Make the connection suitable
A motorcycle may not tow another vehicle. For a vehicle that may tow, the distance between the towing and towed vehicles must not exceed 3.5 m. The connection must allow the vehicles to remain controlled; choosing a short rope does not make a vehicle with ineffective brakes safe.
If the towed vehicle’s brakes are ineffective, use the prescribed rigid drawbar arrangement. Where a person must steer the towed vehicle, that person must hold the appropriate driving licence. An unlicensed helper does not become eligible merely because the engine in that vehicle is switched off.
A towed-vehicles-prohibited sign, illustrated here, prevents entry with the tow even when the connection otherwise complies.
The 30 km/h towing condition
Do not exceed 30 km/h when towing with a rope, chain or other non-rigid connection. The stated higher-speed exception requires a rigid connection; it does not remove a lower road limit, the vehicle’s class cap or the duty to travel at a safe speed.
The manual also restricts carrying people in a towed vehicle above 30 km/h, with its stated semi-trailer exception. A breakdown vehicle towing another vehicle is subject to its 80 km/h class cap, but that cap does not override the lower 30 km/h restriction where the towing conditions require it.
How many vehicles may be drawn?
The manual permits a drawing vehicle to draw no more than two trailers, or one vehicle that is not a trailer. The emergency exception permits one non-trailer vehicle together with its trailer. Do not turn that narrow recovery exception into a routine three-vehicle improvised convoy.
The permitted number is only one requirement. The driver’s licence, the drawing vehicle’s rating, mass, dimensions, brakes, coupling and lights must also suit the combination.
Worked situation
A breakdown vehicle tows a disabled car on a rope. Its general towing class cap is 80 km/h, but the rope connection brings the 30 km/h condition into play. The driver must use the lower applicable maximum and go slower if needed for safe control.
Before moving a tow
Confirm that towing is permitted, the connection and brakes are suitable, the required steering driver is licensed, people are lawfully positioned and the applicable speed is clear. Do not attempt a tow that cannot remain controlled; arrange suitable recovery instead.
When a separate steering driver is not required
The separate licensed steering-driver requirement does not apply where the towed vehicle’s steerable wheels are carried clear of the ground, or where the connecting device itself controls those wheels. This is a property of the actual recovery arrangement. It does not apply just because the tow is short or the driver believes the towed wheels will follow automatically. The towing prohibition also includes motor tricycles, motor quadrucycles and pedal cycles.