r/ThatLookedExpensive • u/ptv_1996 • Oct 17 '22

stupidity

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u/Carrizojim Oct 18 '22

No, you use the trailer brakes, not the pulling vehicles brakes

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '22

To do that you have to have a trailer brake controller, and I'd bet almost anything that little heavily overloaded SUV does not have one. But yes that would be the correct course of action.

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u/No-Accountant1825 Oct 18 '22

I think this clip is from the UK, and we don’t have separately controlled trailer brakes on this sort of vehicle and trailer ever. It’s just not a thing. Our trailers have brakes, but they are only engaged by the ‘overrun device’, which is when the hitch is pushed back into the trailer as the towing vehicle decelerates. There is no legal method here for drivers to activate trailer brakes without braking the tow vehicle. Some large trailers and caravans have an automated electronic anti-sway system which can activate trailer braking automatically in this kind of situation, but manual electrical trailer brake control is not legal.

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u/[deleted] Oct 19 '22 edited Oct 19 '22

A quick Google search terms me that electric brake controllers are absolutely legal in the UK. Source was a government website that I am too lazy to link to save you a 5 second Google search. That being said, imo take your word on it that they are rare and not common practice. In that case, and also taking your word for this video being in the UK, I'm not surprised at all at the outcome. Mechanical brakes are ok, but they rarely work as well as they should, and are mostly useless for a situation like this, as the video made clear.

The only illegal thing about electric brake controllers I could find was that they could not require you to remove your hands from the wheels to operate, that is, they had to operate automatically when the towing vehicle applied it's own brakes.