OHTA.ca

We have a vehicle which needs to go to a repair shop before it can be licensed. The shop is 10km away. Can a licensed vehicle tow it to the shop? We are hoping to avoid paying for a lift truck to transport it.

Along the same lines, would the laws be different if a farm tractor or other slow moving vehicle were doing the towing? This is a rural property.

Thanks.

no, even a trailer needs a permit, and you're towing a sedan

You can go get temporary permit I think from MTO.

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice and will get the lift truck. Cheers.

I disagree...the towed car is not a trailer...As per the definition of "trailer" in the Highway Traffic Act:

"trailer means a vehicle that is at any time drawn upon a highway by a motor vehicle, except an implement of husbandry, a mobile home another motor vehicle or any device or apparatous not designed to transport persons or property..." You can tow a car with a car or truck as long as the towed vehicle has a properly licenced person behind the wheel...

screeech wrote:I disagree...the towed car is not a trailer...As per the definition of "trailer" in the Highway Traffic Act:

"trailer means a vehicle that is at any time drawn upon a highway by a motor vehicle, except an implement of husbandry, a mobile home another motor vehicle or any device or apparatous not designed to transport persons or property..." You can tow a car with a car or truck as long as the towed vehicle has a properly licenced person behind the wheel...

Does that still apply if your using a tow dolly ... Below is an answer I found on another forum from an MTO enforcement officer .

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When a vehicle is on a dolly/trailer. The trailer ITSELF is considered as a vehicle, the car on it is considered as a load. Trailers in this province does not need to be insured but must be plated. However standard trailer regulation applies. Anything over 1360KG has to have its own braking system. Regardless if it's a tow dolly or a flat-trailer itself. Some tow dollys have surge hydraulic brakes.

When you tow a vehicle w/a tow bar, the car itself is considered as a trailer which means it must be plated but not necessary insured. Again the brake rule I mentioned above applies. That's why a lot of RV + tow-bar cars have to have their cars retro fitted w/a electricly activated plunger that presses on the car's brake pedle to stop/slow the car down when you hit the brakes on the RV. A lot of PITA which is why tow dollys are invented.

Reminds me of an old lucy show

The renter said trailer brakes first lol

Some tow dolly's have plates but most don't. I have never heard of a driver getting a ticket for not having a plated tow dolly. I am sure the vehicle being towed by the dolly does not need to be plated. A trailer does not require insurance on it as the insurance coverage will come from the towing unit. The whole 1360Kg thing is usually in reference to cargo trailers...

Nanuk wrote:

screeech wrote:

When a vehicle is on a dolly/trailer. The trailer ITSELF is considered as a vehicle, the car on it is considered as a load. Trailers in this province does not need to be insured but must be plated. However standard trailer regulation applies. Anything over 1360KG has to have its own braking system. Regardless if it's a tow dolly or a flat-trailer itself. Some tow dollys have surge hydraulic brakes.

When you tow a vehicle w/a tow bar, the car itself is considered as a trailer which means it must be plated but not necessary insured. Again the brake rule I mentioned above applies. That's why a lot of RV + tow-bar cars have to have their cars retro fitted w/a electricly activated plunger that presses on the car's brake pedle to stop/slow the car down when you hit the brakes on the RV. A lot of PITA which is why tow dollys are invented.

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I tow a vehicle behind a motor home and in Ontario supplemental braking systems are not required. This is copied from MTO requirements:

Brake Requirements

Service brakes are required on house trailers if the trailer's axle(s) transmit more than 1,360 kgs (3,000 lbs) to the road when the trailer is attached to the towing vehicle. This applies to cases where the trailer is loaded or empty. If brakes are required, at least one axle of the trailer must be fitted with brakes.

Brakes are not required on towed motor vehicles, whether towed with a tow bar or on a dolly. Tow dollies do not require brakes whether or not the dolly is carrying a motor vehicle.

House trailers with electric or hydraulic brakes are not required to have trailer breakaway braking devices or parking brakes while being towed in Ontario. Breakaway devices may be required in other Canadian provinces, the US and Mexico. Please contact those jurisdictions for their requirements.

I use a supplemental braking system for obvious safety reason and the fact that I travel through jurisdictions that require them.

This has turned into an educational thread for all with added bits of information as we go along. The power of the online forum !