Gardaí in Co. Cork have seized a car driven by an unaccompanied learner driver who was towing a trailer overloaded with improperly secured straw bales.
The car was stopped yesterday (Thursday, September 22) at a checkpoint near Ballyhooly, on the road between Mallow and Fermoy.
According to gardaí, the trailer was “clearly overloaded”, and the driver had failed to ensure that the straw bales were secured properly.
The roads policing officers then found that the driver was on a leaner permit and was unaccompanied by a driver with a full licence, which Gardaí said in a social media post was the “last straw”.
The car was seized and fixed charge penalties issued to the driver.
In the same social media post, gardaí said: “Remember, you have a responsibility to ensure that your vehicle, and the loads you carry, are safe and that other road users can observe lights and signaling.
“Extra weight affects how your vehicle responds and increases your stopping distance,” the post added.
Gardaí stop 4X4 ‘going on green’
Last week, road policing gardaí in Co. Kilkenny brought a halt to a 4X4 driver for a number of offences, including having no drivers’ licence or insurance, and with the vehicle untaxed for 710 days.
The vehicle, which was stopped in Callan on September 11, was also running on “a tank full of green diesel”, according to gardaí.
Green diesel, or marked gas oil, is charged tax at a reduced rate compared to auto fuel (road diesel), and can only be legally used in certain types of vehicles, mainly farm machinery and some commercial vehicles.
It is dyed green to distinguish it from auto fuel, and it is illegal to use green diesel in road vehicles.
The misuse of green diesel is an offence related to tax, and those who are found to have committed this offence are listed in the quarterly tax defaulters publication from Revenue.