Electric Breaks and the law

jarata1 wrote:
I live in Massachusetts and just bought a used trailer.The weight of the travel trailer is 1600 pounds.I do have electric breaks but the suv I'll be towing them with doesn't have the setup for them.
My question is I brought the trailer into a dealer to go through it.He said if you have electric breaks on camper they must be hooked up and you must also have a battery backup or you will get pulled over and ticketed.
Looking at mass law they say a trailer is required to have electric breaks if it's over 3000 pounds my trailer isn't even close to that
So who's right do I have to get them hooked up like dealer says?

NO. You cannot tow this trailer without the brakes operational.

It doesnt matter what it weighs right now, it matters what the Gross weight rating is, and how its registered with the State. So yes, you must have the brakes connected when towing.

Regarding the break-away cable RoyB was mentioning...his statements are not accurate. You could tow a trailer with electric brakes and still have the cable hooked on to the TV and as long as their is a charged battery on the trailer...the break away switch will activate the trailer brakes when pulled.

As for a "LEO" just casually driving by, the odds they are looking for your break away cable and being able to see it as a driver going 55-65mph on your left side...is highly unlikely!

Heck, even if the break away switch didnt work (no power, broken, no wiring, or whatever)...why would you not connect the cable anyway? What else would you do with it?

Anyway...while you could tow this light TT without brakes, it would be a little risky if you did happen to have an accident without functional trailer brakes...and you knowingly avoided connecting them.