Motor industry seeks to end tax on safety features

THE motor industry wants the Government to abolish punishing rates of up to 30% tax on car safety features like airbags and anti-locking brakes.

The call from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry comes as road deaths over the weekend bring to 303 the number of people killed in accidents so far this year.

“Safety features like airbags and ABS brakes should be encouraged and not punished through tax,” said SIMI chief executive Cyril McHugh. “If every car had an extra airbag, then the effect on road safety in terms of reducing fatalities and injuries would be worth it. The reduction in tax would be off-set by the reduction in (Government) spending on dealing with road accidents.”

Motorists were deterred from adding extra safety features to their cars because of Vehicle Registration Tax of up to 30% on all accessories, he said.

Yesterday, the Irish Examiner revealed how the rate of VRT was keeping the price of second-hand cars high in Ireland as well. So far this year 60,000 motorists have brought in cheaper cars from abroad, paid Irish VRT and found they saved up to €20,000 on prices here. Yesterday, PD prospective Dáil candidate Ciaran Cannon joined the call for the tax to be scrapped on safety features.

“The proposal to take safety equipment out of the VRT net would not make any significant impact on the revenue collected.

“We simply need to make it cheaper for people to buy cars with the most modern life saving technology,” said the prospective candidate for Galway East.

The tax meant motorists were discouraged from trading-up to newer models with features like vehicle stability programmes, additional airbags and lane warning systems, he said.