Road Traffic (Specialised Vehicle Permits) Regulations 2009

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Year: 2009
• Citation: IR SI 147/2009

S.I. No. 147 of 2009

ROAD TRAFFIC (SPECIALISED VEHICLE PERMITS) REGULATIONS 2009

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 24th April, 2009.

I, NOEL AHERN, Minister of State at the Department of Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by sections 11 and 13 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (No. 24 of 1961), the National Roads and Road Traffic (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 298 of 2002 ) (as adapted by the Public Enterprise (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 305 of 2002 )) and the Transport (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (Road Traffic) Order 2008 ( S.I. No. 320 of 2008 ) hereby make the following regulations:

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Specialised Vehicle Permits) Regulations 2009.

Commencement

2. These Regulations come into operation on 4 May 2009.

Definitions

3. In these Regulations—

“designated road” means each of the roads and parts of roads specified in the Schedule;

“Permits Officer” means the officer appointed under Regulation 10;

“specialised vehicle” means a vehicle (whether or not registered in the State)—

(a) that is constructed or adapted for the carriage of long loads or wide loads, and

(b) the use of which on a public road would contravene any provision of the specialised vehicle operations regulations;

“specialised vehicle operations regulations” means any regulations made for the purposes of section 11 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 ;

“specialised vehicle permit” means a permit granted under Regulation 6; and

“vehicle” includes a combination of vehicles.

Application of these Regulations

4. These Regulations apply to the operation of a specialised vehicle on a designated road.

Application for specialised vehicle permit

5. (1) The owner or operator of a specialised vehicle may apply to the Permits Officer for a permit authorising the operation of the vehicle either on a specified occasion or occasions, or during a specified period of up to 1 year, on—

(a) a specified designated road or specified designated roads, or

(b) all designated roads within a specified area.

(2) The application for a permit shall be made at least five clear working days before the proposed operation is to commence.

(3) The application shall be made in the form provided by the Commissioner of the Gárda Síochána for the purpose, and may be submitted by email.

(4) The application shall set out—

(a) details of the vehicle to be used,

(b) if any special permit is necessary for the operation of the vehicle under Regulation 60 of the Road Traffic (Construction and Use of Vehicles) Regulations 2003 ( S.I. No. 5 of 2003 ), a statement of whether that permit has been obtained,

(c) if for the purposes of the proposed operation it is intended to operate the vehicle in a public place other than a designated road, a statement as to whether a permit has been obtained for that operation under the Road Traffic (Special Permits for Particular Vehicles) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 283 of 2007 ),

(d) the nature and dimensions of any load to be carried,

(e) particulars of the journeys to be undertaken, and

(f) whether the vehicle will be accompanied by an attendant or an escort vehicle.

(5) The Permits Officer may require the applicant to provide any other information reasonably necessary to consider the application, and if the Permits Officer so requires, he or she need not consider the application until the applicant supplies the required information.

Grant of specialised vehicle permits

6. (1) The Permits Officer may grant a specialised vehicle permit if—

(a) the vehicle including its load is not longer than 27.4 metres nor wider than 4.3 metres; and

(b) he or she is satisfied that—

(i) operation of the vehicle in accordance with the particulars in the application, and the proposed limitations, restrictions or conditions (if any) of the permit, will be safe, and

(ii) the vehicle and that operation will not otherwise contravene the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2006, Regulations made under those Acts, or any other law.

(2) The following are conditions of any specialised vehicle permit granted:

(a) that any applicable requirement for marking any overhanging load is complied with;

(b) that the following documents are carried in the vehicle’s driving cabin:

(i) a printed copy of the permit;

(ii) a printed copy of any variation of it;

(iii) a printed copy of any relevant email referred to in regulation 8(4);

(c) that the documents referred to in subparagraph (b) are kept available for inspection by any member of the Gárda Síochána who requires them to be produced;

(d) that the vehicle’s operator does not begin any operation authorised by the permit unless—

(i) there is sufficient clearance in both height and width for the safe operation of the vehicle over the whole of the proposed route, and

(ii) conditions (including the condition and state...