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Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross has signed off on new regulations for the road-worthiness testing of commercial vehicles – including tractors.
This is on foot of an EU directive which required road-worthiness testing for certain tractors which can exceed 40km/h – known as “fast tractors”.
This testing, however, only includes tractors which are being used for non-agricultural activities, thus excluding farmers and contractors engaged in agricultural activities.
Tests
The tractors will have to be tested after four years of age and every two years thereafter. Commercial vehicles between 30 and 40 years of age that are used solely for non-commercial purposes will be required to undergo compulsory road-worthiness testing every second year instead of annually.
The changes to the regulations will come into effect on 20 May 2018. The cost of the testing will be the same as those tests applied to heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) based on their designed gross vehicle weights (DGVW). At the moment, the cost of a test for a vehicle between 3.5t and 7.5t is €146.62.
Vehicles with a DGVW exceeding 7,500kg cost €171.16 to test. An interesting point is the establishment of an exclusion for vehicles used exclusively on small islands.
Reading the SI, it does appear the wording excludes agricultural activity, the definition of which could perhaps be made more clear.
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