More than half of the National Car Tests conducted in Clare this year have resulted in either a major or dangerous fail.
New figures show it’s the highest fail rate in the first eight months of the year in this county since records began.
Since January, over 23,930 NCTs have taken place at Clare’s sole testing centre in Ennis.
Of those, 11,534 or (48%) have resulted in a major fail, meaning the vehicle must be repaired to a roadworthy state within 30 days
Out of the 50 NCT centres nationwide, this was the 3rd highest major fail rate in the country.
In the same timeframe, 2,209 or 9% of vehicles undergoing an NCT in Ennis failed dangerously, this means the car is judged to have a defect that poses a direct or immediate risk to road safety and cannot be driven under any circumstances.
While Ennis’ dangerous fail rate is the 6th highest in the country.
Dangerous fails generally involve issues which greatly impair breaking and steering or affect handling and grip such as low tyre tread depth.
At present, there are 331 motorists in this county carrying penalty points for the offence of driving without a valid NCT certificate.
Over 14,000 re-tests have also been conducted in the Clare centre this year, 25% were free of charge visual inspections that did not require use of a testing lane.
Based on a full-test cost of €60 and full re-test charge of €40, motorists have paid up to €1,852,360 for NCTs in Ennis this year.
There were also 85 motorists who dangerously failed their NCT on more than one occasion in the county town this year.
According to the NCT, the next available test date in Ennis is September 15th
