tow vehicle

bjroadshow wrote:
is it neccessary to have an extra braking system on the tow vehicle

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I'm assuming you are asking if you need an auxiliary braking system on a vehicle you are towing behind a motorhome? Also known as a Toad.

I don't know what the LAW requires in BC (or anywhere in Canada for that matter) but, as others have stated, there are some States that require brakes on the toad.

Regardless of the legalities, the Law of Physics comes into play. An unbraked toad will increase your EMERGENCY stopping distance - period!
How much it increases it will depend on the weight of the toad as a percentage of the weight of the towing vehicle.
If you have a 20,000# motorhome with a 4000# toad behind it, without brakes your "stand on the pedal" stopping distance will increase by 20%. Enough to put you into the back of a semi-trailer or the back seat of the car that stopped in front of you.

Second consideration - if the toad breaks away, what is going to stop it? Let's hope it's a barrier or a tree, not a minivan full of a family of kids.

Bottom line? - get brakes!