Road safety group close to unveiling plans to tackle farm vehicle laws
RSA chief executive officer Noel Brett told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport the Authority has completed its review of the use of agricultural and work vehicles on public roads.
He said such vehicles are increasingly featuring in collisions on the roads.
“There was a major response to our public consultation on this matter and I hope to be in a position to make a formal proposal to the Minister for Transport by the end of March.”
“People are entitled to carry their produce and use the road. We want to ensure that vehicles are roadworthy, and that they have proper lighting and brakes. We have had several incidents involving very old tractors in poor condition in the last quarter of the year.
We want the drivers properly trained and we want the trailers to be fit for purpose and good enough to be on the road. We are concerned that, because of the economy, many marts are taking place at night because people are not full-time farmers. Vehicles coming to and from marts must be properly lit, safe and must interact with other road users properly.
“We cannot have tractors involved in illegal haulage,” said Mr Brett. “We cannot have JCBs fast-track hauling containers out of Dublin Port. We must protect the legitimate haulage industry but... people have the right to earn a living.”
