The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has called on vehicle owners in Ireland to embrace year-round responsibility for maintaining their cars, rather than relying on the National Car Test (NCT) to identify faults.
The organization said customer satisfaction surveys continuously highlighted the “disappointing culture” of vehicle owners using the NCT as a diagnostic tool, contributing to inefficiencies in the system and increasing risks to road safety.
The RSA said many vehicle owners were presenting their cars for testing without addressing known maintenance issues.
“Maintaining your vehicle is a year-round responsibility,” said Brendan Walsh, Chief Operations Officer with the RSA.
“We use our vehicles for work and to transport our families, so ensuring our vehicles are maintained to a high standard should be a year-round focus not something to focus on only before your NCT.”
In 2024, 7.4% of vehicles received a “Fail Dangerous” result following the NCT, up from 6.9% in 2023.
The RSA said tires are the leading cause of “Fail Dangerous” results, often due to tread depths below the legal limit of 1.6mm. Other significant causes include issues with the chassis/underbody and brake lines/hoses.