Penalty Points for Driving an Un-Taxed Vehicle

BDW

So on Saturday night driving my dad's car on the way to pick him up from some function I hear a pop and the sudden roar of an engine with a very short straight pipe as the exhaust decided to pop free from underneath the engine.

Now after a quick stop to check that it isn't hanging down dangerously I see that it has popped free and separated backwards no more than an inch backwards from the front exhaust section.

Knowing full well at 11pm at night I could be waiting hours for a tow home I decide to continue onward to collect my dad and get the car home before dealing with the problem, aside from it being noisy it is not all that dangerous and the car being 20 years old it did not have a cat anyway.

But of course tonight would be the night that our nations finest foot patrol is out and about and jumps at the chance of pulling over what clearly sounded like a pure scangermobile (despite my best efforts at keeping the revs low)

I explained to him the situation and he advised me to collect my dad and go straight home and that if he caught me driving the car again in it's current state he would "Do me for it"

And then he looked at the bottom left of the windscreen... Insurance... OK! NCT... OK! Tax... 02/2010... straight back to me "Are you aware that the tax is out of date" Up until then I had thought I had dodged a bullet with the exhaust problem. I told him I was not and reminded him that it is my dad's car and I was only using it for the purpose of picking him up. He asked if it had been renewed. I told him I did not know, at which point he said he would fine me for Driving an Un-Taxed Vehicle and that the fine would be in the post.

At this point I asked him if there was any points to accompany that, He told me there was 2. Being a 19 year old Insurance goldmine with only 2 years Named driver experience this has worried me greatly. So greatly that I have searched both Citizensinformation and Penaltypoints.ie for the complete list of penalty point offences.

I cannot find any penalty point offences releated to tax on either site. Can anyone confirm this for me?

On the side of the fine I'd like to not have to pay it if I can avoid it, I got my Dad to tax the car as soon as we got home which only shows a date on the printed receipt of renewing the tax, Not the time. Does anyone know if I can use this to get out of paying the fine and Penalty Points if they exist for the offence.

Also Someone mentioned something about a "One Month Grace" period in which allegedly as long as you tax the vehicle in the first month after expiration the car is officially taxed the whole time you drive it even if you have not yet payed. Can anyone confirm whether this is fact or just some misconception of the wording on the renewal form they send out?.

TLDR Version:

Dads Car, Untaxed as of 1stMarch, Pulled by Street Cops, 2 penalty points?, Way to avoid fine?

Thanks,
-BDW

ottostreet

AFAIW, there isnt any points for no tax...just a sixty euro fine. for that length of expiry anyway. over two months, and it can be impounded.

can someone who knows the legalities correct me on this if im wrong?

corktina

as far as I thought :-) the fine will go to your Da..... you can be done for failure to display I guess

(I got stopped in the firms van with no tax and the Gard said "dont worry , the fine will go striaght to your employer"

Theta

corktina wrote: »

as far as I thought :-) the fine will go to your Da..... you can be done for failure to display I guess

(I got stopped in the firms van with no tax and the Gard said "dont worry , the fine will go striaght to your employer"

Yeah I thought this too. The fine will go to the registered owner of the car I thought so your dad can take the points if there is any.

Michael 09

No penalty points for not having tax. If it is out by 2 months of more they can take the car, and there is technically no grace period so it depends on how sound the guard is with that!

The fine isn't too expensive I don't think and it will go to your dad.

seamus

Yeah, there's technically no grace period, the Garda can choose to fine you if your tax is a day out of date.

Who it goes to depends on whether the Garda noted down your name or just took the reg of the vehicle. The offence was committed by you, so I would assume that he took your details.

Looks like you were just unlucky. Young guy driving a very old car, making a lot of noise with the tax just barely expired.

corktina

seamus wrote: »

Looks like you were just unlucky. Young guy driving a very old car, making a lot of noise with the tax just barely expired.

yep...sitting duck...:(

rebel.ranter

It is kind of worrying that a Garda would say there are penalty points for the offence when clearly there are none.
Perhaps he was giving you penalty points for something else?

BDW

Thanks everyone for your responses, Really put my mind at ease.

seamus wrote: »

Who it goes to depends on whether the Garda noted down your name or just took the reg of the vehicle. The offence was committed by you, so I would assume that he took your details.

The Garda did take my licence and address and said that he was "Fining me for driving an Un-Taxed Vehicle" When I said that I was unsure if the tax had been paid yet he said he "Could do me for driving without displaying".

I guess i'll just have to wait and see what it say's on the fine when I get it as all attempts to get in contact with the guard (I made sure to get his details) Have been in vain with me Visiting the Station several times and being told "Oh he's not working today but I can take a message for you and he will call you back when he is next in"

rebel.ranter wrote: »

It is kind of worrying that a Garda would say there are penalty points for the offence when clearly there are none.
Perhaps he was giving you penalty points for something else?

I would assume he would tell me if he was doing me for something else. I had my seatbelt on, was well under the speed limit, Indicated appropriately. All apart from missing glass on the front left indicator (Bulb was working fine) which both myself and my dad have been searching for a replacement for weeks. Which I noted him looking at but he made no comment on.

Thank you all again for your responses.

Michael 09

the tax had been paid yet he said he "Could do me for driving without displaying".

- if you do not have your disc in the window do you not have ten days to produce it in a Garda station?

I think you could get lucky and be let off. I was stopped for no tax (didn't get a chance to do it with work), Guard took my details, I tried to argue my case but he was having none of it. That was in August and I still haven't got a fine so fingers crossed you're the same!