New legislation to tackle written-off cars

Drivers who put severely and irreparably damaged vehicles back on the road face new sanctions under proposed legislation.

Currently it is an offence under road traffic law to drive an unsafe vehicle that endangers other road users. The Department of Transport has an arrangement whereby insurers notify it of vehicles damaged beyond repair to ensure certain written-off vehicles stay off the road.

This process, however, lacks a statutory footing and does not account for “economic write-offs” (where the price of repair is greater than the vehicle’s value). Foreign write-offs are also not accounted for.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said he will tackle these issues by introducing a statutory control procedure for written-off vehicles. Consideration is also being given to the creation of a "death certificate" for vehicles.

“The objective of this would be to ensure that severely and irreparably damaged vehicles are never let back on the road, and, where a written-off vehicle can be repaired, it will only be allowed back into service if repaired to acceptable standards, with such repairs being independently assessed and certified,” Mr Varadkar said.

This will involve new sanctions for anyone who puts a car back on the road which was supposed to have been taken off the road. A spokesman said the department would be guided by the Attorney General as to the most appropriate penalty.

The measures are likely to be included in the Road Traffic Bill 2014 and will involve damaged vehicles being assessed by an automotive engineer in a procedure likely to be overseen by the Road Safety Authority.

As things operate now, the National Vehicle Driver File maintains a database of vehicles damaged beyond repair as notified by insurance companies. The details of these vehicles - of which there have been some 40,000 in the past five years - are then “locked down”, meaning that no transactions, such as renewal of annual motor tax or change of ownership can be recorded in respect of that vehicle.