Breakaway Cable Attachment in Holland

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).

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. 

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. 

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. 

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

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.

Me too however given we will be driving through Holland on our way to/from Denmark later this summer i am following this with interest.

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.

The breakaway cable bracket as shown in the link on Rowenas post are available on eBay for £6.97.

Any news on the appeal?