In Ballymena lots of young people get drafted by farmers to help out on the farm. Maybe it is silage time, or just getting the family involved but do you know all the legalities behind who should and shouldn’t be driving a tractor? thefarmpage.com recently share lots of helpful information on this topic from the Northern Ireland Health and Safety executive:

By law in Northern Ireland any child aged 13 and over can, with appropriate permission and supervision, drive a tractor engaged in agricultural activities. However this is only if they are on private land and not a road and they must have passed a driving course which is recognised. CAFRE can help you to find a safe tractor driving like this one.

Legal Ages to drive Tractors - Ballymena

In addition to this:

A young person aged 16 or 17 years old should also receive additional training in the safe use of PTO driven equipment and should only operate this equipment under supervision of a competent adult. Suitable training is again available from CAFRE colleges.

By the age of 16 a person cannot drive on the road unless;

  • Going to, taking or returning from a driving test; or
  • Engaged in the course of agricultural operations on any road which is not a road where the maximum speed limit is 30mph or less

And any 17 year old who holds a full category F licence may drive any agricultural motor vehicle on a road when used in connection with agriculture. More information about this can be found in this Farming Life article. 

Hopefully this advice will keep farmers in Ballymena safe and legal on the road this summer.