Under existing road traffic legislation, sulkies are required to obey road traffic law as are all other vehicles used on our roads, whether mechanically propelled, animal drawn or pedal driven. An Garda Síochána has not indicated any deficiency in its current powers with regard to enforcement of road traffic legislation in dealing with animal drawn vehicles, except in one specific matter.
The matter in question is that of unauthorised races. There have been several cases where public concern over road safety has been raised due to the holding of unlicensed sulky races on public roads. Under present legislation, it is an offence to organise unlicensed races, but not to participate in them.
As a result, I am proposing in the Road Traffic Bill 2015 to legislate to make it an offence to participate in an unauthorised race on a public road. This Bill has been sent to the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for formal drafting and to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications for pre-legislative scrutiny.