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AIBU?

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Fed up of kids driving tractors whilst on their phones on public highways.

29 replies

harveythehorse · 25/09/2026 00:57

I wasn't thinking about starting a thread on this but a comment I made on another post made me wonder whether I'm alone in feeling this way.

It is monumentally simple to get a tractor licence . . . and you only have to be 16 to apply. The number of teenagers (mainly boys) I have seen recently driving flipping enormous tractor and trailer combos on busy roads whilst on their phones is genuinely terrifying and I really do think there needs to be some sort of adjustment to the testing or who is eligible to drive. Tractors are only getting bigger and one nearly drove into the back of my trailer the other day because its driver was fully immersed in his phone and hadn't noticed the traffic lights had gone to red.

AIBU in thinking you should at least have passed the standard driving test before you're allowed to take a vehicle that's far bigger and more dangerous out onto the road. I fully understand that farmers are desperate for the resource so perhaps there could be a caveat that 16 year olds could drive on private land but not on highways? What do people think?

OP posts:
JohnofWessex · 25/09/2026 10:43

Clearly the law around tractors hasnt kept up with the technology let alone its misuse by non farmers

Scrowy · 25/09/2026 10:53

PersephoneParlormaid · 25/09/2026 07:34

They drive well over the speed limit through our village, terrifying.

Most normal tractors do a top speed of about 25mph so it's unlikely that's the case. Even the really high powered fast tractors only do a top speeds of between 31-37mph (unless they are all driving JCB fastracs?)

It probably just seems faster because they are big and noisy.

ThisWiseRobin · 25/09/2026 11:04

My cousin was 5 when he started driving his father's small truck around the farm.
However I agree that a 16 year old driving around the farm is one thing, but being on the road should be 18.
Maybe a letter to the rural area MPs would help.
Mine would not as we are not sure he even exists.

latetothefisting · 25/09/2026 12:19

Scrowy · 25/09/2026 10:53

Most normal tractors do a top speed of about 25mph so it's unlikely that's the case. Even the really high powered fast tractors only do a top speeds of between 31-37mph (unless they are all driving JCB fastracs?)

It probably just seems faster because they are big and noisy.

It's a bit arrogant to insist to someone who actually lives there that they must be wrong when you don't even know what the speed limit is in that poster's village! If it's 20 then a tractor doing 31-37 is almost double the speed limit. Even if 'only' 25 that's more than 20% over, certainly enough for 'well over' to be correct.

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