Illegal to tow

How far did she see you towing the other car. Normally you would need a metal tow bar or draw bar for that purpose but considering you helped someone on a beach it shouldn't hurt all they would be worried about is the local towie missing out. I've towed 4 vehicles off road that were broken down various distances it's just bad timing if you get caught. Next time get the 3rd vehicle to drive in front to keep an eye out.

I think it is illegal to tow anywhere in Australia these days.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Maybe she wears the pants in the police station.

Her is the answer you can give her.

Towing a vehicle with a rope

I think the problem is towing with a snagch strap as apposed to a conventional tow rope
Cheere steve

Normal road rules apply on Fraser don't they? Did you have a white or brightly coloured cloth attached to the tow rope? Mate, subsection (5) is super important....

"The driver of a motor vehicle towing another vehicle using a chain, rope, fabric, strap or wire (the towline) must comply with this section.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.
If neither of the vehicles is a motorbike, the driver must keep a distance of not over 4m between the vehicles.
If at least 1 of the vehicles is a motorbike, the driver must keep a distance of not over 2.5m between the vehicles.
If the towline is longer than 2m, the driver must attach a white or brightly coloured flag, piece of cloth or other similar material (the warning material) to the towline in accordance
with subsection (5).
The warning material must—
(a) be substantially square or rectangular with 2 adjacent sides at least 300mm long; and
(b) be attached midway along the towline; and
(c) be visible for at least 100m from either side of the warning material.
If the driver is towing at night, the driver must ensure the warning material is lit by a light attached to 1 of the vehicles."

If there are exceptions for Fraser then they should be advertised

"Got back safely, only to be greeted by the resident police officer's wife, who informed us that what we did was illegal, and both the drivers could face a stiff fine!"

How would she have known of the event occurring...and then be at the arrival to issue an opinion..?...and if we are aware of the full story verses facts..hers is an opinion only.

"Queensland Road Rules (216, 294 and 295)"

By the OP description the car in question broke down on the beach.
Is the beach on Fraser Island considered a public road???

"the local coppers wife"?????? WOW, hate to meet the local copper.

One of my BIL's was a copper. I'm pretty sure the wife's sister didn't get involved in traffic rule enforcement. Then again maybe she knew her copper husband and thought that fore warned is fore armed.

Cheers
Pop

A series 2 land rover being a late 50s to late 60s vehicle would not have been a rental vehicle, likewise they did not come with automatics.

So there was the start of the problem - no wonder you could not get the auto to work. :-)

Technically the wollopers wife is correct - you can no longer tow with a rope or its equivalent and Fraser is gazetted as a road so road rules apply - however common sense has to apply.

Would have been a Landrover Discovery 2 not and Landrover Series 2 you helped - there is 40 years between them.

Garry

1952

The Cops wife is correct. She didn't make the rules.
It's basically illegal to tow any vehicle with the road rules Australia wide.
As this is in the road rules there is no obligation to put signage up (anywhere).
If they put up a sign for every road rule that drivers didn't know, would they read them? Would they obey them or just complain about them?

The 2.5mtr distance is the killer, that is half the length of a 4WD.
"3. If at least 1 of the vehicles is a motorbike, the driver must keep a distance of not over 2.5m between the vehicles.." The markers for the tow rope over 2mtrs.
This is why everything is put on a flatbed tow truck, gone are the days of the RACQ towing you to the local workshop.

This means the only way to tow correctly and within the law is with a solid bar or "A" frame.

Towing is very different to recovery.

Its great that you assisted a fellow traveller, but in my opinion and especially as it was a hire car, why not get it above the high water mark and let the hire company recover it?. They have got to come and get it anyway. Then just take the people back and not the vehicle, less strain on your vehicle especially with a 14 km tow and a lot quicker.

AFAIK Series 2 Landy never had auto or power steering.

If the Policeman's wife knew about it, its possible she may have been told by some concerned local or traveller who saw what was happening. If she was going to be a bitch she would have told here husband and got you fined.

What everone has to undersatand is most of these laws are in place to protect the most stupid human and the innocent...... Fraser Island may be one of these places where every tourist is an expert at everything and these so called experts who think they know everything causes more paid resources, injuries and damage then one may think.

You may find they have had 20 accidents involving this very same thing in the last 6 months so they might be comming down hard on people doing it.

For all you know the local cops wife; like some remote partners are legally binding assistants in the up holding of laws with limited powers.

I don't think she has done anything wrong and why didn't you go the 14 kilometers and ask for help?

The days of thinking your doing the right thing, helping someone out and being a mate in the Aussie way has far gone...... With the chances of illegal activities and liability the cheapest and best way of helping is to offer passing a message on at the next town.

That way you can be assured it will have less of a fiancial impact and limited liability on your day.

And before someone says..... "What about first aid and assistance".

Under law you are protected against prosecution, financial hardship and liability if first aid was administered in good faith.

