What Are Your Towing Restrictions in Sydney?

Before you hitch up the trailer or caravan and get away from Sydney this Christmas, it’s extremely important that you understand what your towing restrictions are. The police are always out in force over the holiday period, and if you’re towing something, you’ll get pulled over to make sure that you’re towing safely.

There are two main areas of concern when it comes to towing, and each have their own unique restrictions.

Weight
This one can be a little bit tricky to wrap your head around if you just read straight from the National Transport Commission’s publications, but the idea is that you shouldn’t tow more than what is specified for the car or towbar.

Obviously, you’ll have two different numbers with this definition, so the standard rule is that you only tow the lower amount, e.g. if your car can tow a tonne but your towbar can only handle 750kg, you can only tow 750kg. Don’t forget to factor in the GCM (Gross Combined Mass) as well when working out how much you can tow.

In your car’s documentation it should say what that GCM is and this number is all the combined weight your car will be dealing with from passengers to luggage to the trailer.

Speed
As a general rule of thumb when you’re towing a trailer you’re allowed to go as fast as the speed limit, except in Western Australia. If you’re towing a trailer in Western Australia that has a maximum mass (the trailer itself, all attachments and its load) of 750kg or more, you cannot go above 100km/h.

Of course, different car manufacturers have different recommended speed limits for towing, so you should always check any documentation that came with your car to avoid inadvertently invalidating your warranty or cancelling your insurance.

Find the right towbar for your vehicle.

This blog was posted in Safety, Towbars, Travel and tagged in Bars, boats, caravans, NSW, regulations, restrictions, Sydney, Tow, towing, trailers