Published: Less than 20 min ago
Updated: Just now
Four young people have died in accidents with A-tractors in western Sweden in the past month.
The rules for A-tractors are currently being investigated, which is being debated in the “Sportstudion” podcast.
– It’s a hole in the head, there should be a seat belt test, says Bosse “Bildoktorn” Andersson in the podcast.
The number of accidents with A tractors has increased sharply. This autumn alone, several young people have died in accidents with A tractors.
A single accident occurred two weeks ago when an A tractor drove off the road and into a tree on road 163 outside Grebbestad.
Four teenage boys were traveling in the vehicle. A 15-year-old boy died in connection with the accident and the other three were treated in hospital. One of the other three later died in hospital.
Two teenagers died in September after a head-on collision between an A-tractor and a truck on route 44 between Lidköping and Trollhättan.
Easy to remove latch
The rules for A-tractors are currently being reviewed. One who thinks it is good that the regulations are investigated is Bosse “Bildoktorn” Andersson.
In the podcast “Sportstudion” he gives his view on the matter.
– It all started with setting new rules so that you could rebuild an ordinary car, just by blocking the electronics to 30 kilometers per hour, he says.
The Bosse Bildoktorn goes on to say that in many cases that lock is far too easy to remove.
– Then you have a person who only learned to drive a moped behind the wheel of a car that goes very fast, he says and notes:
– This is a big problem.
Belt use
The review of the rules is part of a government task that was appointed in October last year.
The new rules for A-tractors. which Bosse Bildoktorn talks about in the podcast, came into effect earlier this year, with clear requirements on how the vehicles should be designed.
But more needs to be done.
Now the Swedish Transport Agency is looking at issues such as speed, training, seat belt use and the problem with vehicles being frequently tuned.
It reports Sweden’s Radio P4 Jönköping.
The authority also looks at how and where the A tractors are used.
– There is an explosively large increase in the number of A-tractors and with it also a very large increase in accidents in which A-tractors are involved, says investigator Josefin Hallenberg to P4 Jönköping.
Bosse Bildoktorn: “Two things”
The number of registered A tractors has doubled in just over two years and is now close to 50,000, according to figures from the authority.
The Swedish Transport Agency’s investigation must be reported on 1 November.
Bosse Bildoktorn hopes for two things in particular.
– Seat belt compulsory and training in a four-wheeled vehicle and not on a moped, he says.
Aftonbladet has asked the infrastructure minister for a comment.
Facts
A tractors
• The design speed of the A-tractor is a maximum of 30 km/h. This means that it must not be designed to drive faster than that on a horizontal road.
• To drive an A-tractor, a driver’s license with AM authorization is required, i.e. driving license for moped class I or a tractor license. You may also drive an A-tractor if you have a driving license with another authorization.
• The age limit for obtaining an AM driving license is 15 years and for a tractor license it is 16 years.
• The vehicle must be equipped with a so-called LGF sign at the back, which indicates that it is a slow-moving vehicle.
• All A tractors must be inspected. When a car is converted to an A-tractor, it must undergo a registration inspection to be approved before it is put into traffic.
• It is not permitted to manipulate an A-tractor to make the vehicle go faster than 30 km/h. If you drive an A-tractor whose design speed has been changed, you risk being convicted of illegal driving with a fine and suspension period on your driver’s license as well as a suspended driver’s license.
Source: The Swedish Transport Agency
Read moreFacts
The number of traffic accidents involving A tractors
Source: The Swedish Transport Agency
Read more