[Article] Thousands of foreign-registered cars checked in roadside tax blitz

PRND

MYOB wrote: »

The general deal across Europe is that you *do* have to pay motorway tolls in other countries when travelling. Irish cars entering Switzerland, Austria, etc, are obliged to buy their window-stickers for using the motorway networks and obviously you need to pay at barrier tolls or you won't get through the damn things.

Revenue from from the roads comes from a variety of sources. VRT, road tax, duty on fuel, vat on cars, tolls. I'm sure I have left a few out. Fine if there is a physical barrier to ensure people pay but if there isn't, I don't see the point in putting massive structures in place to collect this one piece of revenue, given that foreign owned cars pay nothing else mentioned above. I'd say the number of drivers who cross the border to buy fuel then turn round again to go back to the North would even it out.

Of course the problem is the man living in Lucan, working in Malahide who uses the M50 every day. But if the Revenue can work on that problem then I don't see the problem with not charging foreign drivers.

Davidth88

Revenue from from the roads comes from a variety of sources. VRT, road tax, duty on fuel, vat on cars, tolls. I'm sure I have left a few out.

Perhaps we should all drive cars registered outside the state, they don't pay

Roadtax
VRT
VAT on cars

Now , I imagine that some of them may pay the road tax in their country ( although I bet some don't )

This is why this is a big deal, people already drive cars here on non-irish plates to avoid all of the above , if they can then avoid tolls as well, well.......

Now I take your point about Customs ( Revenue ) doing their job , but this would be a great way of helping them.

mackerski

Deleted User wrote: »

Foreign registered cars still need to have a valid road tax disc of some sort.

Not true. The requirement to stick extra crap in your window isn't by any means the international norm.

PRND

Davidth88 wrote: »

Perhaps we should all drive cars registered outside the state, they don't pay

Roadtax
VRT
VAT on cars

Now , I imagine that some of them may pay the road tax in their country ( although I bet some don't )

This is why this is a big deal, people already drive cars here on non-irish plates to avoid all of the above , if they can then avoid tolls as well, well.......

Now I take your point about Customs ( Revenue ) doing their job , but this would be a great way of helping them.

My point simply is that in the grand scheme of things that the loss of VRT, VAT, road tax on these people is much more substantial than the loss of going round the M50. Invest in that instead of chasing down people who are here for the week. The genuine people should just be let away with it as the percentage of M50 they are escaping compared to the full cost of driving in Ireland is very small.

Carawaystick

Davidth88 wrote: »

PRND, Yes it is a big deal , esp for the NI reg cars if you ask me ( because there are more of them )

Anyway , if I drive in the UK/France etc I have to pay the tolls ( as pointed out by MYOB )

To Carawaystick , not sure if your remark was meant to be sarcastic. I would say this is a useful thing to do , how many of these cars have valid insurance, are correctly maintained etc ?

firstly, to detect a car ahead of entering the toll road would require triplication of the numberplate recognition system, one on the toll road, one north of the N3 junction southbound, and one south of the N4 junction northbound.
Then you would need 2 Gardaí, 2 motorbikes, some magic ability to find the cars in the fast moving traffic 100 kmh speed limit; all to get 3 euros, 26% of which is going to a private company anyway; causing a major road safety hazard with stopped traffic on a motorway.


as you agree most "foreign" cars are yelow regs from either the northeast or britain. insurance evasion is probably a lot less there than here.
they've had mot's for longer than we've had nct's so Id say they're probably road worthy.

In France and Spain and Italy, I have had to pay tolls beacues there was a barrier in my way. Toll evasion is not possible. In Switzerland, where there aren't barriers, evasion occurs.

A Dub in Glasgo

I am driving from Glasgow to Wicklow via Belfast next week, can I just go straight through the M1 & M50 tolls saving me €3.80 each way?

Our man in Havana

No.

L1011

Carawaystick wrote: »

firstly, to detect a car ahead of entering the toll road would require triplication of the numberplate recognition system, one on the toll road, one north of the N3 junction southbound, and one south of the N4 junction northbound.

This will be the case anyway, as a fail-safe against 'missing' a car...

Carawaystick

MYOB wrote: »

This will be the case anyway, as a fail-safe against 'missing' a car...

There are two gantries about 100m apart on the m50 north of the pike as it is. where do you think these extra gantries are going to be installed in the ext 6 weeks?

Capt'n Midnight

mackerski wrote: »

Not true. The requirement to stick extra crap in your window isn't by any means the international norm.

OK then
at point of entry they produce their foreign insurance and then get issued with an irish insurance disk with those details printed on it.

Capt'n Midnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

OK then
at point of entry they produce their foreign insurance and then get issued with an irish insurance disk with those details printed on it.

Instant gridlock! - not workable unless, the disks are pre-issued, symbolic & beaurocratic or an automatic number plate reader attached to an international database (or more likely search multiple national databases).

dereko1969

Captain Midnight - have you heard of the EU? Freedom of movement? any of these ringing a bell here at all?
So you want every border crossing to be manned 24/7 to carry out an illegal operation forcing foreign registered vehicles - many of which will be here on holiday - to have an irish insurance disc? when no other EU countries require display of insurance details?

Our man in Havana

when no other EU countries require display of insurance details?

Ok, France has an insurance disk on the window. Germany, Austria and a few others have a sticker on the number plates.

At many border crossings in Europe one needs to stop to obtain a toll sticker, why not have them stop here to comply with Irish insurance requirements. Or better still have a standard insurance document throughout the EU?

Capt'n Midnight

dereko1969 wrote: »

Captain Midnight - have you heard of the EU? Freedom of movement? any of these ringing a bell here at all?
So you want every border crossing to be manned 24/7 to carry out an illegal operation forcing foreign registered vehicles - many of which will be here on holiday - to have an irish insurance disc? when no other EU countries require display of insurance details?

It's illegal to drive a car in any EU country without insurance. It's illegal to import a car into Ireland without paying VRT with some exemptions for temporary use. (Please explain VRT wrt. free movement of goods and services ! )

Irish insurance disks give a summary of the details on your insurance policy.
You need a policy to drive in Ireland. Many Irish drivers are insured by non-Irish companies. All that would change is that you would have to prove you had insurance.

Alternatively perhaps we could demand that foreign drivers carry their insurance policy with them. I've had to do this in Italy when driving someone else's car so it's not like not like it's anything new.

If you go to Switzerland you have to get a vignette (sp?) to use motorways, it's about €90 or something and covers you for a year , or a day if you don't come back.

Here foreign drivers will be allowed to use the M50 for free. Is this the case with the UK congestion charge, or in Germany with the new GPS tolling or with the Norwegians ?

Our man in Havana

http://www.epcplc.com/authorities.php
Seems they can sink their hooks into foreign reg cars across europe.