Uninsured and untaxed tractors on the road

Mr. Wong

Do tractors have to be insured and taxed to drive on a public road?

I live in a rural area and the state some of these tractors are in is nothing short of dangerous and I know they aren't insured or taxed. Does the same principals regarding tax and insurance apply to farmers driving tractors and other farm machinery?

coylemj

On public roads they are subject to the tax & insurance rules same as cars. I think they're ok to run on green diesel but they deffo need insurance and tax (flat rate €102 p.a.).

Mr. Wong

Yes I knew about the agri diesel. Was a little unsure on the insurance and tax situation. Most of the newer tractors are insured and taxed but the old rustbuckets that the older farmers driver are a hazard on the road and not insured or taxed. The Gardaí seem to turn a blind eye though.

Caliden

Mr. Wong wrote: »

Yes I knew about the agri diesel. Was a little unsure on the insurance and tax situation. Most of the newer tractors are insured and taxed but the old rustbuckets that the older farmers driver are a hazard on the road and not insured or taxed. The Gardaí seem to turn a blind eye though.

Sure that's rural Ireland for ya.

"Ara he's doin no harm there, now off ya go like a good young lad"

coylemj

So if there's a crash and a claim it will be picked up by the Motor Insurers' Bureau and the rest of us will eventually pick up the tab via our next premium.

piston

I agree that there are some tractors out there that shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a road but you can't judge condition of a tractor on bodywork alone as it is non-structural. If the steering, brakes and lights are in working order, it's fine as far as I am concerned.

Some tractors do have a tendency to self destructing bodywork like the MF 600 range but unlike a terminally rusty car, it won't cause it to collapse in a heap. The only possible issue is in the event of over-turning it, the safety cab may not be as safe as intended.

Cash is king

I think you will find most of them are insured but they don't put up the disk.

On the tax situation I spoke to a local farmer who told me he visited the local AGS to tax a tractor that had not being taxed in years.

The cop told him ah don't worry about that it will be fine!

b318isp

A few years my car was creamed by an uninsured tractor - and the driver was pissed.

He settled costs directly with my insurance, and, it seems, the Gardai weren't too interested in him.

enricoh

i doubt theres too many uninsured tractors out there, even if theres no disc up on it, farmers have assets n dont want a claim nabbing a few acres. tractors dont need to be doe'd so they might have a few bits flapping. tax is cheap but much less likely to be adhered to
16 year olds flying down the hill with a silage trailer loaded to the gills is nuts imo

mickdw

enricoh wrote: »

i doubt theres too many uninsured tractors out there, even if theres no disc up on it, farmers have assets n dont want a claim nabbing a few acres. tractors dont need to be doe'd so they might have a few bits flapping. tax is cheap but much less likely to be adhered to
16 year olds flying down the hill with a silage trailer loaded to the gills is nuts imo

Yes Id say nearly all are insured. Farmers are too cute not to be insured. Tax would be a different matter.
Tractor insurance is cheap so its utter lunacy not to have it.

thecomedian

The farm insurance would cover them, every farmer would have to have it. Most would spend a lot on insurance, a big claim and they would lose everything, land house, income.

monkeypants

Cash is king wrote: »

I spoke to a local farmer who told me he visited the local AGS to tax a tractor...The cop told him ah don't worry about that it will be fine!

Genius. I tried to pay my mortgage to the man who pulled up outside in an ice cream van. He didn't accept the payment, so I don't need to make any further payments obviously.

coylemj

enricoh wrote: »

i doubt theres too many uninsured tractors out there, even if theres no disc up on it, farmers have assets n dont want a claim nabbing a few acres. tractors dont need to be doe'd so they might have a few bits flapping. tax is cheap but much less likely to be adhered to
16 year olds flying down the hill with a silage trailer loaded to the gills is nuts imo

thecomedian wrote: »

The farm insurance would cover them, every farmer would have to have it. Most would spend a lot on insurance, a big claim and they would lose everything, land house, income.

You guys don't know much about the country. Taking a whole farm or 'a few acres' from a farmer is a non-starter for the simple reason that land seized from a farmer is worthless because in an auction nobody will bid for it.

enricoh

the land is not going to be seized off a farmer. if theres a judgement of say 50k against the farmer after a crash he has to come up with that somehow - good luck with the bank, so its sell assets i.e gear, stock or land or a combo of all 3

reilig

This is a very one sided view of farmers. The vast majority of tractors on the country's roads are taxed and insured. Just like the vast majority of car's on the country's roads. of course there are always chancers with tractors, but there are also chancer's with cars.

if anyone suspects that a farmer is driving a tractor on a public road without insurance, then they should report them to the Guardai in the same manner as they would report an uninsured car.

The day of getting away without tax or insurance because of the local guard in rural ireland is gone - because rural guards are gone. Much of the road policing in rural Ireland is carried out by the Garda Traffic Corps and they have the same respect for farmers driving tractors as ordinary people driving cars - that is, they expect everyone to keep within the law.

Most tractors will be insured on whole farm policies these days. Older tractors or tractors that do not have cabs or water proof canopies are not required to display an insurance disc, but they are required to display a tax disc in the same manner as a mororcycle.

There are different rules of the road for tractors than cars with specific reference to driving on the road during the day without any fitted lights.

Information can be found here:

http://new.ifa.ie/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=oTc_dWIlb0o%3D&t

Tractor drivers who do not abide by the rules are subject to the same disciplinary proceedures as any other motor vehicle driver.

piston

I would suspect anyone who is one the road a lot with a tractor will have it taxed. However many farmers will have tractors, usually older ones, that spend most of their time around the yard and may occasionally make a half mile journey to a field somewhere down the road. These won't be taxed in most cases.

reilig

piston wrote: »

I would suspect anyone who is one the road a lot with a tractor will have it taxed. However many farmers will have tractors, usually older ones, that spend most of their time around the yard and may occasionally make a half mile journey to a field somewhere down the road. These won't be taxed in most cases.

They will nowadays because the Guards have the power to impound an untaxed tractor. Many older tractors can be taxed at the vintage rate and recent years have seen many farmers make use of this.

I'd say that if a proper comparison was done, you'd find the same proportion of untaxed cars on the road as tractors. No need to single farmers out!

Paddy001

That's a wild assumption in fairness! If they weren't insured, the Gardai would be after them. Work vehicles are okay to run on green diesel and they also don't need to display an insurance disc, but they have to be insured. The ones you saw probably just didn't have a disc displayed! They also need to be taxed, which some people don't do but some of the Gardai turn a blind eye to this.