Mirrors or Not

"....prosecuted for ‘towing blind’ in the UK, i.e. without any caravan mirrors or using mirrors that are too narrow, you could receive three points on your licence and be fined up to £1,000 for each side"

I agree it's an offence not to have adequate vision, Compass, but what you have quoted is either/or and does not say that extension mirrors are a legal requirement. It's the field of vision which is mandatory, not the extension mirrors. 

saw the police on the N332 in Spain chatting to a British unit which had no mirrors? Beggars belief that he could see who was overtaking him on his travels down here. 

"....prosecuted for ‘towing blind’ in the UK, i.e. without any caravan mirrors or using mirrors that are too narrow, you could receive three points on your licence and be fined up to £1,000 for each side"

I agree it's an offence not to have adequate vision, Compass, but what you have quoted is either/or and does not say that extension mirrors are a legal requirement. It's the field of vision which is mandatory, not the extension mirrors. 

Write your comments here...yep sorry , hands up I got that one wrong , I suppose I always thought extension mirrors were law.

certainly for your own safety using mirrors is a no brainier , regardless to say spending a modest amount for these could in fact save a considerable fine if God forbid you were stopped for non compliance of the rear vision requirements

"....prosecuted for ‘towing blind’ in the UK, i.e. without any caravan mirrors or using mirrors that are too narrow, you could receive three points on your licence and be fined up to £1,000 for each side"

I agree it's an offence not to have adequate vision, Compass, but what you have quoted is either/or and does not say that extension mirrors are a legal requirement. It's the field of vision which is mandatory, not the extension mirrors. 

Write your comments here...yep sorry , hands up I got that one wrong , I suppose I always thought extension mirrors were law.

certainly for your own safety using mirrors is a no brainier , regardless to say spending a modest amount for these could in fact save a considerable fine if God forbid you were stopped for non compliance of the rear vision requirements

No problem, Compass, and I agree with your views but I think the OP towing with a Boxer might be the exception to the 'rule'. Only he/she can tell. 

Extract from the CC leaflet on towing mirrors:

THE LAW
A car towing a caravan, if first used on or after 1 June 1978 and before 26 January 2010
(ie the majority of cars in use now) must have:
a) at least one exterior mirror fitted on the offside of the vehicle: and
b) at least one interior mirror, unless a mirror so fitted would give the driver no view to the rear of the vehicle; and
c) at least one exterior mirror fitted on the nearside of the vehicle unless an interior mirror gives the driver an adequate view to the rear.

In short there is a requirement to fit towing mirrors to both offside and nearside  regardless of what type of vehicle unless there is adequate through vision (not often possible with a modern caravan)

Exterior mirrors, not extension / towing mirrors. 

The requirement is for exterior mirrors and the vehicle's own mirrors are exterior mirrors. 

For the small cost of a couple of towing mirrors, why not use them every time you tow. Much better to be within the law and safe than take a risk just save a few pounds.

Cheers ......K

I think we've said that, K. 

The OP's problem was making them stay on the larger commercial vehicle mirrors. Hence the question whether he/ she really needed them. 

I doubt the op needs them unless his van is very wide. My van is 2.2 metres wide and I can see perfectly well through my Citroën multispace van thing without extension mirrors, it is borderline going off the chart posted earlier but very close

I have yet to see a truck delivering caravans where towing mirrors had been added!  Why?  Because the legally required vision is obtained with standard manufacturers mirrors!  Same with large vans, etc!