No plans for NCT to test accuracy of speedometers

The National Car Test (NCT) does not examine the accuracy of speedometers, and there are no plans to incorporate this in the test, it emerged yesterday.

Motorists have expressed the fear that their speedometers might be a few miles out when recording their speeds and so they could be prosecuted under the more rigorous policing of speeding limits.

Where a few miles over the speed limit might not have attracted a penalty before, gardaí in the Dublin region have now been told that drivers exceeding the speed limit must be penalised, "irrespective of the speed of the vehicle".

The NCT examines 57 items in its test, including speedometers. However, the test only checks if the speedometer is present and working, if it can be seen from the driver's seat and if the speedometer's light is working.

The checklist is drawn up by the Department of Transport. Yesterday, a spokeswoman said she was not aware of any plans to extend this list to include an examination of the accuracy of the speedometer.

The debate on speeding was sparked after the Today with Pat Kenny Show received a memo from Dublin's traffic division, instructing gardaí to issue penalties "to any vehicle driving in excess of the speed limit, regardless of the speed of the vehicle".

However, gardaí yesterday seemed to contradict the memo's contention that "previous instructions in relation to enforcement thresholds will no longer apply".

It is understood that this applied to the discretion operated by gardaí in certain cases. Yesterday, Garda spokesman Supt John Farrelly said the discretion of gardaí would continue.

"We have had discretion over the years given to us in relation to these matters, in relation to cautioning people for infringements. [We've dealt with] the person who has somebody in the back of the car in labour and they are doing 60 miles an hour. We'll escort them rather than prosecute them. We enjoy that. It will continue to be that way, so people shouldn't go and say, oh my God it's the end of the world."

People need not fear a "draconian approach" by An Garda Síochána. "We will enforce the law, naturally enough, but at the end of the day we still have a discretion."

He also said all fixed cameras, GATSOs and laser units had a built-in tolerance level of around five per cent.

Supt Farrelly gave the example of a motorist who drives by a fixed camera, while he is travelling at between 60 and 65 miles an hour in a 60 mile zone. "If you are passing, the light doesn't flash after you, but if you are going at say, 65 or 66, then it does," he said.

"That's still there, that will remain to be the case."

Meanwhile, the Irish Insurance Federation has urged gardaí to ensure that any new initiative on speeding is "consistent throughout the State".

Mr Martin Long, the Irish Insurance Federation spokesman, said people must respect the law as applied by gardaí but if the policy was not employed around the State, then it would not work.

He said the commitment by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, to review speed limit signage was very welcome, in particular his review of the appropriateness of speed limits.

While Pat Kenny was questioning Garda policy yesterday, he himself was being taken to task by a Fianna Fáil TD.

Mr Conor Lenihan accused the RTÉ broadcaster of being on a "personal crusade" to allow people to break the speed limit in urban areas.

"Mr Kenny must make up his mind. Either he supports road safety efforts or he supports the flouting of the law," Mr Lenihan said. "Despite the protests that we have heard from Pat Kenny, experts believe even a small increase in speed greatly increases the risk of injury or death in an accident."