Personal Injury Solicitors

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced that the speed limit for tractors will rise to 25mph from March 2015.
The current speed limit is 20mph – and BBC News reports that the combined maximum weight limit for tractors in England, Scotland and Wales will rise from 24 tonnes to 31 tonnes.

Transport Minister Claire Perry said current restrictions were “outdated” – and the new regulations would “better reflect the capabilities of modern machinery”.

Current restrictions have been in place since the 1980s and the National Farmers Union (NFU) is urging the government to go further in updating the regulations for farm equipment on Britain’s roads. From 2015-2016, further consultation will take place on weight and speed limit increases – and a roadworthiness test will be discussed for tractors and other farm vehicles.

The NFU says that current restrictions are forcing farmers to make more journeys than necessary, increasing running costs for vehicles as well as pollution, including carbon emissions.

Tractors and other farm vehicles can also congest roads because of the low speed limit they are restricted to – accidents involving farm vehicles can occur if other motorists speed on country roads and are not aware of the likelihood of farm vehicles on the road or try to overtake them on bends.

A spokesman from the NFU said:

“I am sure many people who've found themselves caught in a queue of traffic behind a tractor will have sympathy with our calls to reduce the number of tractors on the road by increasing their effective payload,” he said.

“It is essential government provides a further increase to tractor and trailer weights and recognises the unique role that tractors play transporting our food from field to farm.”
Claire Perry said:

“Current weight restrictions to the total combined weight of tractors and trailers offer farmers a perverse incentive to use smaller tractors to pull large trailers, in order to maximise the amount of produce that they can carry within the maximum weight allowed.”

The changes from next March are expected to generate £62 million in deregulatory benefits for farmers each year. Ms Perry said the move would “bring our farmers more in line with their international counterparts".

Duncan Lewis Personal Injury Solicitors – Road Traffic Accident Claims

Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors can advise those injured in road traffic accidents as the result of another road user or a slippery road surface on how to make no win no fee Road Traffic Accidents Claims for compensation.

Personal injury claimants have three years from the date of injury in which to claim – children injured in road traffic accidents are able to make a claim up to the age of 21 following injury.

For expert legal advice on Road Traffic Accident Claims, call Duncan Lewis personal injury solicitors on 020 7923 4020.