What the exam asks here: Every light sounds like 'just mandatory' — and that is what the CBR exam designer counts on.
Many learners think: A trailer only needs a fog light if it was put into service after 31 December 1997.
The rule is: This trailer itself must always have a rear fog light. The only exception is if the TOWING vehicle itself has no fog light. The law does contain a date nuance for older heavy trailers, but the exam follows the book: treat the rear fog light as always mandatory.
Every light sounds like 'just mandatory' — and that is what the CBR exam designer counts on. In reality three colours are always fixed (red rear, white front, orange side), but three lights each hang on their own threshold: width 1.60 m, weight 750 kg, length/width 6 m or 2.10 m. Anyone who mixes up those thresholds falls for every 'shouldn't it have that?' trap. Once you know which light belongs to which condition, you see straight through it.
Always: 2 red rear lights, 2 red brake lights, 2 indicators, plate lighting and 1 red rear fog light. Reflection: red rear (triangular), white front, orange on each side. Conditional: position lights only >1.60 m wide, reversing light only >750 kg, marker lights only >6 m long or >2.10 m wide (Book p.232).
Every trailer has at minimum plate lighting, 2 red rear lights, 2 red brake lights and 2 red or orange indicators at the rear (Book p.232). Reflection is fixed in colour AND position: 2 red triangular reflectors at the rear, 2 white retroreflectors at the front, orange retroreflectors on each side. Remember: red rear, white front, orange side. One red rear fog light is always mandatory on the trailer itself — it is simply in the minimum equipment requirements (Book p.232). The only exception is if the towing vehicle itself has no fog light; a registration date such as '31 December 1997' does not belong to the trailer itself. Three lights are conditional, each with its own threshold: - 2 white position lights at the front, only if the trailer is wider than 1.60 metres. - 1 white or yellow reversing light, only if the permitted maximum mass exceeds 750 kg. - Extra marker lights, only if the trailer is longer than 6 metres and/or wider than 2.10 metres. Do not mix those three thresholds: the 1.60 m width belongs to the position lights, not to the reversing light, which hangs on the 750 kg. Two points of attention: the trailer's lighting must burn simultaneously with that of the towing car (not an independent system), and adding extra lighting is forbidden in many cases — check that beforehand. The tyres must have at least 1.6 mm of tread.
Lighting and reflection are how other road users read your trailer in the dark. Red rear says 'end of the combination', white front and orange on the side draw its size. On a provincial road in wet snow, where visibility and road surface both work against you, an oncoming driver must immediately see where your trailer ends. If the trailer lights do not burn simultaneously with the car, the driver behind misses your brakes and indicators exactly when it counts. The conditional lights follow the trailer's size: the wider, heavier or longer it is, the more another driver must be able to see.
In the evening rush hour, stuck in a jam, you think about your 1.80 m wide trailer with a permitted maximum mass of 600 kg. Which conditional light is mandatory here?
Explain: which colour reflector belongs at the front, rear and side, and to which own threshold do the position lights, the reversing light and the marker lights each hang?
Red rear · white front · orange side. Position light >1.60 m · reversing light >750 kg · marker >6 m or >2.10 m. Fog light: always.
In the busy beach traffic near Zandvoort, late in the afternoon, you check a narrow luggage trailer (1.20 m wide, permitted maximum mass 500 kg) before heading onto the coastal road. Your passenger asks: 'Shouldn't it have position lights and a reversing light?'
Always: 2 red rear lights, 2 red brake lights, 2 indicators, plate lighting and 1 red rear fog light. Reflection: red rear (triangular), white front, orange on each side. Conditional: position lights only >1.60 m wide, reversing light only >750 kg, marker lights only >6 m long or >2.10 m wide (Book p.232).
Correct answer: 2 red rear lights; 1 red rear fog light; Plate lighting
Why learners get this wrong: Every trailer must have position lights at the front.
Correct answer: White goes at the front, the red triangles at the back
False — You put the red triangles at the front. The red triangular reflectors belong at the back and the white ones at the front, just like rear light and headlight.
Why learners get this wrong: The white retroreflectors of a trailer belong at the rear.
Correct answer: False
Why learners get this wrong: A trailer only needs a fog light if it was put into service after 31 December 1997.
Correct answer: Have it wired so the trailer lights up together with the car
False — You rely on the reflectors instead of the lights. Reflectors come on top of the required lights; the trailer's rear lights, brake lights and indicators must work, at the same time as the car's.
Why learners get this wrong: The trailer's lighting may burn independently of the towing car.
Correct answer: Marker lights — the trailer is longer than 6 metres
Why learners get this wrong: Extra marker lights are never needed, not even on a long trailer.
Correct answer: First check whether these extra lamps are allowed at all
False — You think lighting up with the car makes extra lamps allowed. Working together with the car is a requirement for the compulsory lights, not a permit for extra lamps: extra lighting is forbidden in many cases.
Why learners get this wrong: You may fit unlimited extra lighting on your trailer as long as it is visible.
Correct answer: Every trailer must have a reversing light.
A reversing light (white or yellow) is required only if the permitted maximum mass exceeds 750 kg.
Why learners get this wrong: The red triangular reflectors of a trailer belong at the front.
Correct answer: True
A reversing light (white or yellow) is required only if the permitted maximum mass exceeds 750 kg.
Why learners get this wrong: Every trailer must have a reversing light.
Correct answer: Front position lights — the trailer is wider than 1.60 m
Position light: >1.60 m wide · reversing light: >750 kg
Why learners get this wrong: Extra marker lights are never needed, not even on a long trailer.
Correct answer: True
The 1,60 m width threshold applies to the POSITION LIGHTS. The reversing light depends on the 750 kg permitted maximum mass, not on width.
Why learners get this wrong: A reversing light is required as soon as the trailer is wider than 1,60 metres.
No. This trailer itself must always have a rear fog light. The only exception is if the TOWING vehicle itself has no fog light. The law does contain a date nuance for older heavy trailers, but the exam follows the book: treat the rear fog light as always mandatory.
No. White retroreflectors belong at the FRONT; at the rear are red triangular reflectors. Red rear, white front.
No. The red TRIANGULAR reflectors belong at the REAR; at the front are white (non-triangular) retroreflectors.
No. Orange retroreflectors belong on EACH SIDE; at the front are white retroreflectors.
No. White front position lights are required only if the trailer is wider than 1,60 metres. Below that width they are not.