S.I. No. 274/1998:

ROAD TRAFFIC (TRAFFIC AND PARKING) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1998

ROAD TRAFFIC (TRAFFIC AND PARKING) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 1998

In exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government by sections 3 and 35 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994 (No. 7 of 1994), which powers were delegated to me by the Environment and Local Government (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order 1997 ( S.I. No. 427 of 1997 ), I, Robert Molloy, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government, hereby make the following Regulations:--

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment) Regulations, 1998.

(2) These Regulations and the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997 may be construed as one and cited together as the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997 and 1998.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1998, save for articles 6, 7, 8 and 9 which shall come into operation on the 1st day of November, 1998.

3. In these Regulations:--

"the Principal Regulations" means the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997 ( S.I. No. 182 of 1997 ).

4. Sub-article (1) of article 4 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended--

(a) by the substitution of the following for the definition of "cycle track":--

" 'cycle track' means part of a road, including part of a footway or part of a roadway, which is provided primarily for the use of pedal cycles ;", and

(b) by the substitution of the following for the definition of "parking bay":--

" 'parking bay' means the area contained between lines of the type referred to in article 18 of the Regulations of 1997;".

5. The following shall be substituted for article 5 of the Principal Regulations:--

"5. (1) These Regulations shall apply save where compliance is not possible as a result of an obstruction to traffic or pedestrians or because of an emergency situation confronting a road user which could not reasonably have been expected or anticipated.

(2) A prohibition or restriction imposed by these Regulations shall not apply to the driver of a fire brigade vehicle or an ambulance or to the use by a member of the Garda Siochana of a vehicle in the performance of the duties of that member, where such use does not thereby endanger the safety of road users.

(3) Save where otherwise expressly provided in these Regulations, a prohibition on the entry of a vehicle to a road or main area or the prohibition on the stopping or parking of a vehicle imposed by these Regulations shall not apply to -

(a) a vehicle being used in connection with the removal of an obstruction to traffic;

(b) a vehicle being used in connection with the carrying out of roadworks;

(c) a vehicle being used by a local authority or its agents in connection with the provision of a traffic sign;

(d) a vehicle being used in connection with the removal of a vehicle pursuant to the provisions of regulations made under section 97 of the Principal Act, as amended by section 3 of the Act of 1968, or regulations made under section 41 of the Act of 1994;

(e) a vehicle being used for the purpose of facilitating the immobilisation of a vehicle or the removal of an immobilisation device from a vehicle pursuant to section 101B of the Principal Act, as inserted by section 9 of the Dublin Transport. Authority (Dissolution) Act, 1987 (No. 34 of 1987);

(f) a vehicle being used by a traffic warden in the performance of the duties of that warden;

(g) a vehicle which has been damaged or has broken down, during the period necessary to effect repairs to the vehicle or remove it from the location.

(4) A prohibition on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 36(2) (a) shall not apply to a vehicle parked while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it,for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of the parking.

(5) A prohibition on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 36 (2) (m) shall not apply to a vehicle parked in a cycle track, on the right hand edge of which traffic sign number RRM 023 has been provided, while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of such parking.

(6) A restriction on the parking of a vehicle imposed by article 37 shall not apply to -

(a) a vehicle to which sub-article (3) applies;

(b) a vehicle parked at the edge of a roadway while a passenger is entering or leaving it; or

(c) a vehicle parked while goods are being loaded in or on to it or unloaded from it, for a period not exceeding thirty minutes from the commencement of the parking.".

6. The following shall be substituted for article 14 of the Principal Regulations:--

"14. (1) A cycle track shall be indicated by traffic sign number RUS 009 or RUS 009A provided in association with traffic sign number RRM 022 (continuous white line) or RRM023 (broken white line) which latter signs may be marked on the right-hand edge of the cycle track or on the right-hand and left-hand edges of the cycle track.

(2) The periods of operation of a cycle track may be indicated on an information plate which may be provided in association with traffic sign number RUS 009 or RUS 009A.

(3) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a pedal cycle must be driven on a cycle track where one is provided.

(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply in the case of a cycle track on the right-hand edge of which traffic sign number RRM 023 has been provided,

(i) where a person driving a pedal cycle intends to change direction and has indicated that intention, or

(ii) where a bus is stopped in the cycle track at a point where traffic sign RUS 031 (bus stop) is provided, or

(iii) where a vehicle is parked in the cycle track for the purpose of loading or unloading.

(4) Where a cycle track is two-way, pedal cycles shall be driven as near as possible to the left-hand side of each lane.

(5) (a) A mechanically propelled vehicle, other than a mechanically propelled wheelchair, shall not be driven along or across a cycle track on the right hand edge of which traffic sign number RRM 022 has been provided, save for the purpose of access to or egress from a place adjacent to the cycle track or from a roadway to such a place.

(b) A reference in paragraph (a) to driving along or across a cycle track shall include a reference to driving wholly or partly along or across a cycle track.

(6) Where a vehicle is parked on that part of a road in relation to which traffic sign number RUS 009 or RUS 009A is provided in association with traffic sign number RRM 022 or RRM 023 (cycle track), in advance of the commencement of the period indicated on an information plate which may accompany traffic sign number RUS 009 or RUS 009A, the parking of the said vehicle must cease and the vehicle must be removed from that part of the road prior to the commencement of that period save where article 5 (5) applies.".

7. Sub-article (2) of article 36 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the addition of the following paragraph after paragraph (I):-

"(m) in a cycle track.".

8. The following shall be substituted for sub-article (1) of article 45 of the Principal Regulations:--

"(1) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a person shall not drive a vehicle into a road, a portion of a road or in an area, at the entrance to which traffic sign number RUS 021 [Pedestrianised Street or Area] is provided, during the period indicated on the information plate accompanying the said traffic sign.

(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply to a person who is driving a pedal cycle on a cycle track.".

9. Article 47 of the Principal Regulations is hereby amended by the insertion of the following sub-articles after sub-article (2):--

"(3) A cyclist facing traffic sign number RTS 006 or RTS 007 (cycle traffic lights) in which one lamp is lit and shows a figure of a cyclist in green, may proceed beyond that traffic sign provided no other road user is endangered.

(4) Where traffic sign number RTS 006 or RTS 007 (cycle traffic lights) is provided, and a lamp in that traffic sign is lit and shows a figure of a cyclist in red, a person shall not drive a pedal cycle past the traffic sign.

(5) Where traffic sign number RTS 006 is provided and a lamp in the traffic sign is lit on an intermittent basis showing a figure of a pedal cyclist in green or where traffic sign number RTS 007 is provided and a lamp in that traffic sign is lit and shows a figure of a cyclist in amber, cyclists may not cross the road unless they had commenced to do so while a lamp showing a figure of a cyclist in green was lit on a constant basis.".

10. The County of Offaly Traffic and Parking Bye-laws, 1993 ( S.I. No. 87 of 1994 ) are hereby revoked save for Part V and Part VII of such bye-laws.

Dated this 31st day of July, 1998.

Robert Molloy

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations amend the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations, 1997 to provide for certain road facilities for pedal cyclists and to provide for certain exemptions from the regulations for particular classes of vehicles.