Over 37,000 cars deemed unsafe by NCT last year
New NCT figure released reveal that in 37,000 cars were deemed unsafe and unroadworthy after an NCT test in 2018. That figure equates to about 2.8 per cent of cars deemed a “direct or immediate risk to road safety”. In 2017 the figure was just over 5,000.
1,343,794 vehicles went through the NCT between January and December 2018. A total of 661,743 (49.2%) passed with 644,860 (48%) failing the NCT.
This means, that in the space of just 12 months, 32,000 vehicles which went through the NCT in 2017 and were fit for road use, suddenly became an immediate risk? Why the dramatic increase in cars posing an immediate risk to road safety?
The hugely inflated figures and the number of defects classifying as dangerous are as a result of new EU rules introduced last summer. These include defective tyres and brakes.
The new directive categorises dangerous defects under three main headings. Minor, Major and Dangerous. It is illegal to drive a vehicle with a dangerous defect and motorists may incur penalty points and a court appearance if caught by An Garda Síochána.
Interestingly enough, it was also the first time since 2012 that more cars passed than failed.
The results of 2018 show that 680,764 vehicles underwent a re-test with 624,679 (91.8%) passing the second time around. After the second-time around re-test, some 54,418 (8%) failed again and 1,667 (0.2%) vehicles were still too dangerous to drive out of the test centre.
Regarding the increased number of dangerous vehicle classifications, a Road Safety Authority spokesperson said:
“Following the new EU Directive 2014/45/EU, since 13 August 2018, there are a greater number of defects now classified as fail dangerous, for example, defective tyres and brake issues. Therefore, these figures cannot be compared to previous years. You are simply not comparing like with like.”
The reason given for the positive pass rate for the first time in six years is because Ireland's car fleet is a lot newer than it was 10 years ago. The average age of the fleet now is eight years but back in 2012, the average age of the fleet was a lot older, which accounted for more fails at the time.
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Justin Kavanagh
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