Section 87 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 (as amended)

Victor

I'm just trying to fully interpret this section.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/3/section/23/enacted/en/html

Road Traffic Act 2014 wrote:

Amendment of section 87 of Act of 2010 — exemptions for emergency vehicles

23. Section 87 of the Act of 2010 is amended by substituting for subsection (1) the following:

“(1) Requirements under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2010 relating to vehicles and requirements, restrictions and prohibitions relating to the driving and use of vehicles, other than those provided under sections 49, 50, 51A, 52 and 53 of the Principal Act, sections 12, 13 and 15 of the Act of 1994 and sections 4, 5, 11, 12 and 14 of this Act, do not apply to—

(a) the driving or use by a member of the Garda Síochána, an ambulance service (provided by a pre-hospital emergency care service provider recognised by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council established by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 109 of 2000 )) or a fire brigade of a fire authority (within the meaning of the Fire Services Act 1981 ) of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, or

(b) a person driving or using a vehicle under the direction of a member of the Garda Síochána,

where such use does not endanger the safety of road users.”.

The paragraph starting with (1) is essentially saying "the Road Traffic Acts don't apply to these people, unless they are intoxicated or being careless to or endangering people."

Subsection (2) (in the act of 2010, not reproduced here) is irrelevant.

The paragraph starting at (b) applies to a situation where a garda had told someone "Do X".

It is the paragraph starting at (a) that is of interest to me. Without changing its meaning, could it be rewritten as

... the driving or use by a member of the Garda Síochána of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, or

... the driving or use by a member of an ambulance service (provided by a pre-hospital emergency care service provider recognised by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council established by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (Establishment) Order 2000 ( S.I. No. 109 of 2000 )) of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, or

... the driving or use by a member of a fire brigade of a fire authority (within the meaning of the Fire Services Act 1981 ) of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, or

These are the definitions from the Fire Services Act 1981 http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1981/act/30/section/2/enacted/en/html#sec2

Fire Services Act 1981 wrote:

2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

...

“fire authority” means a fire authority to which section 9 applies;

“fire brigade” means an organised body of persons trained and equipped for extinguishing fires occurring in buildings and other places and for rescuing persons and property from such fires, and includes the vehicles and equipment with which that body is provided;

...

Fire authority essentially means a city/&/county council. Fire brigade means an organisation within a fire authority with people who fight fires and rescue people and property from fires.

What is the situation with a member of a fire brigade driving a
* command vehicle,
* rescue vehicle,
* amphibious rescue vehicle,
* transport vehicle towing general cargo
* transport vehicle towing a rescue boat trailer
* welfare vehicle
* personal vehicle (as part of their duties) or
* third-party vehicle (as part of their duties)?

What of a fire officer inspecting a building site for fire certificate purposes or a licenced premises?

Peregrinus

The exemption only applies to a member of a fire brigade where he is driving a vehicle "in the performance of the duties of that member". I think that means in the course of his duties as a member of the fire brigade.

Under the Fire Services Act, fire brigades have certain functions, but the Act also confers functions on an "authorised person" of a fire authority. Authorised persons, in particular, carry out fire safety inspections and serve fire safety notices.

There is nothing in the Act that says that an authorised person has to be a member of a fire brigade, though for all I know it may be usual that he is. But, if he is, I don't think that the exemption that he benefits from when driving in the performance of his duties as a member of the fire brigade would transfer accross to when he is driving in the performance of his duties as an authorised person.