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[quote] NCT failure rate an inexact science as test lanes differ

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  • 22-02-2004 7:51pm
    #1
    Victor
    Registered Users Posts: 78,388 ✭✭✭✭


    http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/2589872?view=Eircomnet
    NCT failure rate an inexact science as test lanes differ
    From:The Irish Independent
    Sunday, 22nd February, 2004
    JIMMY GUERIN

    and EOGHAN WILLIAMS

    THE National Car Test has admitted the difference between passing and failing can come down to the test lane a car isallocated.

    "Minute factors" are enough to make sensitive headlight reading equipment throw up conflicting results, an NCT spokeswoman confirmed to the SundayIndependent.

    "The exact level of the car, which could alter from lane to lane, can affect the reading on the machine," she said.

    One in 10 cars fails the NCT for having defective lights, forcing at least 6,000 drivers to reapply for the test last month alone.

    And, according to NCT, the margin for lighting errors is likely to be narrowed further.

    One Dublin motorist saw her car fail twice for a headlight fault, but pass on the third attempt when she insisted the examiners change their equipment.

    Deirdre Moran, who paid €500 for a pre-NCT service at her local garage, was told by examiners her six-year-old Mazda would need further attention before it could be passed.

    Ms Moran re-entered her car for the NCT last month, following assurances from her mechanic that the car was roadworthy - but again it was failed.

    The driver, from Ballinteer, refused to leave the Deansgrange test centre until the procedure was repeated in a different test lane. This time her car passed.

    Garage owners say experiences like this are becoming increasingly common. Any non-compliance with NCT requirements became grounds for an automatic fail in September 2003.

    The NCT has so far refused to refund Ms Moran for the cost of repeating the test.

    However, a spokesperson said any driver could request their car be reexamined in a fresh test lane if they disputed results from headlight testing equipment.

    She said the margin for error in headlight testing is greater in Ireland than in the rest of Europe and that borderline cases are rare.

    This part of the test was likely to come into line with other EU countries.


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