# A-frame Towing in France



## Bacchus

Has anybody had any bad experiences towing with an A-frame in France. I'm thinking here of getting stopped by the Police. Both my wife and I can drive so I'm prepared to take the risk but how risky is it? My understanding is that if the country of origin (UK) allows it then it's OK in Europe but I have heard the the Germans don't allow it but things are less certain elsewhere


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## javea

Well I have towed a Smart on an A frame in France a few times, have passed Gendarmes doing speed checks, have been passed by quite a few on the motorways and never had a problem.


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## asprn

Bacchus said:


> My understanding is that if the country of origin (UK) allows it then it's OK in Europe but I have heard the the Germans don't allow it but things are less certain elsewhere


Reciprocity applies as you mention. In general terms, if you're complying with UK traffic legislation when driving in Europe, you will not commit an offence in another member states. All sorts of rumours and scary stories, but if you take the trouble to research even this site and read through other forum members' accounts of A-framing, you'll find that almost (if not entirely) no-one has been "deal with" purely for towing a car on an A-frame.

"I have heard" is the worst thing to base your decisions on.  Research is easily available - Google and MHF are your friends.

Dougie.


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## ruffingitsmoothly

Never ever had a problem towing our car in France.

Regards Pat


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## seanoo

hi all, a frame towing is now legal in france so i dont think your going to have any problems! i am in spain at the moment and just returned from morocco where i met 20 odd french a framers. they mostly had towtal frames and there are three centres in france for fitting them. the dutch and swiss are a framing also, but as you said the germans are still not permitted, although we have never had any problems in germany. hope this helps seanoo


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## Rapide561

*Towing*

Hi

I did not have any problems in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland or Italy.

Russell


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## des

have had no problems in france, germany, holland, luxemburg or belgium in 4 different trips


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## DJP

Had only one small problem in France. That was at the Mont Blanc tunnel where they wanted me to unhitch, as they would not accept the fact it was a trailer I was towing. They did however concede and said I could tow it through the tunnel if they treated me as a Convoy Exceptional and pay over 200 euro (1 way) for the pleasure! I unhitched and paid 80 euro. Other than that, NO problems in France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belguim, Luxembourg, Andorra, Netherlands and Italy. Many 1000's of miles over many trips.


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## peedee

seanoo said:


> hi all, a frame towing is now legal in france


Towtal's web site has a section in French about this. As far as I can make out it looks like it is beginning to be * officially *acknowledged across the EEC.

To quote Towtal with the help of Babel:

The A-Frame of the motorhommer is on the way to conquer Europe. Positively received by the Police force of the Netherlands, under discussion in Germany, accepted by the Spanish authorities, the request for this malignant system advances from one dimension to another of the continent - and the Towtal A-Frame is the only one of its kind to be certified to conform to the standards of the European Community and now it is available in France.

Hope the translation is not that bad! :wink:

peedee


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## Briarose

Hi we haven't towed abroad yet, but recently had the tow bar, and a frame fitted to our smart car at Armitages of Ferrybridge, Yorks and they have given us several pages in different languages to produce if ever we were stopped abroad explaining that we are on holiday and that the a frame etc is legal in our country so therefore is whilst on holiday there, it also says something about being classed as a trailer etc. they put two red triangles in the back of the smart, and I think it also refers to them.............sorry don't have the paperwork to hand for exact quotes.

The gentleman at Armitages more or less said what you have in your original post, that because it is legal here it would be there whilst on holiday.


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## DJP

> that because it is legal here it would be there whilst on holiday.


I would not go as far as saying it is legal here, but there again I would not say it was illegal either :roll:


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## coljon

*towing with a-frame*

We are at present in a campsite near Toulouse on our way to Eastern France.
We travelled from St Malo to Calpe in Spain in April, returning from there on 2nd May. Just south of Teruel we were stopped by the Guardia Traffico and told our a-frame was illegal. We showed them the letter from Car-a-Tow, but it was dismissed as of no value. We were fined 42€ and told to unhitchMy wife then had to drive solo to France.
We want to continue our trip, but are hesitant.
Any comments??? Coljon


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## asprn

*Re: towing with a-frame*

Mod Note
edited by mods

General Forum Etiquette

When posting in the forums please adhere to the following common sense rules:-

No personal attacks against other members of the forums.

