RSA: Revised Regulations for Agricultural Vehicles

Revised Regulations for Agricultural Vehicles
The Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport has recently signed legislation introducing revised standards for agricultural vehicles.

Why are the regulations changing?

These standards take effect from 1st January 2016 and are being introduced following a comprehensive review, including a public consultation, undertaken by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) over a prolonged period in 2008-2009 which examined the current legislation, policy and practice relating to the use of agricultural vehicles on public roads.

The current regulations are in place for more than half a century during which time agricultural vehicles have become bigger, faster and more powerful, and their use has been expanded to include a wide variety of tasks outside the scope of the current regulations.

Agricultural vehicles are now widely used on our roads; they are generally constructed to very high standards and it is important that the regulatory regime reflects the developments in agricultural vehicle technology and requires them to comply with recognised vehicle standards in relation to a number of key safety areas, i.e. braking, suspension systems, tyres and lighting as well as the weights for which they are designed.

Note that neither changes to the Driver Licensing & Testing arrangements for prospective Category W (agricultural tractor and works vehicle) licence holders, nor the introduction of compulsory roadworthiness testing for agricultural vehicles are being introduced at this time. However these are areas that the RSA will likely consider in the future with a view to implementing further improvements aimed at increasing road safety for all road users encountering agricultural vehicles using public roads.