After the recent EPA accidents, pediatrician Jonas F Ludvigsson is now reacting.
He wants to see driving licenses and harsher penalties.
– I get incredibly sad when young people come in who are badly injured and who may have to live with it for the rest of their lives, he says.
This weekend there was a single accident with an A-tractor in Lindesberg where three people were taken to hospital by ambulance. Earlier this summer, there were several accidents involving A-tractors. Among other things, a teenage boy died after an A-tractor accident outside Torsby in mid-June.
Jonas F Ludvigsson, pediatrician at Örebro University Hospital, has encountered injured young people in his job and now wants to see measures to reduce accidents.
“Not education needed”
– We have managed to reduce the number of deaths among children in traffic, but there is a subgroup where I am afraid that the number will increase instead, and this concerns accidents with A-tractors. We have several deaths of young people every year and then someone has to do something.
As proposed measures, he wants, among other things, to see a driver’s license to be allowed to drive an A-tractor, harsher penalties for those who drive a modified vehicle, mandatory winter tires and that an adult needs to be the registered owner of the A-tractor.
– 16- and 17-year-olds do not have the maturity in traffic that adults have and they do not have the necessary education. A driving license for an EU moped is all that is required to drive something as big as a car, says Jonas F Ludvigsson.
The majority have flaws
A tractors, or EPA tractors as they are often called colloquially, have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. The number of A tractors has more than doubled on some. In 2019, there were 25,000 A tractors registered and the latest figure from the end of 2022 shows that there are close to 53,000 registered, according to the authority Trafikanalys.
During the autumn holiday week last year, police region West carried out 300 checks of A tractors. The checks showed that two-thirds of the vehicles were modified or had defects that were considered illegal and dangerous to traffic.
– I think parental responsibility is enormous. By and large, all parents are aware that their child has an A-tractor. Although young people may mostly listen to friends, parents have a big influence and they have to speak up if the child tunes a car.
New rules are coming
The Swedish Transport Agency presented an investigation in November last year that focused on the safety of A-tractors. Three of the proposals enter into force at the end of August. This applies to the requirement to wear a seat belt, that you may only sit in the places in the front seat that are intended for passengers, and that it must be considered speeding if the driver exceeds the permitted speed.
– Winter tires are something that we also suggested, which the government has taken forward. When it comes to driving licenses for A-tractors, most people have a so-called moped driving license. We are now reviewing the regulations that apply to them. We also suggested in the investigation that there would be a more risk-based training and that there should be a requirement to practice on a four-wheeled vehicle, says Josefin Hallenberg, investigator at the Swedish Transport Agency.
The fact that an adult must be registered on the vehicle is not something that the Swedish Transport Agency wants to comment on as it has not been investigated.
The Swedish Transport Agency’s measures are welcomed by Jonas F Ludvigsson.
– I think it feels incredibly gratifying. I hope it can lead to fewer accidents and fewer young people getting hurt and dying.