An Garda Síochána was out on patrol yesterday (Thursday, 7 March) when they stopped a tractor with a dung spreader carrying heavily overloaded bales in it.
After the incident, gardaí from the Waterford/Kilkenny/Carlow region took to social media to outline the importance of “securing your load” and to “please do not shed your load”.
Gardaí have said that the Roads Policing Unit stopped “more than one poorly loaded vehicle earlier during multi agency checkpoints carried out with our colleagues in customs”.
“Seriously, secure your load,” was the message posted by gardaí.
According to the Road Safety and Authority (RSA) loads carried in any vehicle should be secured so that they cannot move or fall off, or out, of the vehicle.
The RSA has said that load security is covered by road traffic legislation, which requires that loads carried by vehicles must be properly secured at all times.
It is an “offence” for a vehicle to be overloaded on a public road.
The RSA also stated that unsecured or inadequately secured loads can injure people and can even be fatal.
As well as physical damage, failure to secure a load properly can also result in financial losses due to damaged goods, vehicles, property and roads.
Financial losses may also result from lost working time, clean up costs, time delays during unloading, legal costs and damage to company reputation, according to the authority.
The vehicle must “always be appropriate” to carry the load, which in the case of a dung spreader does not appear to be “appropriate”.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, An Garda Síochána also said there were many agricultural vehicles and cars were detected with green diesel recently.
A driver in Co. Kilkenny will be facing a fine following the discovery of marked gas oil (green diesel) in their vehicle.
According to Revenue, green diesel is diesel on which mineral oil tax at a reduced rate has been paid on condition that it is used only for purposes that qualify for that reduced rate, such as agriculture.
It is chemically marked and dyed green to deter misuse for purposes to which a higher rate of tax applies.
The authority noted that it is illegal to use marked gas oil or marked kerosene in road vehicles. Marked gas oil is primarily used for off-road purposes such as agriculture and the heating of larger buildings.