Car off road, no tax, no nct, no insurance. Can it just be parked?

arleitiss

Hey, I got a car for free, it has no NCT, no tax, no insurance, can I just declare it off road and leave it stationary in my estates? I see lots of other cars without tax and there seems to be no problem?

Anything I should know specifically about such case?

Thanks.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Once it is not on a public road, yes you can.

djimi

You can park it in your driveway. If its not on private property then it needs to be taxed, insured and NCTd.

arleitiss

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

Once it is not on a public road, yes you can.

I assume if it's in estates it may not be public road? my estate rules state: Ample parking, and it has lots of spots for free, I guess that means it's private area then?

Cleveland Hot Pocket

arleitiss wrote: »

I assume if it's in estates it may not be public road? my estate rules state: Ample parking, and it has lots of spots for free, I guess that means it's private area then?

If it is the road through the estate, then no that is a public road.

djimi

arleitiss wrote: »

I assume if it's in estates it may not be public road? my estate rules state: Ample parking, and it has lots of spots for free, I guess that means it's private area then?

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

arleitiss

djimi wrote: »

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

I see, I guess best bet would be to just pay tax then and have it stationary?

pred racer

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, I got a car for free, it has no NCT, no tax, no insurance, can I just declare it off road and leave it stationary in my estates? I see lots of other cars without tax and there seems to be no problem?

Anything I should know specifically about such case?

Thanks.

It's technically not off the road, but you should be grand unless your neighbours are **** not nice:P

arleitiss

pred racer wrote: »

It's technically not off the road, but you should be grand unless your neighbours are **** not nice:P

I have a neighboor with 2000 E46, tyres are flat and cracked and it seems to have no discs on it whatsoever, yet it's still there for quite a few years

djimi

arleitiss wrote: »

I see, I guess best bet would be to just pay tax then and have it stationary?

And insurance; it has to be insured also if its on a public road.

arleitiss

djimi wrote: »

And insurance; it has to be insured also if its on a public road.

Really? I thought car needs to have nct and insurance only if it's driven?

djimi

arleitiss wrote: »

Really? I thought car needs to have nct and insurance only if it's driven?

It in use on a public road; it needs to be insured. "In use" does not necessarily have to mean in motion!

dubjay

the problem with just leaving it in your estate is that it takes away somebody elses right to park their car. it was giving to you for free for a reason

pred racer

djimi wrote: »

And insurance; it has to be insured also if its on a public road.

arleitiss wrote: »

Really? I thought car needs to have nct and insurance only if it's driven?

Unless it does a Christine on you, I'd say you are safe enough;)

djimi

pred racer wrote: »

Unless it does a Christine on you, I'd say you are safe enough;)

Take your chance if you like, but you are using an uninsured car on a public road, and risk the consequnces of this if caught.

arleitiss

dubjay wrote: »

the problem with just leaving it in your estate is that it takes away somebody elses right to park their car. it was giving to you for free for a reason

Well there is always a space to park, there is more parking spaces than houses, I would say if every house had 5 cars, even then there would be space left.

pred racer

djimi wrote: »

Take your chance if you like, but you are using an uninsured car on a public road, and risk the consequnces of this if caught.

So all the parked up cars around the country are just an arrest waiting to happen...........bollocks!
Your definition of using and mine (and the gardai it seems )are very different.
I'm not disputing that you may be technically correct but in the real world......

slimjimmc

djimi wrote: »

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

Very close ,but what you've described is a "public place", which may or may not be a "public road". A public road is one which is maintained by a roads authority. It makes no difference where motor tax, insurance and NCT are concerned but it's good to know the difference since certain traffic laws only apply to "public roads", e.g. Traffic Wardens have no authority in privately held "public places" (shopping centres, ungated estates not taken in charge by the Local Authority, etc)

arleitiss

slimjimmc wrote: »

Very close ,but what you've described is a "public place", which may or may not be a "public road". A public road is one which is maintained by a roads authority. It makes no difference where motor tax, insurance and NCT are concerned but it's good to know the difference since certain traffic laws only apply to "public roads", e.g. Traffic Wardens have no authority in privately held "public places" (shopping centres, ungated estates not taken in charge by the Local Authority, etc)

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

djimi

pred racer wrote: »

So all the parked up cars around the country are just an arrest waiting to happen...........bollocks!
Your definition of using and mine (and the gardai it seems )are very different.
I'm not disputing that you may be technically correct but in the real world......

