The use of tractors for non-farm haulage is to be restricted after the Minister for Transport approved a series of reforms put forward by the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
As part of the changes a 40km/h speed limit for agricultural vehicles on public roads will be imposed as will a stricter enforcement of the motorway ban on vehicles travelling below 50km/h.
The move is a response to the RSA’s concern at increasing use of large agricultural vehicles to tow substantial loads at significant speeds on public roads, often on tyres designed for farmland, with the attendant risk of a trailer jack-knifing or overturning.
Under the proposals, a number of financial benefits for using an agricultural vehicle for hauling non-farm goods will be removed.
Currently, agricultural vehicles are subject to annual motor tax of €85, rebated fuel, an exemption on the requirement for a tachograph, and do not require a haulage licence when the goods are livestock, milk or certain cereal crops.
Following the changes, tractors used for non-farming use will be required to register as a goods vehicle, use non-rebated fuel and incur an annual motor tax of €1,569 for non-farming road haulage vehicles.
Concerns over the fact that a 16-year-old can drive a tractor and trailer weighing more than 30 tonnes without a driving test and the fact that there is no road-worthiness test for most agricultural vehicles are behind some of the changes.
Under the new regime, a 16-year-old will be required to apply for a learner permit, will face limits in the size of load they can tow and be required to display a L-plates.
A roadworthiness test for certain categories of agricultural vehicles using public roads will also be introduced.
There were more than 75,000 tractors licenced at the end of 2009.
The RSA has also proposed the introduction of penalty points for those illegally using agricultural vehicles on public roads.
Following Mr Dempsey’s approval of the recommendations, an implementation team including a number of departments and agencies has been established.
The RSA said it will reveal the timescale for the introduction of the new regulations next month.
Mr Dempsey has also approved a second set of proposals from the RSA aimed at another relatively small group of road users, those required to obtain a medical certificate before securing a driver’s licence.
While a medical professional is currently required – under their duty of care – to notify authorities of a condition that may impair someone’s ability to drive, the RSA is looking to formalise the reporting structure around this and is in talks with the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
This would include restrictions on people prescribed certain medication, having impaired co-ordination, failing eyesight or epilepsy.
In the North the Driver Vehicle Authority employs ten doctors to whom patients are referred for an assessment of whether they are medical fit to drive.
