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Comment by bellyfullofbac | Hacker News Reader

Hah, don't try it in Europe either, max towing speed in Europe is 40km/h or 25mph.

I guess a tow truck with a bed that has a rolling road would be an idea, prop up the car so the weight of the car isn't actually exerting force that makes the wheels harder to turn/cause extra wear. Or the "rolling road" can be replaced be a contraption that attaches to the wheels by e.g. its rims, and spins it.

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This would work but it would probably make more economic sense to carry a generator to the car than to carry a wheel spinner gizmo.

Plus in Europe it's forbidden to tow with a rope like he does. You must use a rigid link, like a bar or a tube.

Not necessarily forbidden, but there's a good reason for not towing with a rope. Especially at 70MPH (which is 112 kph)

Though towing a Tesla with regerative braking is the best case. You definitely wouldn't want to tow anything that can't brake or steer with a rope.

Not true, a rope is fine.

I don't think so. Most vehicles have virtually no braking power with the engine off. It's definitely completely forbidden in France to tow with a rope, and I'm pretty sure this applies to all or at least most of UE too. In Germany, even tow dollies are forbidden.

Towing rope is legal in Germany, but you are only allowed to tow a car to get it out of the way and to the nearest repair opportunity after it has broken down, not for general transport - for that, it needs to be completely off the ground.

> Most vehicles have virtually no braking power with the engine off

You just need to press the brakes harder. Like 3 times harder, not 30.

If you park in a slope and turn the engine off you can try braking after pumping the vacuum out - it works just fine.

If you’ve always used power assisted brakes and you’re not expecting to have to press really hard on the brakes it could easily lead you to rear end the car towing you if it stops suddenly. Also, without power assisted steering, modern cars are surprisingly difficult to control.

Ye especially the steering. Small steering wheel and lower gear ratio on modern cars makes them kinda unsafe in the event of power steering loss.

Until the tow truck hits the brakes…

First day of statics - you can't push a rope.

I was once involved in towing a car using a partially-inflated water bed as a 'bumper'. We got there!

Old tire not on a rim is the classic item to use for that use case.

It's only kinda sorta legal in the US.

But like speeding as long as you show decent discretion when doing it you'll be fine.

@Peloton, here is your next big idea

Hah, they should integrate the bike into the car and make the modern Flintstones car.

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