Car impounded

robertpatterson

A kind of interesting one
A friend of mine had his car taken by the Garda as it was out of nct which in my view is fair enough.
In the course of the conversation he of course was told he was going to lose the car until he could get an nct .
They then confiscated his keys as well
My query is are they legally allowed to take his keys, surely the confiscation is for the car not the keys?
Im just intrigued so I think it would be good to have an answer

meathstevie

robertpatterson wrote: »

A kind of interesting one
A friend of mine had his car taken by the Garda as it was out of nct which in my view is fair enough.
In the course of the conversation he of course was told he was going to lose the car until he could get an nct .
They then confiscated his keys as well
My query is are they legally allowed to take his keys, surely the confiscation is for the car not the keys?
Im just intrigued so I think it would be good to have an answer

You can refuse to hand over the keys I suppose. The price for such smartarsery is that it's just a touch less benign to the car being pulled onto a recovery lorry when the steering lock is engaged or you locked it up in gear and with the handbrake on.

It's not because it's locked and there's no key that Gardai aren't entitled to have a lawfully seized vehicle moved.

Borderfox

How can he get an NCT with the car impounded?

GM228

robertpatterson wrote: »

A kind of interesting one
A friend of mine had his car taken by the Garda as it was out of nct which in my view is fair enough.
In the course of the conversation he of course was told he was going to lose the car until he could get an nct .
They then confiscated his keys as well
My query is are they legally allowed to take his keys, surely the confiscation is for the car not the keys?
Im just intrigued so I think it would be good to have an answer

There is no lawful authority to seize the keys, same way there is no lawful authority to keep the vehicle until it is NCTd, or rather an NCT is booked.

robertpatterson

Borderfox wrote: »

How can he get an NCT with the car impounded?

It gets towed to the nct centre and tested there

robertpatterson

meathstevie wrote: »

You can refuse to hand over the keys I suppose. The price for such smartarsery is that it's just a touch less benign to the car being pulled onto a recovery lorry when the steering lock is engaged or you locked it up in gear and with the handbrake on.

It's not because it's locked and there's no key that Gardai aren't entitled to have a lawfully seized vehicle moved.

The car was being lifted not towed
I was just interested to see if you were compelled legally to hand over your keys as well as your car

TheChizler

robertpatterson wrote: »

The car was being lifted not towed
I was just interested to see if you were compelled legally to hand over your keys as well as your car

Neither...

opfleet

What difference does it make whether you hand over the keys or not?? You still can't drive the car. People are just looking for an excuse to avoid having to pay the fine or escape Court. You can make a GSOC complaint if you want and in the unlikely event of it being entertained, the summons you will get will be a separate matter, you can still get the car back without the NCT, provided it is towed out of the yard to your home.

robertpatterson

opfleet wrote: »

What difference does it make whether you hand over the keys or not?? You still can't drive the car. People are just looking for an excuse to avoid having to pay the fine or escape Court. You can make a GSOC complaint if you want and in the unlikely event of it being entertained, the summons you will get will be a separate matter, you can still get the car back without the NCT, provided it is towed out of the yard to your home.

Calm down dear��
I was intrigued when he told me what happened I don't think he was trying to get around any fine he didn't even think there was anything wrong it was my query.
I do know from a Garda I know who has since retired that he would rally any motorbike that was seized cos he told me that in an unguarded moment so if I had a car that was worth a few bob and well minded I wouldn't be too enamoured with the idea if it being driven hard.

Mod
Pls stay on topic

4ensic15

robertpatterson wrote: »

A kind of interesting one
A friend of mine had his car taken by the Garda as it was out of nct which in my view is fair enough.
In the course of the conversation he of course was told he was going to lose the car until he could get an nct .
They then confiscated his keys as well
My query is are they legally allowed to take his keys, surely the confiscation is for the car not the keys?
Im just intrigued so I think it would be good to have an answer

Was it just the car keys? how many were there? Were any other keys taken as well?

MrFresh

robertpatterson wrote: »

Calm down dear��
I was intrigued when he told me what happened I don't think he was trying to get around any fine he didn't even think there was anything wrong it was my query.
I do know from a Garda I know who has since retired that he would rally any motorbike that was seized cos he told me that in an unguarded moment so if I had a car that was worth a few bob and well minded I wouldn't be too enamoured with the idea if it being driven hard.

Mod
Pls stay on topic

Use to be that the cars would be brought back to stations and towed to the pound the next day but these days the vehicles are towed straight to pound. It's better to give the keys over so the vehicle can be unloaded safely.


I'm almost sure I've heard of people been charged with obstruction after chucking keys away when their car is seized. Don't know if they got convicted. I wonder could withholding the keys come under the same charge.


I've also heard of cases in the past where people have used spare keys to sneak into stations and drive their car out. Would that constitute stealing the car?

mynamejeff

MrFresh wrote: »

Use to be that the cars would be brought back to stations and towed to the pound the next day but these days the vehicles are towed straight to pound. It's better to give the keys over so the vehicle can be unloaded safely.


I'm almost sure I've heard of people been charged with obstruction after chucking keys away when their car is seized. Don't know if they got convicted. I wonder could withholding the keys come under the same charge.


I've also heard of cases in the past where people have used spare keys to sneak into stations and drive their car out. Would that constitute stealing the car?

Gardai would drive it to the station and keep it overnight in case the person could produce the required paperwork straight away and it would save them the impound and storage fees , reasonable enough imo

yes some one who obstructed the seizure of a car could be charged with obstruction under either the road traffic act or public order act depending on circumstances.

I ve heard of cars being stolen from garda stations with spare keys and yes the guy was done for stealing it. it wasnt reg to him though so im not sure if you could be done for stealing your own car . trespassing maybe ?

Discodog

Do they have to release it if you pay the costs & arrive with a car trailer ?