No Abusive attacks against other members of the forums.


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## MicknPat

*Re: towing with a-frame*

Mod Note

edited by mods

General Forum Etiquette

When posting in the forums please adhere to the following common sense rules:-

No personal attacks against other members of the forums.

No Abusive attacks against other members of the forums.


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## coljon

*a-frames France*

To Dougie and Mick
We joined MHF this morning in the hope of a sensible reply. What we got was unpleasant sarcasm.Please dont waste our time with stupid insulting comments.
coljon


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## DJP

Hi coljohn.
Welcome to MHF.com I hope you do subscribe and enjoy the benefits of the forum. 
If I may reply, hopefully sensibly. You say you were fined 42 euro because your A Frame was illegal. Perhaps you could elaborate a little on that statement. Was the fine for towing illegally (in their view) i.e. A Frames are illegal in Spain. Or did you not comply with the towing regulations (trailer laws etc. )
To say your A Frame was illegal is a little vague. I assume they gave you a ticket. May I ask under which European/Spanish law did the fine you under? Can you scan and post the imaqge of the ticket?
Are you sure they were not bogus police?
Dennis


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## seanoo

hi djp, if you look at the papers i posted on here concerning the spanish a frame ban you can read that the fine is €60 euros or €42 euros if you pay there and then. would seem obvious to me that coljon was fined in accordance with the new paper handed out at the end of march to the trafico. welcome coljon, hope the stupid comments has'nt put you off what really is a great forum. best regards sean


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## coljon

Hi Dennis and Seanoo thanks for your replies. I think Seanoo had the correct answer as one of the guardia mentioned that a new rule had been introduced about two months ago. It is difficult with the language we speak a little spanish and one of the guardia a little english. Out of interest we did fax a copy of the summons to a Spanish solicitor friend who confirmed it as legal. Our remaining problem is the attitude of the French police?We are on a campsite where the signal is only fair and on Wednesday we move on and hope the next campsite has wi-fi. coljon


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## bognormike

It might be pertinent to give a link to the previous thread on this - in MH towing forum.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftoptitle-83701-spanish-a-frame-ban.html


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## Noel

Looks like the Spanish are on a money making racket in defiance of EU reciprocality hitting the UK motorist like the French used to.

The French seemed to have come to their senses now and accept a-frames, so you shoud be ok from now on.

I've towed in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany with no problem at all but intense favourable interest from motorhomers and police alike.

Noel.


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## seanoo

hi coljon, you will have no worries in france with your a-frame. in france it is legal now for the french to tow cars and i have seen loads this winter and chatted to plenty of french motohomers. i live in normandy and have towed thousands of miles around france without a problem. you can relax and enjoy the rest of your trip without worrying about being pulled over. all the best sean


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## coljon

*A-Frames in France*

Noel Thanks for your note it gives us more confidance for our trip through France. coljon


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## coljon

*A-Frames in France*

hi Sean many thanks for your recent note and help that you have given us.We shall be joining the club ,best wishes coljon.


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## seanoo

hi coljon, just wanted to ask if you are going to appeal against this fine or not when you return to england? without getting in to all the legalities of a framing in spain the general opinion is that if you can tow a car in your own country then you should be allowed to tow in any other eu country i.e spain. if thats the case then the fine was unlawful and you are due your money back. all the best sean


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## wygate5

Hi, We are new to Motorhoming this year and decided we would go to the south of France for our summer hols, We had read the many posts on the pros and cons of trailers and Aframes and in the end decided on Aframe route as we didn’t want to have the inconvenience of a trailer and a car on a campsite. We decided on Smart-tow system, this is an electronic system that uses a lightweight a frame and an electronic braking system that uses the signal from MH brakelights and G sensors. This system also keeps the servo on the towed car fully charged. It takes about 2 mins to transform car to toad and about the same to change it back to car, The car can be driven straight of the back of MH with Aframe still attached if needed. We completed 3100 miles with absolutely no problems. The smart car towed easily at 60mph. The gears were set to NEUTRAL, the key REMOVED and the door left unlocked. No miles were added to the smart car while towing. We had one brush with the law, that was an off duty officer who wanted to know where he could get the system!


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