Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 83: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine his views on the possibility of changing the regulations regarding heavy goods vehicles and buses travelling on motorways where there are only two laneways such as the M1 in order that they could pass where the situation was clearly safe rather than dangerous convoys of slow moving vehicles at the speed of the slowest vehicle at the front; his further views on whether there is a need for passing lanes or easing of restrictions. [17991/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The motorway driving rules set out in the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 specify that the categories of vehicles that are subject to an ordinary speed limit not exceeding 80 km/h are prohibited from using the lane next to the central median. The categories of vehicles in question are heavy goods vehicles, buses and any vehicle towing a trailer etc.

This provision of 1997 was modified on 15 December 2006 in the Road Traffic (Control of Traffic) Regulations 2006 to provide that the prohibition on the use of the outside lane by certain categories of vehicles does not apply at any location on a motorway where a special speed limit or a roadworks speed limit of 80 km/h or less applies. The present ordinary speed limits regulations i.e. vehicle related speed limits, were amended in 2005 simply to reflect metric values. A substantive review of the policy is underway at present and the motorway driving rules will be looked at in the context of that review.