A Clare business owner claims a “silent recession” is a driving force behind Clare’s high NCT dangerous fail rate.
New figures show more than half of the National Car Tests conducted in this county this year have resulted in either a major or dangerous fail.
Clare has the 5th highest failure rate out of all 50 centres nationwide, according to the latest available figures from the National Car Testing Service.
Of the nearly 24,000 tests at the county’s sole facility in Ennis this year, 48% have resulted in a major fail, which is the 3rd worst measure in the country, and 9% in a dangerous fail, which is the 6th worst.
Additionally 87 motorists in this county have dangerously failed their NCT more than once this year, while over 300 Clare motorists now have penalty points for driving without a valid national test certificate.
Speaking during a visit to Clare, Minister for Road Safety, Seán Canney says he’ll take action to ensure defective vehicles are not on our roads.
Clare’s Fianna Fáil TD insists a second NCT centre is on the way for this county.
Meelick Deputy Cathal Crowe, who’s a member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, believes there are a number of sites in both Kilrush and Shannon that could facilitate such a facility.
He says it’s vital this comes to fruition so that more cars can be tested in a timely manner.
A Clare businesses owner believes a “silent recession” is causing people to put off pre-test checks, as they simply don’t have the money to spend on a service ahead of their NCT.
Mike McGrath of Safeway Tyres in Ennis, says many people are “completely oblivious” to some of the issues they’re presenting with, after receiving their fail list.
A Clare driving instructor believes most people fail to carry out basic car maintenance on a weekly basis that could prevent against fails in an NCT test.
The Driver Theory Test assesses your knowledge on mechanical principals including tyre thread depth, but Chris Curran says many people don’t incorporate this knowledge into everyday life.
Statement to Clare FM from National Car Test
The NCT pass/fail rates nationwide have consistently been approximately 50% since the NCT was introduced 25 years ago in 2000
I really don’t have a main reason or rationale for the statistics in Ennis however, there are many factors that can affect the pass rates of vehicles such as:
– The age of the vehicle – 4-year-old vehicles have a pass rate over 80% which drops to 40% for cars 10 years and older.
– The mileage that a car has undergone has a marked effect on pass rates, with larger mileage vehicles more prone to failure. This particularly affects some rural locations.
– Differing profiles of use of vehicles and impacts of the different environments e.g. rural, coastal, urban.
– Differences in the condition of the roads in a particular locality, which can lead to the prevalence of particular failure items such as brakes or suspension components, for example.
– It has been found previously that an estimated 1/3 of customers do not service their cars before testing and the failure rate of these is, on average 11% higher than those that have been serviced ahead of the test. Again, any variance in the number of people using the test as a diagnostic will affect the pass rate.
