Mayo Co.Co. gets tough with roadside sellers

kaizersoze

http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0528/roadsafety.html

The council says cars with For Sale signs are a distraction and a hazard to other motorists.

It intends to confiscate them and crush them to discourage the practice.

Sandwich

Are they confiscating advertising hoardings, shop fronts, road signs, fine scenery, pretty girls, etc and crushing them as well ?

Is it legal, or can you prosecute them for theft? (of the cars, not the scenery or girls:D)

Tipsy Mac

Saw them taking a few cars on RTE news, neither car had visible insurance or tax disc, for this reason I'd say they were taken, otherwise once the car is legally parked taxed and insured it would be my legal belief that for sale sign or no for sale sign they can't interfere with your motor.

What's to stop someone from putting for sale signs on your car for the craic and it ending up getting towed?

ninty9er

Well it's certainly illegal for the cars to be there in the first place. There was a discussion here a few months back about it.

Tipsy Mac

ninty9er wrote: »

Well it's certainly illegal for the cars to be there in the first place.

What makes a taxed and insured car with a for sale sign on it different to a car without?

Sandwich

ninty9er wrote: »

Well it's certainly illegal for the cars to be there in the first place.

Where? Mayo? They're part of the 26 counties like the rest of us and entitled to their cars. I heard Pee Flynn built roads for them.

ninty9er

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

What makes a taxed and insured car with a for sale sign on it different to a car without?

It's technically litter (or something to that effect) and "parked dangerously"

Tipsy Mac

ninty9er wrote: »

It's technically litter (or something to that effect) and "parked dangerously"

Well then my car that's parked outside my house is litter, havn't got any warnings yet, neither have the 1,000,000 or so other vehicles parked legally on the roadsides around the country.

It's some gob****e politicians down in Mayo that are going to end up having a large number or lawsuits for these illegal actions taken against the council.

ninty9er

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

It's some gob****e politicians down in Mayo that are going to end up having a large number or lawsuits for these illegal actions taken against the council.

Well

A) Politicians don't go around doing it, it's the council
If the cars are illegally placed at the side of a road on a grass verge, then the council is doing nothing wrong.

ocj

They started doing this in Wexford a while back and there's less and less cars on the side of the road now.
People tend to have their car just barely on their own property at the front of the house and that seems to be ok:D

kerry4sam

I hope it spreads throughout the country being honest...They are a distraction especially for learner drivers like myself and when you're approaching bends and turns the last thing i want to see are cars jutting out onto the road facing me, only to find big FOR SALE sign on the front window! The Kerry area at the moment could do with a clear-up on the cars for sale on road-sides being honest. The had it stopped for a while but it's taken off again for some reason

murphaph

Good initiative from MCC. Now to tackle all other illegaly erected roadside signage which is distracting and potentially hazardous.

Max_Damage

Why not ban cars like Ferrari's or Lambo's as they'd cause a distraction for other motorists? :rolleyes:

Nanny state.

JHMEG

Jeez this country is going to the dogs. First the banks have to tell the Revenue if you make more than €635 in interest on your savings, and now you can't try to sell your taxed and insured (and NCTd if applicable) car to passers-by? Did carzone or cbg or someone lobby the authorities to get this passed?

And here I was thinking we lived in a democracy, where laws aren't made willy nilly just because some nonce doesn't like something.

PS. Will Mayo Co Co be crushing travellers cars and caravans too?

bman

The N17 has lots of these cars parked along the side of the road (esp around Ballindine). Get rid of them I say. The amount of times I slow down because I see a car along the side of the road only to realise it's not the guards and then I have to get back up to full speed again...

Seth Brundle

coincidentally...

From EO, Co Meath: Just what are the rules regarding car sales in Ireland? On my road every weekend at least three to four cars are parked on the grass verge with "For sale" signs on them. The people involved don't seem to be operating any business, but selling the cars privately. Yet it's a constant stream of cars, many of them carrying UK registrations. Can they trade like this without any restraint?

According to a spokesman for the Revenue, anyone selling cars other than their own private vehicle must register for VAT if they trade in more than €75,000 per annum. However, they need not be an officially registered firm with the Revenue to trade used cars. You only need a Revenue Trader Account Number (TAN) to sell new cars.

However, when it comes to imported cars, they must be registered within 24 hours of arrival in the State, unless the person has a TAN.

The other important factor is that, due to a Statutory Instrument introduced in August 2007, anyone engaged in car selling and registered for VAT must have a tax clearance certificate and must carry out their business at a premises "where such business can legally be carried out". Roadside sales do not fit that description and as such would appear to be illegal.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/motors/2008/0528/1211830471462.html

Personally, I think its welcome news.

Steve

I'm confused.
Is this a clamp down on traders using the public road as their forecourt or is it an attack on private sellers driving around with for sale stickers on their windows?

Seth Brundle

Its a clampdown on people (dealers and private individuals) parking cars with the intention of selling them.

Steve

Fair enough, I don't agree with dealers clogging the roads with cars.
I can't understand the argument that it's a hazard though. No worse than other roadside advertising.

Seth Brundle

I don't think other roadside advertising is illegal though.
(Wasn't there a planning permission 'loophole' in the past(?) for the large hoardings as they were classified as temporary structures)

peasant

stevec wrote: »

I can't understand the argument that it's a hazard though. No worse than other roadside advertising.

A car parked where it is normally parked only now with a for sale sign in the window is one thing ...

A car plonked at the side of a busy road in a prominent spot, thus blocking lines of sight, hard shoulders, crossroads, etc is quite another.

Out here in the countryside this practise has become so common that it really is a hazard.