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Motorway Tractor-Watch

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    #62
    Amtmann
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,093 ✭✭✭Amtmann


    When looking at the above, some things aren't so surprising.


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    #63
    Bagenal
    Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Bagenal


    betistuc wrote: »
    Maybe a complete ban on Agricultural vehicles on motorways as they do in the UK is the best way to get rid of those 50 km/h tractors.

    Also I was looking at that penalty points list- can't believe 2 points are the maximum on the spot for driving the wrong way down a motorway!! Surely this should be arrest and outright ban for 3 years minimum at least

    I totally agree. It should be done, it's a ridiculous situation. There is no need for agricultural/construction machinery to be on motorways unless involved in maintenance work.


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    #64
    redtelephone
    Registered Users Posts: 320 ✭✭redtelephone


    hi5 wrote: »
    It was only a matter of time.

    Tractor crash on the M9.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0316/breaking56.html

    This crash in which a priest died was between J9 and J10. Just today I saw a tractor pulling a large trailer slowly (about 20km/h) in the exact same place, half-way on the hard margin and half way across the lane. Found it very scary.


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    #65
    Aidan1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 624 ✭✭✭Aidan1


    The law already allows them to -

    Just to be abundantly clear, it doesn't - a change to the Road Traffic Acts is required (and has been for a very long time). As the law is drafted, every case is an 'edge case' -and the agricultural community is very well aware of that, which is why you see so many tractors on Motorways - for once, it's not an enforcement issue. In several areas, Gardai have tried to take cases through the courts and have lost - and are now left to trying to catch people out on the basis of lighting (which is why, if you're going call in a complaint about a tractor on the motorway, have a look at the lights on the trailer first).

    The laws governing weights and speeds for agricultural machinery are similarly out of date, and were the subject of a consultation a couple of years ago around changing them. Supposedly, part of the package of measures was an outright ban on ag machinery on Motorways. The entire system needs to be addressed, and quickly. There are more and more trailers entering use that regularly carry over 20 tonnes net - means that the gross weight of these units is often well over 30 tonnes over the weighbridge, with none of the regulations that restrict HGVs (like a tachograph or proper licensing system for drivers). Accidents like the one on the M9 are bad enough, but much worse could easily happen.


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