Towing and your licence
Whether you can legally tow a trailer, caravan or horsebox in Ireland depends on the weights on the plates, not on how heavy the trailer looks. Get it wrong and you could be driving without a valid licence, which can also affect your insurance.
A full car licence covers light towing. Heavier combinations need code 96 on your licence or a separate category BE, which has its own learner permit and driving test.
By the end of this topic you can
- You can explain what a full category B licence lets you tow.
- You can say when code 96 or category BE is needed.
- You can explain why a category B learner permit holder cannot tow.
- You can list the steps to get a BE licence.
- You can check a trailer's plate and your car's towing limits before hitching up.
What you need to know and understand
- A category B learner permit holder may not tow any trailer, whatever its size.
- A full B licence covers a trailer with a maximum authorised mass (MAM) of up to 750 kg.
- It also covers a heavier trailer if the car and trailer together have a MAM of no more than 3,500 kg.
- Code 96 on a B licence allows a trailer over 750 kg where the combined MAM is no more than 4,250 kg.
- Category BE covers a category B vehicle with a trailer of up to 3,500 kg MAM; minimum learner permit age is 17.
- MAM is the plated maximum weight, not what the trailer happens to weigh today.
- Even when your licence allows it, you must not exceed your car's own towing capacity.
What each licence lets you tow
Add the plated MAM of the car to the plated MAM of the trailer to get the combined figure. The car's figure is on its plate or in the handbook; the trailer's is on its statutory plate.
- Category B learner permit: no trailer at all.
- Full category B: trailer up to 750 kg MAM, or a heavier trailer if car plus trailer MAM is 3,500 kg or less.
- Category B with code 96: trailer over 750 kg where car plus trailer MAM is over 3,500 kg but no more than 4,250 kg.
- Category BE: trailer up to 3,500 kg MAM behind a category B vehicle.
- Heavier than that: a trailer over 3,500 kg behind a car or van falls under C1E, which is a truck category.
Getting a BE licence
- Make sure you have passed the category B (BW) theory test. If your first car learner permit was issued before the theory test started on 25 April 2001, you must pass it now.
- Apply to the NDLS for a BE learner permit.
- Practise only when accompanied by someone who has held a full licence in the same category for more than two years, and not on motorways.
- Display L plates while learning.
- Pass the BE driving test. It takes about 50 minutes and includes uncoupling and recoupling the trailer and a reverse from the left or right.
- Apply for your full BE licence within two years of passing.
Common mistakes
- Towing on a car learner permit. It is not allowed, even for a small trailer.
- Using the trailer's weight on the day instead of its plated MAM. The law uses the plated figure.
- Forgetting to add the car's MAM. The 3,500 kg test is for car and trailer combined.
- Assuming a big 4×4 means a big licence entitlement. The vehicle's capacity and your licence are separate limits.
- Practising for BE on a motorway. BE learners must stay off motorways.
Test yourself: Towing and your licence
Answer each question, then read the explanation. Questions come in a random order each time.
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Sources: RSA Driving licence categories in Ireland (rsa.ie); RSA Get qualified: Car and light van with trailer BE (rsa.ie); RSA Light trailers: Laws on using light trailers and Towing and vehicle towing capacity (rsa.ie); An Garda Siochana advice on towing, as reported in Irish farming press (garda.ie). Independent guide, not affiliated with any licensing agency. Always check the latest official rules with the RSA.