Members of An Garda Síochána have criticised a thoughtless tractor driver as a “poor show” for allowing a line of “50 vehicles” to build up behind without pulling in to let fellow road-users pass.
Taking to social media over the weekend, Gardaí in the Kilkenny/Carlow division highlighted the issue with a video clip on Facebook titled ‘Inconsiderate Driver’, which showed a tractor drawing a load of silage with other motorists travelling behind.
Commenting on this, the local Garda team said:
“This short clip captured by a passenger in a vehicle travelling from Bennettsbridge to Kilkenny shows a tractor towing a trailer with a queue behind it.
“There was also a line of at least 50 vehicles behind the one that shot the video.
“The tractor had travelled the full distance from Bennettsbridge to Kilkenny without availing of any opportunities to pull in.
“A poor show. Let’s all show consideration to each other on our roads.”
However, local sources have pointed out that the road in question is a “narrow stretch of road”, with just one suitable location for a large vehicle to pull into. The figures mentioned were also questioned.
The resulting comments from members of the public offered a wide range of views, with some lively debates ensuing.
Some commentators defended the tractor driver, suggesting that the driver may not have known where to pull in along the road or that available spaces may have been too small; however, others criticised the driver as thoughtless and an ‘accident waiting to happen’ if fellow motorists became impatient.
A number of people commenting pointed to other road-users such as cyclists and slow-moving vehicles, while more claimed such incidents happen ‘all the time’.
Others again outlined mixed views that “some farmers think they own the road and some are very good to pull in if they can”.
The official Road Safety Authority (RSA) line of view on the matter is also somewhat mixed, stating: “If you are travelling behind farm machinery, please be patient and only overtake when it’s safe to do so.
“Farmers should be aware of traffic building up behind them and keep left where possible and safe to do so, to allow other vehicles pass safely,” the authority notes.
More details for driving tractors on Irish roads can be found here.