pull you over just for driving down the road and whip out a tape measure. If you happen to crash and cause serious damage/injury, they might be more inclined to look at possible noncompliance.

Probably not even then. The only time I can see it mattering is if you get yourself wedged in somewhere and can't make a corner and end up blocking a road. Then the tape may come out to question why you didn't fit.

Dont know how factual it is, so I definitely wouldn't use it as a defense, but..... I, at one time, had a LEO tell me that trailer length is measured from the farthest point of the tow vehicle ie rear bumper. It made sense when he said it because the longer 5th wheels are usually right at 44 feet (approx 4 feet over TV) and bumper pulls usually top out in the 36' range (add tongue and hitch). Again, dont know if its fact or not, but I couldn't see every RV manufacture blatantly violating the law by selling an illegal product.

Hoppy220 wrote:
I couldn't see every RV manufacture blatantly violating the law by selling an illegal product.

I can! Lots of products commonly sold are illegal or improper.
Bike racks with bikes on frequently cover license plates, and that’s illegal.
A 36-foot bumper pull trailer might get hitched to a 40-foot motorhome. That ends up over-length.
RV manufacturers slap together whatever they can make money selling. It’s up to the user to do what’s right.

burningman wrote:

Hoppy220 wrote:
I couldn't see every RV manufacture blatantly violating the law by selling an illegal product.

I can! Lots of products commonly sold are illegal or improper.
Bike racks with bikes on frequently cover license plates, and that’s illegal.
A 36-foot bumper pull trailer might get hitched to a 40-foot motorhome. That ends up over-length.
RV manufacturers slap together whatever they can make money selling. It’s up to the user to do what’s right.

Poor analogies..... bike racks come with license plate relocation brackets. User is responsible for using the brackets, not the manufacturer. The 36’ bumper pull is legal, the manufacturer has no control of the fact it may be hitched to a motor home, again both examples above are improper usage of a perfectly legal products.

Law enforcement generally needs a "moving violation" to pull you over for, such as speeding, or erratic driving, or a tail light out. That's not to say they can't or won't make something up, but length is going to be the LAST thing on the cop's mind as he watches you cruise on by.

The only thing that might change his mind is if your trailer has graphics depicting a 1:1 scale tape measure on the side, clearly showing the length of the trailer, and clearly showing that it is over legal length. In that case you did it to yourself...

According to RVIA the shortest maximum truck/camper combo is 55 feet for Maryland and the District of Columbia, all other states are at least 60-82 feet for the combo.