Road safety watchdog concerned over high number of dangerously defective cars on Irish roads

A Road Safety Authority spokesperson said the number of vehicles receiving a 'fail dangerous' result at the NCT 'poses a direct and immediate risk to road safety'. File picture

The Road Safety Authority has raised concern about the high rate of dangerously defective cars on the roads, with official figures showing almost 133,000 vehicles submitted for an NCT last year were classified as “fail dangerous".

The figures indicate a record level of about one in every 13 vehicles tested during 2025 was assessed as being unroadworthy to a dangerous level by NCT inspectors.