In the real world the OP can take the technically correct information and choose what to do with it themselves. Any car that is parked in a public place (thanks slimjimmc!) must be insured. If the OP chooses to take their chances and hope that a Garda doesnt see it then more power to him. Im not going to tell someone that its okay to park an uninsured car in a public place, because there is a chance (no matter how slim you might feel that chance is) that it wont be okay.

djimi

arleitiss wrote: »

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

Its not a private area unless the entrance is guarded by a locked gate or some other such way of preventing the general public access.

slimjimmc

arleitiss wrote: »

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

djimi wrote: »

Its not a private area unless the entrance is guarded by a locked gate or some other such way of preventing the general public access.

As djimi said.
Regarding the lawns, our estate has been taken in-charge by the L.A. but the L.A. will only commit to mowing the public areas twice a year, so, with the consent of the landowner (the L.A.) the residents pay for additional mowing. All work is done by private contractors but it's still public space and the roads are still public roads.

dar83

arleitiss wrote: »

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

The lawns in my estate are cut by the council...

As said previously, if you're leaving it on the road, even parked up there, you'll need it taxed and insured. Doesn' really matter if there are plenty of spaces available, you run the risk of it being spotted and whatever may happen then even if that risk is very small.

If you're happy to do so, then so be it and good luck to you.

Marcusm

djimi wrote: »

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

Not quite; if the public have access, it's likely a "public place". A "public road" is one in respect of which a public authority has a maintenance requirement.

That being said, if the car is parked in a "public place" it must be taxed.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

You can park it in your driveway. If its not on private property then it needs to be taxed, insured and NCTd.

As far as I know, it's not an offence to have car without valid NCT parked in public place.

slimjimmc

CiniO wrote: »

As far as I know, it's not an offence to have car without valid NCT parked in public place.

It is, unless this regulation has been revoked.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0395.html

5. A person shall not use in a public place a vehicle to which these
Regulations apply unless there is displayed on the front windscreen of the said
vehicle a valid test disc.

"Use" includes parking.

from_atozinc

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, I got a car for free, it has no NCT, no tax, no insurance, can I just declare it off road and leave it stationary in my estates? I see lots of other cars without tax and there seems to be no problem?

Anything I should know specifically about such case?

Thanks.

I know this is off topic, but what is the point in you even taking this car if you are just parking it up ?

The car will never even come to the attention of the Gardaí. Unless you go looking for trouble off them, you're probably not gonna get any off them.

Park the car up. Nobody will care (and 99% of people won't even notice).

Henry Ford III

Can't be done legally. All it would take is a report from a member of the public to the Gardai that cars are being left abandoned in a certain area and you'd be in trouble OP.

Is this car of any interest/value? If so consider putting it into storage.

Gumbo

The worse thing that can happen with non insurance is if some youths decide your car is their Bon fire tonight and it goes up and damages cars around it, then you have no insurance to fix the other cars so you will have to pay out if your pocket.

corktina

That's what hey have their own insurance for. It wasn't your fault, so no liability on you. Slightly different if there was an electrical fault in your car caused it of course.

Nino Brown

Why can't you just take the plates off when you have it parked outside? What Garda or warden is going to be bothered going to the hassle of investigating that for the sake of giving a E60 fine?

seamus

kceire wrote: »

The worse thing that can happen with non insurance is if some youths decide your car is their Bon fire tonight and it goes up and damages cars around it, then you have no insurance to fix the other cars so you will have to pay out if your pocket.

Or your handbrake fails (or some little scrote decides to mess with your car) and it rolls into someone else's car (or someone else). You are liable for that.

seamus

Nino Brown wrote: »

Why can't you just take the plates off when you have it parked outside? What Garda or warden is going to be bothered going to the hassle of investigating that for the sake of giving a E60 fine?

A car parked in a public place without reg plates will be towed and crushed by the local authority as removal of the plates means it is abandoned.

Cannot identify who owns it, therefore it is abandoned, therefore it is litter, therefore it will be disposed of.

Nino Brown

seamus wrote: »

A car parked in a public place without reg plates will be towed and crushed by the local authority as removal of the plates means it is abandoned.

Cannot identify who owns it, therefore it is abandoned, therefore it is litter, therefore it will be disposed of.

Ah, well that clearly isn't one of my better ideas!

visual

Only needs to be taxed to be legally parked.
NCT Insurance & Driving licence required if it is to be driven.

You probably get away without tax as traffic wardens don't bother with most estates unless there is pay and display or other traffic restrictions.

Garda are seldom interested in parked cars within estates with or without current tax unless it's drawn to their attention.

If traffic warden or garda do take an interest they will slap non display of current tax disc fine on the car.

seamus

visual wrote: »

Only needs to be taxed to be legally parked.
NCT Insurance & Driving licence required if it is to be driven.

Not correct. A car in a public place requires third party insurance whether it's parked or driving.

visual

seamus wrote: »

Not correct. A car in a public place requires third party insurance whether it's parked or driving.

