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this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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That's actually the most reasonable explanation I've seen so far, and it helps explain a bunch (one small correction: most states have a towing speed limit of either 55 or 65 mph, so just about the same or slower than in Europe. Canada is even worse with most provinces limiting highway towing speed to 80-90kmh). That said, it still doesn't make any sense that our tow rating does not take into account the presence of a brake controller (that is to say, the stated towing capacity does not list braked and unbraked separately in most cars except trucks).
Interesting, thanks for the correction! I didn't spend the time to research it for all states / provinces, when I researched this topic a while ago.
In Europe electronic brake controllers aren't really a thing. Mechanical overrun brakes are used instead to brake trailers.
Cars in Europe usually have two tow ratings, one for braked, the other for unbraked trailers.
My bad, that was a typo - I mean our tow rating. Most vehicles (except for trucks) don't list the tow rating with a brake controller installed and the only way to get one is to have your vehicle rated and tested individually.