Calls for tractors to be banned from motorways
Tractors must be banned from using motorways to improve road safety, according to truck drivers.
The Irish Road Haulage Association is calling on the Government and Road Safety Authority to impose tighter restrictions.
Advertisement
Currently, the law allows for machinery to use motorways if the vehicle can maintain a speed of 50 kilometres per hour.
Farmers say they will oppose any move to drive tractors off motorways.
Irish Farmers Association President, Francie Gorman says the journeys tractors undertake on motorways are often short, and farmers need access to the road network.
IRHA President Ger Hyland says there's a particular hazard for drivers approaching from behind at speed.
"You have a car coming up behind them, and next thing they realise they are too close to the tractor in front. They have nowhere to go, they look to the overtaking lane, and it is full.
"So then you have them taking the hard shoulder to overtake the tractor because they cannot stop in time.
"If they do jam up on the motorway, you are likely to have a domino effect where one vehicle goes into another behind."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
36 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Ask the expert: Our car could have caught fire. Can we claim compensation?
Dear Alex, Our small family company bought two Ford Kuga plug-in hybrids (PHEV) in early 2024, because we wanted to be eco-friendly and intended to use the cars mostly in electric-only mode. In March this year we received a recall notice advising us to stop charging our cars due to a potential battery fault which could result in fire. Ford said it doesn't have a fix and doesn't know when it will have one. We now use the cars only in petrol mode, making them far less efficient than an ordinary petrol Kuga. I complained but was only offered a £100 goodwill payment for each car. Do you know when a fix will be released? Should we push for more compensation? – AS Dear AS, I know it's no consolation, but you're not the only one to have been affected by this fault. I've received several letters concerning Ford's recall notice 24S79, which affects Kuga plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models built from 2020 to 2024, a total of 26,328 vehicles in the UK. The recall notice states: 'In the event of a high-voltage battery internal short circuit, you will experience a 'Stop Safely Now' message in the instrument cluster. You may also experience a loss of motive power, increasing the risk of an accident. 'You will continue to have 12-volt accessories, steering and braking control. You may also experience battery thermal venting potentially resulting in a vehicle fire. 'Ford engineers are developing new software to remedy the potential condition. In the meantime please DO NOT PLUG IN YOUR VEHICLES TO CHARGE THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY and use the drive mode 'Auto EV' only. This will prevent the potential issue from occurring while charging or driving.' The letter goes on to say that you'll be booked in at your local dealer as soon as Ford has a fix (although, as you say, there is no indication of when that might be). While credit should be given to Ford for identifying and taking action to remedy this potentially very serious fault, the lack of a potential end date had many owners worried – not only about the fire risk, but about the increased cost of use of their cars in the meantime. As you rightly point out, using a PHEV without charging it can result in much higher fuel consumption than even the equivalent pure petrol model. There is some good news, however. I asked Ford if it could provide an update and it said the fix is ready to be rolled out; as of 20 May, customers should have started to receive notifications to book in their cars, first via the FordPass app, then by post. I also asked whether Ford had a policy regarding compensation for customers' increased fuel use, but it responded only that customers would 'need to contact our Customer Contact Centre who are ready to assist with any further questions'. Ford has already offered you a gesture of goodwill, but I would encourage you to pursue additional compensation. I would strongly suggest working out the cost of the additional fuel you've had to use during that time, based on the mileage travelled, the proportion of those miles that would have been covered under electric power and the fuel economy the car has achieved in that time. While I appreciate the sums aren't easy to do retrospectively, submitting a claim for a specific figure is more likely to yield a result than a nebulous request for an unspecified amount.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Lewis Hamilton bemoans performance at Spanish GP: ‘Worst race I have experienced'
A demoralised Lewis Hamilton described his latest Ferrari horror show at Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix as one of the worst races he has ever experienced. Hamilton was ordered by Ferrari to move aside for team-mate Charles Leclerc on lap 10 and was then passed by Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg in the closing laps. Hamilton finished seventh but moved up one place to sixth in the final classification following Max Verstappen 's post-race penalty. Leclerc took the chequered flag in third to land his third podium of the season, but Hamilton is yet to take a top-three finish in nine Ferrari starts. He is 23 points behind Leclerc, and 115 adrift of championship leader Oscar Piastri. 'I have no idea why it was so bad,' said 40-year-old Hamilton. 'That was the worst race I have experienced, balance-wise.' Quizzed as to whether he could take any positives from Sunday's performance, the seven-time world champion replied: 'Zero.' And then asked where he goes from here, Hamilton answered: 'Home.' Hamilton had been able to take confidence from out-qualifying Leclerc for just the second time this campaign, and appeared in good spirits prior to Sunday's race when he embraced England captain Harry Kane and Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka in the moments before the lights went out. He then moved ahead of former Mercedes team-mate George Russell at the opening bend to take fourth. But Hamilton's afternoon soon unravelled when he failed to match Leclerc's speed, and he was told by race engineer Riccardo Adami to 'trade places' with his team-mate. It is the second time this season that Hamilton has been ordered out of Leclerc's way in a race. Hamilton won the sprint round in China in March, but his record in the main events so far for Ferrari reads 10th, disqualified, seventh, fifth, seventh, eighth, fourth, fifth and sixth. Hamilton added: 'The team did a great job and that is all I can say. I didn't have any speed at the end.'
