Speed limits when towing a trailer

Published 10 October 2026. Every figure was checked at its source that day.

The short version

Single carriageways: 50mph when towing, against 60mph for the car alone.
Dual carriageways and motorways: 60mph when towing, against 70mph.
Built-up areas: the same limit with or without a trailer.
On a motorway with three or more lanes, a car with a trailer must stay out of the right-hand lane.

A car towing a trailer or caravan has a national speed limit 10mph lower than the car alone on every road outside a built-up area.

The limits, side by side

Single carriageway

Car alone60mph

With a trailer50mph

Dual carriageway

Car alone70mph

With a trailer60mph

Motorway

Car alone70mph

With a trailer60mph

In built-up areas the limit is the same with or without a trailer: 30mph in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and 20mph in Wales.

A signed limit still applies

These are the national limits. Where a sign shows a lower one, that is the limit.

Vans towing a trailer

For goods vehicles of up to 7.5 tonnes the national limits are 50mph on single carriageways, 60mph on dual carriageways and 70mph on motorways. The motorway limit drops to 60mph when the vehicle is articulated or towing a trailer.

The motorway lane rule

GOV.UK says not to use the right-hand lane of a motorway with three or more lanes when towing.

What the lower limit does to a journey

100 miles of motorway at a steady 70mph takes 1 hour 26 minutes. At a steady 60mph it takes 1 hour 40 minutes. That is arithmetic at the limit, not a journey time: traffic, hills and stops change both.

If the trailer starts to snake

The Highway Code says to ease off the accelerator and reduce speed gently to regain control. Do not brake harshly. GOV.UK says snaking means you are going too fast or the trailer is loaded wrongly. How to load a trailer.