See all Motoring NewsCars written off in accidents will be issued with death certificates, which will make it illegal for them to be returned to the roads. This is the latest news emerging from Government buildings as proposals for the updated Road Traffic Bill are published ahead of becoming law later this year.
The news follows on from a Cartell.ie report that estimated that as many as six deaths a year occur in vehicles that had previously been written off. Under the proposal vehicle owners will be obliged to inform the Department of Transport if their car has been written off by their insurance company, with hefty fines and/or penalty points in place should the car be returned to the road.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, is set to appoint the Road Safety Authority (RSA) to oversee the process of verifying repaired vehicles before they are returned to the roads and issuing the new death certificates to vehicles found to be unsafe.
Speaking in the wake of the news Jeff Aherne, Director of Cartell.ie, had this to say:
"We are delighted the Government is acting swiftly on this issue and appears set to ensure the Road Safety Authority oversees a new process to independently verify repair work to vehicles before they are put back on the road. A mandatory notification procedure, placing on a legislative footing an obligation on all insurers to register write-offs with the Government, or the RSA, is required as a matter of urgency to ensure our roads are cleaned up."
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