Lights and Towing

Introduction
The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 regarding exemptions to Obligatory lighting for vehicles Towing, vehicles being towed or broken down vehicles come under the following:

Vehicles which are towing - Regulation 6(1) and (6)
Vehicles which are being towed - Regulation 6(5)
Broken down vehicles - Regulation 6(7)

For a list of the main requirement exceptions for other motor vehicles and trailers, please see the Requirements page within this section.

Exemptions - Vehicles towing or being towed
Special Concessions for Towed Trailers

Exemptions - Vehicles towing or being towed

No motor vehicle first used before 1st April 1986 and no pedal cycle or trailer manufactured before 1st October 1985 is required by regulation 18 to be fitted with any rear position lamp, stop lamp, rear direction indicator, rear fog lamp or rear reflector whilst a trailer fitted with any such lamp or reflector is attached to its rear.
No trailer manufactured before 1st October 1985 is required by regulation 18 to be fitted with any front position lamp whilst being drawn by a passenger vehicle.
No trailer is required by regulation 18 to be fitted with any stop lamp whilst being drawn by a vehicle which is not required by regulation 18 to be fitted with any such lamp.
Paragraph (3) shall apply respectively to rear fog lamps and direction indicators as it applies to stop lamps.
No trailer manufactured before 1st October 1990 is required by regulation 18 to be fitted with any stop lamp or direction indicator whilst being drawn by a motor vehicle fitted with one or two stop lamps and two or more direction indicators if the dimensions of the trailer are such that when the longitudinal axes of the drawing vehicle and the trailer lie in the same vertical plane such stop lamps and at last one direction indicator on each side of the vehicle are visible to an observer in that vertical plane from a point 6 m behind the rear of the trailer whether it is loaded or not.
No rear marking is required to be fitted to any vehicle by regulation 18 if another vehicle in a combination of which it forms part would obscure any such marking.
Where a broken down vehicle is being drawn by another vehicle:
(a) regulations 18 and 23 shall not apply to the broken down vehicle between sunrise and sunset, and
(b) between sunset and sunrise those regulations shall apply to the broken down vehicle only in respect of rear position lamps and reflectors.
The references in paragraphs (3) and (4) to a vehicle which is required to be fitted with a lamp shall be construed as if paragraph (1) did not have effect.

Special Concessions for Towed Trailers

Type	Exceptions
Rear Markings	An agricultural vehicle, a works truck or engineering plant first used before 1 April 1986; A vehicle first used before 1 January 1940; A home forces vehicle or trailer; A vehicle or trailer constructed or adapted for: fire fighting or fire salvage; servicing or controlling aircraft; heating and dispensing tar or other material for the construction or maintenance of roads; or transporting two or more vehicles or vehicle bodies or two or more boats. A trailer manufactured before 1 August 1982 of unladen weight not exceeding 1,020kg; A trailer of maximum gross weight not exceeding 3,500kg; An agricultural vehicle, a works trailer or engineering plant; A trailer drawn by a bus; A trailer constructed or adapted for carrying asphalt or macadam, being mixing or drying plant, or heating and dispensing tar or other material for the construction or maintenance of roads. Rear markings may be fitted optionally ONLY to exempt vehicles.

Type

Exceptions

Rear Markings

An agricultural vehicle, a works truck or engineering plant first used before 1 April 1986;
A vehicle first used before 1 January 1940;
A home forces vehicle or trailer;

A vehicle or trailer constructed or adapted for:

fire fighting or fire salvage;
servicing or controlling aircraft;
heating and dispensing tar or other material for the construction or maintenance of roads; or
transporting two or more vehicles or vehicle bodies or two or more boats.

A trailer manufactured before 1 August 1982 of unladen weight not exceeding 1,020kg;
A trailer of maximum gross weight not exceeding 3,500kg;
An agricultural vehicle, a works trailer or engineering plant;
A trailer drawn by a bus;
A trailer constructed or adapted for carrying asphalt or macadam, being mixing or drying plant, or heating and dispensing tar or other material for the construction or maintenance of roads.

Rear markings may be fitted optionally ONLY to exempt vehicles.

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