Breakaway Cable Attachment in Holland
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just had a westfalia fitted to my jeep and has a point which I took as the breakaway cable fixing point but when I rang chester towbars and trailers who fitted bar they said not to use and wrap around neck of towbar as this is the way in this country.
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GTP
Didn't you have your cable attached as per this photo which according to the ANWB website is perfectly acceptable? Interesting they are still using the old spring clip type rather than the carabiner.
David
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The picture I posted was from the ANWB (Dutch AA) website as an acceptable form of attachment. When the OP posted a picture of his attachment it looked very similar hence the question.
David
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That is the arrangement that should have picked up a fine as it is simply wrong in not being used as designed.
Here the load to failure is only that to unfold the clip, whereas if looped twice that load plus a contribution from friction would be needed for it to unravel. Without looping back the load to failure could well not be high enough to set the van's brakes fully on.
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I would agree if the OP had been using the sort of clip illustrated in the photo from the ANWB website but he was using a carabiner type clip which should be perfectly safe and effective if directly attached to an eye? It seems the Dutch require a belt and braces approach to attachment or perhaps they have to legislate for the possibility that caravan may have either type of clip and find it easier to have the same rule for each whether it's necessary or not? Perhaps someone should point out to the ANWB that their illustrations of attachment are not all acceptable by the Dutch police and that is where the CMC could help.
David
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David, I full understood that the Op had the Al-Ko carabiner version, which is excellent IMO. I have a low opinion of the looped "dog lead clip" system.
The Dutch inspector introducing a second carabiner just adds a possible extra weakness, wholly unnecessary and anything but "belt & braces". Technically it beggars belief anyone would do that.
Hope it has its safe working load stamped on it and that value meets Al-Ko's requirements
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Although the picture you posted David is headed good on the ANWB web site, when I ran the other text through a translation programme it said
This may be, although research has shown that the force, which is transferred during the Losbreken to the braking of the caravan, is so far from optimal. This will make the stopping distance of the caravan longer.
Losbreken does not translate.
So they would seem to be saying it is OK but not the best form of attachment. I can't see wether a clip type or Carabiner type, as I use, would make any difference to these findings.
It would be nice to have some non contradictory guidance.
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Thoughts and personal beliefs don’t carry much weight with authorities unless they can be backed up with official/ manufacturer’s advice.
Here’s Alko’s Advice on attachment.
https://www.al-ko.com/shop/media/uploads/NCC_breakaway_cable_advice.pdf.pdf
And here’s their instructions for karabina type clips.
https://www.al-ko.com/shop/uk_vt/breakaway-cable-with-caribena-clip.html
And here are their instructions for non karabiner clips
https://www.al-ko.com/shop/uk_vt/breakaway-cable-for-looped-attachment.html
The information above makes it clear that you should always use a fixed attachment point where one exists and that you should only use a cable type which is designed for your specific attachment method.
Any official or member who believes and acts differently is acting in contravention of the trailer manufacturer’s design criteria.
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WN...and apologies to all, I should have put an update on here....busy traveling in 🇫🇷....
The CaMC, specifically the overseas travel department, have been very proactive in assisting me with a possible appeal. The CaMC liaised with the Royal Dutch ANWB who in turn sought advice from their legal team. The response was that there had not been any change to the legislation...in that it does not apply to foreign registered vehicles. The CaMC confirmed this in an email to me.
Based on that response I have submitted an appeal which can take upto 16 weeks for a decision. In the meantime I do not have to pay the fine. If the appeal fails I can further appeal to a court directly in person..
I will post the prosecutors decision on here when received...
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Hopefully that will settle it.
I did asked Ro for advice and she was going to forward the query for a reply.
We have just travelled from Hook of Holland to Germany and back and the police didn't give us a second glance. Wonder if its just around the Rotterdam area this clamp down has been going on?
Can someone please report my post as a reminder for Ro?
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done
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Good to hear the club has been so good. When people ask what's the point of being in this club then perhaps that is one answer?
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Many thanks to GTP for his response.
Well done CMC as well.
Corners, there are some things about the club that infuriate me and some things they excel in so I would never consider not renewing my membership. Just wish I was less infuriated (or ...ing as many would say).
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Oneput, We have travelled this route many times, always on a Saturday ( Caravans go free with P&O on Sat/Sun) and usually around the same time. Never had this happen before.
Given the location, 5 miles from the port on the A15, I am convinced the operation was specifically targeting vehicles heading for the ferry.
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Hi Oneputt, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I forwarded the discussion to our travel team as there was apparently a similar situation that the team helped with in the past. I will chase them up for an update.
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Hi everyone,
I've heard back from Tom in the travel team. He has had the below response from ANWB:
In the Netherlands the breakaway cable needs to be secured to a part of the car. The problem can be fixed easily. Underneath almost every car there is a ‘link’ where a snaphook with the brake cable can be secured. If you don’t have a ‘link’ underneath your car you can buy an ‘assistant link’ that you can secure to the towing hook. In the following link you can find a few pictures that hopefully clarify the situation:
https://www.anwb.nl/kamperen/caravan/rijden-met-de-caravan/koppeling/losbreekkabel.
There haven’t been any rule changes on this matter.
GTP, thanks for the update. If anyone has any further queries please can you email the travel team europeanholidays@camc.com as they will be happy to investigate further.
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Hi Rowena, unfortunately the appeal is based on the fact that the section of the legislation relating to breakaway cables in the Netherlands Is not applicable to foreign registered vehicles. Whist Tom assured me in an email ( see below), that this was the case...The current response from ANWB did not mention this.... only that there had not been any changes to the legislation. My appeal, therefore, still relies on the original email correspondence between Hazel Havell and the ANWB.
As mentioned earlier, I will post the outcome of the appeal as soon as I receive it...below is text of Tom,S email...
Further to our earlier telephone conversation please find attached the email from the ANWB in relation to the Breakaway cable situation in the Netherlands. Please note that the rules haven’t changed and I’ve been assured that the breakaway cable restriction only applies to Dutch registered vehicles not foreign registered vehicles. I have also attached the email from my previous colleague Hazel Havell and the conversation that she had.
Should you have any further questions then please do not hesitate to contact us directly.
Kind regards,
Thomas Ash
Travel Service Information Officer
Caravan and Motorhome Club
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I'm still confused as to what you've done wrong. All pictures that Ro references to only use the caribina to ensure that a cable looped over the tow ball stays put and gives a green tick of approval to a cable clipped directly to the car.
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Its only through this thread that I knew the carabiner type breakaway cable exited. My last car didn’t have a direct method of attaching the breakaway cable so it was looped around the tow ball therefore I assume it was okay. My current car has a direct attachment method and I’ve just been clipping the cable to it. After reading this tread I’ve changed the cable to a carabiner type. An easy 10 minute job if you’ve got a pair of mole grips to close the loop to the handbrake.
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