What is the fine for owning a parked car without insurance ?

djimi

visual wrote: »

What is the fine for owning a parked car without insurance ?

The law states that a car that is in use on a public place must have insurance. I would imagine the punishment would be the same as if you were caught using the car in any other public place; the fact that it is parked rather than in motion does not change the fact that it is still in use.

Nino Brown

Nino Brown wrote: »

Why can't you just take the plates off when you have it parked outside? What Garda or warden is going to be bothered going to the hassle of investigating that for the sake of giving a E60 fine?

seamus wrote: »

A car parked in a public place without reg plates will be towed and crushed by the local authority as removal of the plates means it is abandoned.

Cannot identify who owns it, therefore it is abandoned, therefore it is litter, therefore it will be disposed of.

Actually, on that note, there's a car parked around the back of my dad's house. It's been there.. at a guess, a year or so. It's a hatchback boyracer of sorts (could be a civic but not sure).

It's dirty, generally destroyed in bird ****e, and the plates are removed.

When I read Nino's post i thought it all clicked together and I thought "ahh. that's why he has the plates off it!", but then Seamus obviously added the correction.

However, what I will say, is, however, the car has been there an age, and hasn't come to the attention of the council or Gardai yet.

CiniO

seamus wrote: »

A car parked in a public place without reg plates will be towed and crushed by the local authority as removal of the plates means it is abandoned.

Cannot identify who owns it, therefore it is abandoned, therefore it is litter, therefore it will be disposed of.

Can they take someone's property (car) and crush it?

First thing comes to my mind. I have a car. Park it in public place, and go on 2 months holidays. In the mean time someone steals my number plates so car gets towed away and crushed.
I come back, and I have no car.
Who do I blame for my loss? And who pays for my car?

I can't believe what you are saying is true.

CiniO

slimjimmc wrote: »

It is, unless this regulation has been revoked.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0395.html


"Use" includes parking.

It was long time ago:

20. The Road Traffic (National Car Test) Regulations, 1999 ( S.I. No. 395 of 1999 ), the Road Traffic (National Car Test) Regulations, 2000 ( S.I. No. 368 of 2000 ), the Road Traffic (National Car Test) Regulations, 2001 ( S.I. No. 32 of 2001 ) and the Road Traffic (National Car Test) (No 2) Regulations, 2001 ( S.I. No. 298 of 2001 ) are hereby revoked with effect from 1 January 2002.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0395.html

visual

djimi wrote: »

The law states that a car that is in use on a public place must have insurance. I would imagine the punishment would be the same as if you were caught using the car in any other public place; the fact that it is parked rather than in motion does not change the fact that it is still in use.

Then why does a garda only issue a ticket for non display of motor tax when ticketing a car with no valid nct insurance and motor tax that is parked. Yet will prosecute you for all 3 if caught driving

seamus

CiniO wrote: »

Can they take someone's property (car) and crush it?

First thing comes to my mind. I have a car. Park it in public place, and go on 2 months holidays. In the mean time someone steals my number plates so car gets towed away and crushed.
I come back, and I have no car.
Who do I blame for my loss? And who pays for my car?

I can't believe what you are saying is true.

It's covered under the relevant litter acts.

A unidentifiable car (i.e. one without plates) can be declared abandoned, at which point it becomes litter and the local council can lift and dispose of it like any other litter.

Now, in theory it is/should be possible to identify any car by matching the VIN to the national registration records, and perhaps they do that, but it's well established that a vehicle without plates will be declared abandoned and lifted by the local council.
Maybe the councils do use the VIN to track down the owner and fine them for littering, I'm not sure.

In any case if your car has been crushed in the scenario you describe, your insurance would cover it.

dubjay

arleitiss wrote: »

Well there is always a space to park, there is more parking spaces than houses, I would say if every house had 5 cars, even then there would be space left.

i live in a estate with little or no parking because of issues like this.already we have got 5 cars moved because people leaving them there for months or years on end with no intention to move them

CiniO

seamus wrote: »

It's covered under the relevant litter acts.

A unidentifiable car (i.e. one without plates) can be declared abandoned, at which point it becomes litter and the local council can lift and dispose of it like any other litter.

Now, in theory it is/should be possible to identify any car by matching the VIN to the national registration records, and perhaps they do that, but it's well established that a vehicle without plates will be declared abandoned and lifted by the local council.
Maybe the councils do use the VIN to track down the owner and fine them for littering, I'm not sure.

In any case if your car has been crushed in the scenario you describe, your insurance would cover it.

But what if I had only third party cover? Then insurance would cover my car.
I obviously believe they can lift it.
But I don't believe they can crush it just like that.