Covert Garda vehicles set to target dangerous driving

Fourteen new unmarked Garda vehicles will start patrolling for reckless overtaking and "ignorant behaviour" by motorists early next year as part of a more aggressive campaign against dangerous driving.

Assistant commissioner Eddie Rock, who is in charge of the Traffic Corps, said the covert vehicles would be at the forefront of a new campaign against dangerous habits by motorists.

The vehicles are being procured at the moment. They will be fitted with "discrete" beacons in the front grille and will carry on-board speed detection equipment. When the technology becomes available, assistant commissioner Rock said he also hoped to install number plate reading technology in these vehicles.

This allows a police vehicle to scan the number plates of other vehicles. The scanner is linked to a database which can instantly identify if a car is sought in connection with a crime or has been reported stolen.

Speaking to The Irish Times, assistant commissioner Rock said while the priority remained drink-driving, he wanted to tackle dangerous driving more aggressively. "It is crucial we keep going with the drink-driving measures and keep trying to get a better compliance culture. At the same time, dangerous driving is a major issue and we will be using overt and covert policing, such as these new cars, to target dangerous drivers." Each Garda region will get two of the new vehicles for Traffic Corps officers, with the Greater Dublin area allocated four.

The difference between conventional gardaí and Traffic Corps officers, is that the latter "can deploy based on their own initiative. We want to get away from the old style of policing. We have been accused in the past of only patrolling safe roads. But we are analysing data to see where we should be concentrating our efforts".

Assistant commissioner Rock also said that gardaí plan to increase the number of uninsured cars they seize as soon as the problem of shortage of storage space for these vehicles is resolved. The Garda car pound in Dublin is being extended and the Garda director of finance is considering a funding application for 3,500 more storage spaces for Cork.

More than 9,680 uninsured vehicles were seized last year by gardaí. Vehicles are also seized when the driver had no tax for more than three months or no licence. "When we seize a vehicle there is a charge of €135 to reclaim the vehicle, followed by a €35 storage charge every day after that," the assistant commissioner said.

The problem for gardaí is that most seized vehicles are worthless and require disposal. An internal Garda review in 2002 found that €627,000 was brought in by the sale of seized cars and fines from motorists.

However, the cost of storing, towing and disposing of unclaimed vehicles in the same year was €653,000. Vehicles are disposed of after six weeks.

"Most of the cars seized are not worth reclaiming. They have no resale value, no NCT, no logbook and many have been sold at local level before they are seized," he said.

"An Garda is responsible for the safe disposal of vehicles and has to find licensed hauliers and breakers to dispose of the vehicles properly. The fact is, most vehicles seized are worth less than the cost of their disposal and are not worth reclaiming."

Gardaí cannot prosecute someone for the cost of disposing of a vehicle seized under Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1991. Motorists can only be prosecuted for the original offences of not having insurance, tax or a licence.