What is the maximum permissible length of the combination vehicle consisting of a truck with a GVWR up to 3.5 tons and a caravan?
Show the correct answer
Correct answer
B. 18.75 m.
Explanation
In the photo, a red passenger car pulling a trailer with a red tarpaulin is parked by a street on a housing estate. The maximum permissible length of a vehicle combination made up of a lorry with a maximum permissible mass of up to 3.5 t and a caravan is 18.75 m - answer B. The values 19.85 m (A) and 14.95 m (C) do not appear in the rules.
The Regulation on the technical conditions of vehicles sets the permitted lengths: a motor vehicle, except a bus - 12 m, a trailer - 12 m, and a combination made up of a power-driven vehicle and a trailer - 18.75 m. The limit applies to every combination with one trailer, so also to a lorry up to 3.5 t with a caravan; an articulated bus and a combination of a bus with a trailer have the same value. In practice, a passenger car or van with a caravan is 10-14 m long, so the length limit is not a problem. A long combination needs a wider curve on bends and a longer stretch for overtaking; outside a built-up area such a combination travels at no more than 70 km/h, and on a motorway and expressway at 80 km/h.
Legal basis: § 2 para. 1 point 1, 3 and 5 of the Regulation on the technical conditions of vehicles and the scope of their necessary equipment; Art. 20 para. 3 point 2 of the Road Traffic Act (Prawo o ruchu drogowym)