‘Clocking’ cars to become specific criminal offence

The “clocking” of cars is set to become a specific criminal offence under measures announced by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar last night.

Anyone convicted of interfering with the odometer of a vehicle, colloquially known as “clocking”, will in future face a fine and possible jail sentence.

Announcing amendments to the Road Traffic (No 2) Bill in the Dáil last night, Mr Varadkar proposed that tampering with a vehicle’s odometer will result in a maximum fine of €2,500 and/or a maximum jail term of three months.

It is estimated that tampering with odometers to misrepresent the true mileage on the vehicle costs Irish car buyers up to €60m in inflated values annually.

A recent survey of 100,000 vehicles by the car history checking firm, Motorcheck.ie, revealed that up to 15% of vehicles offered for sale were “clocked”.

“Clocking” offences to date have generally been prosecuted by the National Consumer Agency under consumer protection legislation for engaging in misleading practices.

A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar said the proposal to make “clocking” a specific offence had been with the Office of the Attorney General and the minister was satisfied that the penalties which are proposed are proportionate.

Motorcheck.ie managing director Michael Rochford said the legislation would assist authorities in combating the problem.

Mr Rochford said cars found to be “clocked” generally saw 25% of their value evaporate immediately.

Mr Varadkar also announced last night his intention to make statutory changes to address the problem of written-off vehicles being allowed to remain on Irish roads.

The minister said controls would be introduced to ensure that severely and irreparably damaged cars are not permitted to be driven again.

Among the measures is that a badly damaged vehicle will only be allowed back into service if such repairs are independently assessed and verified.

Details of around 40,000 vehicles damaged beyond repair were notified to the National Vehicle Driver File in the last five years.

Such cars had their details “locked down” by the NVDF, which means they can no longer have their motor tax, insurance, or NCT renewed.

The statutory changes are likely to be included in the next Road Traffic Bill 2014 and will probably see new sanctions for a person who put a car back on the road which has been previously been written off.

Procedures for checking the repair of badly damaged cars are expected to be overseen by the Road Safety Authority, while serious consideration is also being given to the creation of a “death certificate” for vehicles.

Clock watcher

New rules for the monitoring of time spent at the wheel by the drivers of heavy goods vehicles are to be introduced across Europe.

The European Parliament agreed this week specifications for a new generation of digital tachographs which are aimed to further improve road safety.

The “smart” tachographs are intended to ensure better enforcement of driving and resting times as well as making fraud more difficult.

The new equipment will be fitted to new vehicles within three years once the new specifications are ratified by the European Commission and will have to be retrofitted within all commercial vehicles within 18 years.

The smart tachographs will automatically record speed, distance, and start and finish locations, while they will also enable remote checking via wireless communication systems to control authorities.

EU officials claim the new measures will also help reduce the number of roadside checks for transport firms.

Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins said the regulations, which are likely to come into place in 2017, will ensure fair competition and drive out rogue operators.

The European Commission has estimated that up to 45,000 vehicles are in breach of EU tachograph rules at any one time.