S.I. No. 158/1985 - Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations, 1985.

1. The area to be protected by a sideguard shall be bounded at the rear by the transverse vertical plane situated 300 millimetres in front of the foremost part of the tyres of the rear axle or the foremost rear axle where more than one such axle is fitted.

2. The area to be protected by a sideguard shall be bounded to the front by the tranverse vertical plane situated—

(

a

) in the case of a mechanically propelled vehicle not being an articulated vehicle, 300 millimetres to the rear of the rearmost part of the tyres of the axle, preceding the plane described in 1 above;

(

b

) in the case of a trailer 500 millimetres to the rear of the rearmost part of the tyres of the axle preceding the plane described in 1 above;

(

c

) in the case of an articulated vehicle, 3.0 metres to the rear of the transverse vertical plane through the centre of the semi-trailer coupling king-pin.

3. The base line of the area to be protected by a sideguard shall be at a height of not less than 190 millimetres nor greater than 500 millimetres from the ground.

4. The top line of the area to be protected by a sideguard shall be at the height of the upper surface of the load carrying structure or at a height of 1.5 metres from the ground, whichever is the lesser.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment this

6th day of June, 1985.

LIAM KAVANAGH,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations prescribe the following motor vehicle safety requirements with effect from 1st January, 1986 — the fitting of laminated glass windscreens on new motor vehicles and the fitting of rear underrun protective devices and side guards to goods vehicles and trailers with an unladen weight exceeding 1524 kilogrammes (1½ tons). The Regulations further empower the Minister to issue permits for special vehicles, including one person operated buses, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the permits.

5. The external dimensions of a sideguard shall be equal to or greater than the dimensions of the area to be protected as set out in Part B of the Schedule.

B.

The area to be protected by a Sideguard

6. The Principal Regulations are hereby amended by the substitution for article 97 of the following article—

"97 (1) The Minister for the Environment may issue to any person a special permit authorising the use in public places of a particular vehicle or vehicles or a particular combination or combinations of vehicles notwithstanding that their use would contravene the provisions of these Regulations.

(2) In issuing a special permit referred to in sub-article (1) of this article, the Minister may specify limitations, restrictions or conditions on the vehicles referred to in sub-article (1) of this article as to—

(

a

) the public roads and public places in which the vehicles may be used,

(

b

) the number of passengers which may be carried in the vehicles and the method or means of calculating the number of such passengers,

(

c

) the weights, dimensions or other characteristics of the vehicle, and

(

d

) the construction or equipment of the vehicles."

Article: 3.

First Schedule

Column 1

Column 2

Country in which mark issues

Approved Standard Marks

Any country which has subscribed to the Agreement of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe concerning the adopting of uniform conditions of approval and reciprocal recognition of approval for motor vehicle equipment and parts done at Geneva on 20th March, 1958.

United Kingdom

The Minister for the Environment in exercise of the powers conferred on him by

sections 5

,

11

, and

13

of the

Road Traffic Act, 1961

, (No. 24 of 1961) hereby makes the following Regulations:—