Although all of us have had some kind of training to allow us to drive on the road, there are many things we’ve had to learn for ourselves once we’ve got that priceless permit. We never drive solo when learning, and we might not have driven at night or in snow or on a fast-moving freeway. And then at some point, if you’re into things with engines, there’s a good chance you’ll need to tow a trailer.
To those that regularly haul boats, motorbikes or cars there’s nothing remotely scary about hitching up a trailer to your car, truck or SUV and heading down the road. But for others, the idea is positively terrifying. Research by Skoda found that four in five drivers in the UK would not be confident towing for the first time.
Predictably, it’s not so much pulling a trailer or caravan down the road that has them fretting, but the idea of having to reverse it. Of the 83 percent of drivers who’d never previously towed and said they’d be scared to, 65 percent cited reverse parking as their biggest worry. And even among the 39 percent of drivers who said they had experience of towing a trailer, more than half got the cold sweats about the idea of reverse parking.
Related: Watch A Tuned Nissan GT-R Tow A Volvo FH Truck In The Snow
I’ve towed a few cars in the past, but not enough to really get a handle on the reversing thing, so I can relate to that. Fourth gear drift in a McLaren? No problem. Want me to back that truck and trailer combo into the parking bay between those two expensive SUVs? Yikes!
Probably rather sensibly, the UK’s DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) changed the rules about towing in over 25 years ago so that anyone who passed their test after 1997 had to take additional training before creating their own road train. But that change was repealed in late 2021 so anyone with a regular car license can now tow a trailer up to 3,500 kg (7,716 lbs).
Towing has become much easier over the last few years with the arrival of technology like Trailer Assist, a reversing aid of the kind I remember first trying on an expensive Land Rover years ago, but which is also available on far less premium tow-mobiles, including Skoda’s Kodiaq. But do you feel you need that trailer-noob tech or are you precision towing’s answer to Travis Pastrana?