Irish lorries overloaded
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IRISH lorries are so overloaded that the country ought to adopt the EEC's 40-tonne weight directive today, according to the Irish Road Haulage Association.
IRHA president Brendan Barrett was commenting after the Republic's Communications Minister, Jim Mitchell, committed his administration to raising the weight limit as soon as roads and bridges can take the weight.
That is similar to the line adopted by the British Government when both States were given an indefinite derogation from the weights and dimensions directive which applies in the rest of the EEC from July next year.
Mr Barrett described Mr Mitchell's statement as "laughable" and said that weight regulations were already being so grossly abused that the derogation made little sense.
He said that weighbridges designed to handle lorries of up to 60 tonnes were unable to handle some overloaded lorries.
The Irish Government plans to increase the number of weighbridges in its territory by four a year and to introduce guidelines for safe loading ol vehicles before the end of this year.