Trevor Laffan: ‘A needless waste of money - high time for changes to NCT’

I had my car tested at an NCT centre in March. It cost me €55 for the privilege and a couple of hours out of my morning, but it passed the test with flying colours.

That outcome was never in doubt because the car is in perfect mechanical order, so it was really just a needless waste of time and money. A box- ticking exercise.

My car is a 181 Mazda CX5 with 48,000 kms on the clock, about 30,000 miles in old money. There was a time when we would classify that as being barely broken in. My wife and I are both retired so the car isn’t on the road that much anymore.

It’s serviced every year at a reputable garage and that comes with a price.

But even though I go the trouble and expense of looking after the car in a responsible manner, there is an onus on me to have an NCT.

I have to bring it to a test centre where mechanics employed in that facility will examine the car to determine whether the mechanics in my garage have done their job properly.

I use a reputable dealership that has provided a top-class service to me over many years, so is an NCT really necessary for a seven-year-old car in good nick?

The mechanics servicing my car are professionals and I pay them good money to look after it. So, instead of unnecessarily clogging up the NCT centre, and wasting my time and money, would it not make more sense for a certificate from my garage to be acceptable as evidence that my car is fit for purpose?

I’m not the only one.

I reckon the majority of car owners are responsible when it comes to the maintenance of their vehicles and keep them in good shape. Removing those newer cars from the system would reduce pressure in the NCT centres.

That won’t happen though because this car testing business has become a valuable cash cow.

When testing was first introduced 25 years ago, it was badly needed. There were too many cars on the road that were dangerously defective. Bangers that were only fit for the scrapyard.

Some of them were what we termed ‘company cars’. They had no registered owners, no tax or insurance but were used by any criminals for nefarious activities.

Most of these things were nothing short of death traps. They were often hotwired so they didn’t even require a key and anyone could use them.

Trying to locate someone responsible for those vehicles in the aftermath of an accident or criminal incident was impossible. The NCT was introduced to deal with that.

It was designed to get these ‘bangers’ off the road and that was no harm. By now, most of these have long since been consigned to a crusher so the plan worked.

But cars have improved a lot over the last 25 years. They’re more sophisticated and more durable but, as it stands at the moment, any car over four years old must have an NCT certificate. I think it’s time to extend that initial requirement by several years.

I don’t know of any modern car that falls apart after four years, yet drivers must fork out €55 for the privilege of getting a certificate to prove their car is up to scratch.

The NCT is described on its website as ‘a preventative road safety measure that ensures vehicles over four years old are subject to a basic safety check at regular intervals’.

It adds: “It’s your responsibility to keep your vehicle in a safe and roadworthy condition at all times when used in a public place, not just when it’s NCT is due.’

Applus Inspection Services Ireland Ltd, the Spanish-owned company responsible for running the system, collected €90.97m in 2023 so it’s not a bad little earner.

Is there potential for testing to get worse?

A Sligo public representative, councilllor Donal Gilroy, recently sought backing for his motion to have drivers tested as well as their cars.

It was reported that Mr Gilroy suggested that motorists undergo regular driving tests in the interest of road safety.

He introduced a motion asking for Sligo County Council to write to the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Minister for Transport to ask that a regular competency test be put in place for all drivers to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

“Vehicles have required regular safety checks for many years, and it is now time for drivers to be regularly checked,” he said.

Mr Gilroy said they were giving a hard time to the council about roads, lights and various other things, but the one thing that had not been dealt with was the competency of drivers.

He said that professionals in any business have to do continuous professional development.

Mr Gilroy added that something had to be done “to show people what they are doing wrong”, so there needs to be a refresher of some sort done “on all of us”.

Hopefully, that’s unlikely to get any traction. The RSA is struggling to keep up with the demand for driver testing as it is without adding another layer to the system.

Forcing experienced, competent drivers to validate their competency wouldn’t achieve much anyway, apart from creating another cash cow and generating another piece of paper to stick to the ever-increasing pile on the windscreen.

Clogging the NCT system with roadworthy cars is unnecessary and contributes little to reducing the number of deaths on our roads.

Subjecting competent, experienced drivers to continuous assessment would be another waste of time.