Farmers around the UK will be breathing a sigh of relief after the news was released that European Parliament has excluded farm quads from its controversial regulation changes. The turnaround means that farmers will not be penalised when there is a clear difference between quad bikes used on farmland and those used on the roads.
European Parliament has ruled against counting farm quads and agricultural ATVs in with a package of regulations, all of which will have an effect on quad bikes on the road and motorcycles. The new regulations would put limits on emissions and make ABS brakes compulsory, meaning some existing vehicles may need further modification to meet the new standards.
The deciding vote took place in Strasbourg and following the result, Ulster Unionist MEP Jim Nicholson said that while road safety is very important, grouping farm quads and agricultural ATVs in with the same regulations, which are designed promote road safety, would have brought more unnecessary costs to the farming industry. Farmers would have had to pay more for the vehicles along with other costs; meaning their customers and clients would’ve been negatively impacted by the changes as well.
Manufacturers of quad bikes which are intended for farm use would also have been affected if the proposal for the regulations had included agricultural ATVs. The proposal for the original regulations had, at first, not recognised the differences between quad bikes which were designed for use on farms and those used predominantly on roads.