Thanks for all the responses - I was really just wanting to give a heads up to the many 4WDers who may travel to the beautiful and unique Fraser Island.
As the sharp-eyed pedantic readers have said, the vehicle involved was a LR Discovery - my friends is 11 years old and has turned over 200,000 km.
Also, just to be clear, I was NOT wanting to criticise the woman who spoke to us when we got back. She works in one of the stores and had a good view of us coming in from the beach, and all she did was point out the facts. We knew that the beach is a designated road, but had forgotten the strict requirements re. using and marking a tow 'rope' - our failure, not hers.
I don't want to cause any unintended repercussions for her or her husband, but the next day she told me her husband had observed our towing on the beach because he was off-duty and fishing with the police commissioner [!!] who asked him what he was going to do about it. The Police Officer said, he would easily be able to trace us the next day and he would issue an infringement notice to us then. His wife, that night, had explained to him that she had already spoken with us and asked him not to do anything more. So she saved my friend and the tourist a fine. I have good will towards her, not anger!
If we had not felt the tourist couple were in a pressure situation and without any idea how long help would take to arrive, but feeling it would be a number of hours at the least, then perhaps we would have just taken a message to pass on to the Hervey Bay rental company. We had no mobile phone coverage to make calls ourselves and our vehicles were packed in such a manner as prevented us offering to just drive them back to Eurong. Another source of anxiety about just leaving them, was the fact we had just passed a sign about an aggressive dingo in the area, and we felt that it would have been dark before any other help could have got back to them. To be clear, it was our ignorance that caused us to act as we did, and even though our motive was good, what we ended up doing was illegal. Lesson learnt.
p.s. we saw the couple the next day at Lake McKenzie in the replacement LR Discovery that the rental company had sent promptly, so their holiday was not spoiled.

Looks like we had better check whether the track we are on is a gazzetted road or not before we attach the Snatch Strap to the front of old mate's bogged 4WD.

Mate , I would have done the same thing!!! With all the do-gooders, experts and morally right people around who would have driven off or said "tutt-tutt"...up em...You acted safely and were a good samaritan. Common sense once again is the casualty.

1952
Well done to you and your mate.
I hope I don't meet most of the other posters in this thread on the track any time soon.

Just another reason not to visit Fraser Island again, I have been there twice before and have met arrogant rangers, tour guides and staff from that rip off joint Kingfisher bay.

Had that coppers wife started on me for helping someone, she would have been told in no uncertain terms to F!@# off, just as I did with the above mentioned.

Who the hell do these people think they are ??, Fraser Island isn't that special that they can treat thier visitors like bleep and get away with it, 1952 I am sure the guy you helped out appresiates your help and good on you, keep up the good work, as for that law give me a fine and I will take it to court.

Phil

all this crap goes back to something that is coming more and more relevant as the years go on.
Just because something is illegal, does not necessarily mean it is immoral.
Help someone in need, or hire a lawyer/risk analysis expert first to assess before deciding if its "wrong"?
The law simply is not exclusively "for the good of the people" as it once was.

Criteria for making these decisions

1/ Do I want to brighten someone elses day?
2/ Will I lose any sleep if I do it?
3/ Will it harm anyone?
4/ What are the chances of getting caught?
5/ What are the consequences?

Too many people stress about "doing something illegal" on the most mundane things which is exactly what the Gov likes-never 100% sure you are totally law abiding.

Good onya 1952 for helping, and I bet you felt good afterward.

I have seen and been involved in discussions concering towing of vehicles in the past and it plays out like this.

While it may not be specifically illegal to tow another vehicle the practicalities and a variety of non specific laws make it illegal in most situations.

Now we must make a distinction between towing and recovering a vehicle.
Recovering a vehicle you are either assisting a perfectly functional vehicle only untill it is capable of making its own way or removing a non functional vehicle to a place of safety or where it can be trailered or put on a tow truck.

the details that make towing illegal revolve arround.

Being able to properly controll the towed vehicle.
The towing capacity of the towing vehicle.
The adequacy of the towing tackle and the attachment points.
A number of nit picky little matters, that while small none the less make it illegal.

If you are to legally tow another vehicle, the towing vehicle needs to be considerably larger then the towed vehicle to have sufficient towing capacity, the towed vehicle has to have all lights, brakes and power steering functioning ( thus the motor must run) and it will be at a very slow speed to maintain sufficient stopping distance given the maximum legal length of the tow rope.

In my youth, people used to rope or chain tow all the time and considerable distances....I know people who have rope towed in excess of 100Km on the highway and at near highway speeds.......but like other things you would not consider it now.

Back in the day we also used to tow a vehicle on a trailer behind a similar vehicle...modern towing capacities make that illegal in most cases.
If you are to tow a vehicle on a trailer the twoing vehicle in general needs to be considerably heavier than the vehicle on the trailer to have sufficient towing capacity.

This is nothing to do wth being on Frazer island, or needing some specific towing rig..its just become generally impractical and illegal for a variety of reasons.

cheers

Back in the late 70s towed a holden panelvan with a cortina from norseman to perth Would I do it now not on ya nelly It used to be common
Cheers Steve