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Oscar Piastri sees off McLaren team-mate Lando Norris to claim his FIFTH victory of the F1 season at the Spanish Grand Prix - as Max Verstappen and George Russell reignite fiery feud
There is only one flaw in the greatest driver in the world. Just as there was with Michael Schumacher when he ruled Formula One. And it brought him, Max Verstappen, low on lap 64 of 66 on Sunday as he blew his top and lost his composure. A few minutes later he was gracious as he spoke about his deed of moments earlier, if unrepentant. Introspection is not his style. Action is. It is part of the DNA that makes him by a wider margin superior to the next best of his contemporaries than anyone in history. But there was a sense of desperation, of not being in charge of all he surveyed, that, surely, impelled him to drive deliberately into George Russell. As Murray Walker always argued in Schumacher's defence, the German acted without 'malice aforethought' and that is about as solid a defence as you can offer for Verstappen's impulsive act. And his instinct to fight out of a dark hole was more vivid because Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix may prove pivotal in several ways. It was a race won by Oscar Piastri with ice in his veins. It means the Australian is now clear favourite for the world title. He has won five of nine races this season. Linked, it indicates that Lando Norris is struggling to stay in the ring. His form is fragile. He is unable to piece together back-to-back wins. Up in Monaco last week, down in Barcelona this. Second meant he slipped 10 points behind Piastri in the other superlative McLaren. Perhaps time will help Norris – there are 14 races remaining – or will the nagging doubts grow horns? And the final of the three things this race suggested, is that we may be witnessing the end of the Verstappen dominance. Four times in four years, touched by the angels more than the devil, he has won the title. Once controversially, twice with sledgehammer-force, finally with grit that raised him beyond what ought to have been the limitations of his car. Now, he is 49 points off Piastri. You sense that frustration was crowding in on him. McLaren are up the road, dominant beyond belief, a reality underlined by Red Bull rightly turning to a three-stop strategy yesterday. On a two-stopper, they were toast. So when the safety car came out after Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes had given up the ghost and all the leaders were reshod, Verstappen was restricted to hard tyres. It's all they had left. His opponents were on softs. It put him at a dreadful disadvantage. He expressed his disquiet over the radio. He then made a rare mistake. He went on to the kerb on the straight and lost his shape. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc went past him. They touched. The stewards cleared them both. A second or two later, he was attacked by Russell at the first corner. Rather than take the bend, Verstappen was forced off and went straight on – an off-the-road shortcut. Then came the fateful instruction to swap places with Russell. Now, Verstappen is a good reader of these things, knowing how to press his claims with nuclear tenacity yet within the rules. He did so several times in close combat with Norris last year, only once – in my view – overstepping the mark, in Mexico. This time he was right in asserting he did not need to cede to Russell. The stewards later said so in their adjudication. So the event that was to unfold would not have unfolded had his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, known as GP, not insisted he did. Verstappen saw red. He operates on a short fuse. He does not blink. Thus, he deliberately steered right into Russell, accelerating as he did so. Nico Rosberg, world champion nine years ago, said the Dutchman should be black-flagged. Rosberg is a big admirer of Verstappen's repertoire of skills that have slaughtered every team-mate he has encountered. But here, in this condemnation, was an echo of his father Keke, 1982 world champion, who called Schumacher a 'cheap cheat' that afternoon of infamy in Monaco where the German parked up at Rascasse to block Fernando Alonso's qualifying lap in 2006. The calculation in that skulduggery was worse than some of Schumacher's more impetuous fouls, and worse, in my estimation, than Verstappen's hot-headed madness here. But the Dutchman acted dangerously and the 10-second penalty that sent him from fifth to 10th was lenient. If it was deliberate – and Verstappen given the chance to deny it declined to – an exemplary sentence was required. Later, told that Russell accused him of setting a bad example to youngsters, Verstappen seemed to think the verdict priggish. 'OK, well, I'll bring some tissues next time,' he said. On the question of entangling intentionally, Verstappen said: 'He has his view; I have my view. It's better not to do comment.' Of Rosberg's black-flag call: 'That's his opinion.' As of the championship situation: 'I never said that I was in a championship fight. Every race has been tough. When McLaren get their things right, they are unbeatable.' Will he speak to Russell? 'No, not necessary. I don't have anything to say.' Does he regret anything? 'In life you shouldn't regret too many things. No regrets.' That is fair up to a point. Elite sport is not a place for self-doubters. But conduct is important in the assessment of reputation and legacy, not least when you have a genius talent to protect and nurture. It was also another horror show for Lewis Hamilton (who, it should be noted, has never resorted to shady deeds on track). He was asked to let his faster team-mate Leclerc through, just as he was in China on the only previous occasion he out-qualified him. He was later passed by Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and finished sixth. Leclerc claimed third place. 'I have no idea why it was so bad,' said Hamilton. 'That was the worst race I have experienced, balance-wise.' Positives? 'Zero.' And where does he go from here? 'Home.'
