[Hillview Farm]

Does anyone know of an age limit of a child being a passenger in a tractor?

All I can find is that 13 year olds can drive in fields and 16 year olds can drive on the road.

[hughesy]

If there's only one seat there shouldn't be any passengers.

[Hillview Farm]

We have a folding passenger seat

[JulieWall]

We drove along behind a tractor with two young boys in the cab, both sat on the wheel arch as the driver chatted away to them. I thought at the time, it surely makes no sense for a kiddy to have to have a seat belt and booster seat by law when in a car, yet for this to be ok?
Was the tractor driver breaking the law? It was one of those big speedy new tractors and not a slow old one.
Why can a 16 year old drive a tractor and not a car on the road, a tractor can do a lot more damage, it's bonkers

[Factotum]

According to HSE:

Carrying passengers on farm machinery
It is illegal to carry children under 13 in the cab of an agricultural vehicle and it is unsafe.

From:http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/topics/children.htm

More info in link.

Sue

[john and helen]

Lets not forget , we live in a Nanny state now, gone are the good old days of common sense,  everyone is just looking for that excuse,

when i was 11, I use to help the milkman, before going to school, it was nothing to sit at the back of the float,
also had a job turning out the lamps that use to be put on skips ...

so much is being taken away by these laws of today.... all in the name of insurance

[RUSTYME]

My old man was a milkman and i used to drive the float from about age 9 . Never on main roads , only on the estates or the smaller back roads . Hardly any cars about in those days .
But i do cringe when i see these kids belting passed me in 160hp monster tractors at 40mph +.

[fifixx]

Farm safety HSE leaflet http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg472.pdf

[lachlanandmarcus]

I think there is a genuine safety concern behind the advice, however what it ignores is that a child not in the cab is a child potentially in the line of being mown down or mangled by the same vehicle they aren't allowed in. There seem to be more accidents where the child is outside the cab. On that basis I would hope that common sense would prevail, as it isn't always possible for childcare to be arranged when running a farm as its 24x7

[mowhaugh]

Yep, the law is that children must be aged 13 to ride in a tractor, on a quad, or in an RTV such as a Kubota or John Deere Gaitor.  (she says desperately hoping no one saw her two year old on a combine today) Crazily, they can then drive them themselves, off road.  A 16 year old can drive a tractor on the road, but they do have to pass a DVLA test to do so.  The thing that really gets me is that if they pass, they can then tow a rather large trailer without having to do a trailer test.

I recently went on a free Health and Safety Executive Farm Safety Awareness day, mainly because I thought it would reduce our likelihood of getting an inspection, but I would have to say I was very pleasantly surpirsed at how interesting it was, I would definitely recommend it if you get the chance to go.

[mab]

I guess the laws were written when tractors were smaller & slower and when it was normal for kids to work on the farm.


I remember when I was about 10 riding on the back of the combine harvester (it was an old (even then) model that didn't have a hopper, but required someone (or two 10yr olds) to sack up the grain and stack the sacks on a platform at the back. I can't imagine many farmers employing a 'grown up' for a job like that in those days.

[Backinwellies]

A 9 year old was killed last week when he was bounced out of the cab under the wheel  whilst his cousin drove the tractor down a slope .................    I have driven a tractor into a ditch whilst driving with my puppy in the cab (many years ago but not something you forget) ............  Children and animals are distracting and move very fast so are better looked after by someone else well away from the tractor.

[plumseverywhere]

Advise from my friendly NFu man

t is illegal to carry children under 13 in the cab of an agricultural vehicle and it is unsafe. Children can and do:

fall from the doorway or the rear window;
interfere with the operator’s control of the vehicle;
distract the operator or unintentionally operate controls, eg the parking brake or hydraulics, when the operator leaves the cab, eg to open a gate.
If you carry children or adults on trailers (e.g. for farm visits, ‘pick-your-own’) ensure that:

the trailer is in good condition with all safety devices working;
you provide seating and secured it the trailer. Well-made bales, if properly secured, may be adequate;
you fit guard rails around the trailer edges;
you arrange safe mounting and dismounting;
you make sure children are supervised by a responsible adult.

[MAK]

Sensible laws but parents must be the responsible enforcers .
I was gob smacked to discover my neighbours daughter driving a quad along the lanes and across the fields. She carries buckets of feed for the cattle some mornings but will also go for a drive around the minor roads here. Fanny was 12 ( 13 now) and her grandfather was killed when his tractor rolled on a hill next to us.