NCT and over-the-top Garda

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gears303

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I was stopped by a Garda at a checkpoint yesterday. Young-ish guy in his late 20s. He gave the usual covid questions and then pointed out I had no NCT disk.
My car is four and a half years old. Fully taxed and insured. I told him I thought NCT was not due until a car was five years or older and I received no notification the NCT was due.
The truth is, this is my first car that is less than 5 years old and I did not even know NCT was due. Any other car I've owned has been more than 5 years old and came with an NCT already so I received the reminders automatically. He said it was my responsibility to go about getting the first NCT disk on the car and make the appointment. I told him it was a genuine mistake but I would get it sorted. He asked to see my license and walked off. This happened in the space of half a minute. I thought he was just taking it to make sure I was registered owner and all was above board.
He came back to the car and asked for my mobile number!?!
I asked him what he wanted that for and he said "it is part of it" ... I said "part of what? Are you fining me".
He said, "of course. Your car has no NCT".
I asked again why he needed my mobile number when he had my name and address. He said again "he needed it".
I was kind of thrown off by the whole experience and it happened so quickly. I had my two kids with me in the back of the car, and they were rattled and starting to get upset. I gave him the mobile number, got my license back and drove off.
I've met a lot of decent Gardai in my time but this guy was completely excessive and does nothing to improve the image of Gardai or endear them to the public. He was going to do me, regardless.
Within the hour, I was back home and I booked the NCT for two weeks time.
I have no priors, never been put off the road, nothing more than a speeding fine.
I'm a man in my 40s, have a family, and drive a run-of-the-mill saloon.

Q: Is it standard practice for a Garda to ask for a mobile number nowadays? If so, why?

Q: Will I get a fine, penalty points, summons?

Q: Any way to appeal this? The guy was completely excessive in my opinion and this was a genuine mistake.
 
Doesn't answer your question but I have a 172 car, first newish car I have ever had and I had it serviced last week and noticed when I paid and got the receipt it was printed on it that NCT was due Nov 2021, I wonder will I get a notification from official channels later in year?
 
It's up to you to comply with the law. It's not up to the NCT to notify you.

The NCT was due at 4 years.

If it had been a month or two over, you might have been ok.

Doesn't sound excessive to me at all.

If you were being stroppy with him, then he probably was stroppy with you.

Brendan
 
Monbretia said:
Doesn't answer your question but I have a 172 car, first newish car I have ever had and I had it serviced last week and noticed when I paid and got the receipt it was printed on it that NCT was due Nov 2021, I wonder will I get a notification from official channels later in year?
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I can only speak from my own experience but I did not get anything from them. If I were you, I would set a reminder on my phone or mark it up on the calendar a month or so before due-date.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
It's up to you to comply with the law. It's not up to the NCT to notify you.

The NCT was due at 4 years.

If it had been a month or two over, you might have been ok.

Doesn't sound excessive to me at all.

If you were being stroppy with him, then he probably was stroppy with you.

Brendan
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No Brendan, I wasn't being stroppy with him.
 
Stroppy or no, you’ll be getting three penalty points and a fine of at least €60. Or if you don’t like that and want to have a day out in court and argue your case before a judge, you can do so.

But if you go the latter route the fine can be up to €2000 plus up to 5 penalty points. (Imprisonment an option for the judge for second offenders).

I’d take my medicine now unless you had a legitimate reason for not having the Cert (other than you forgot, or you weren’t reminded by the Authorities).

Referencing the Guard’s demeanour on the day won’t help you either way in court, in fact, it might antagonise the same prosecuting Guard. And the judge.
 
Jayom75 said:
Stroppy or no, you’ll be getting three penalty points and a fine of at least €60. Or if you don’t like that and want to have a day out in court and argue your case before a judge, you can do so.

But if you go the latter route the fine can be up to €2000 plus up to 5 penalty points. (Imprisonment an option for the judge for second offenders).

I’d take my medicine now unless you had a legitimate reason for not having the Cert (other than you forgot, or you weren’t reminded by the Authorities).

Referencing the Guard’s demeanour on the day won’t help you either way in court, in fact, it might antagonise the same prosecuting Guard. And the judge.
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Ok, thanks for the info Jayom75. Seems like the most sensible option.
 
Billo said:
Bad attitude never goes down well with the gardai.
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You must be speaking of your own personal experience. I asked the Garda a legitimate question in a respectful tone and demeanor AFTER he had decided to fine.
 
Why did you not just give him your number?

You had already made a point that you had not realised an NCT was required.

You describe it here as OTT when there is no evidence of it.

So I suspect you probably were stroppy.

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Why did you not just give him your number?

You had already made a point that you had not realised an NCT was required.

You describe it here as OTT when there is no evidence of it.

So I suspect you probably were stroppy.

Brendan
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Brendan, we've already discussed this and I told you I wasn't being stroppy.
Try and keep up.

When did it become a requirement for a person to give Gardai a mobile phone number at any stop? What is the reasoning for this?
A FCN is sent by post after all.
 
Monbretia said:
Doesn't answer your question but I have a 172 car, first newish car I have ever had and I had it serviced last week and noticed when I paid and got the receipt it was printed on it that NCT was due Nov 2021, I wonder will I get a notification from official channels later in year?
Click to expand...
I got an email re renewal of my motor tax last week, and the email includes the NCT due date (which will be the first NCT for the car).
 
So the question I had asked was .....

when did it become a requirement for a person to give Gardai a mobile phone number at any stop? What is the reasoning for this?
A FCN is sent by post after all.
 
gears303 said:
So the question I had asked was .....

when did it become a requirement for a person to give Gardai a mobile phone number at any stop? What is the reasoning for this?
A FCN is sent by post after all.
Click to expand...
Afaik, there is no requirement for you to give your mobile number to the Garda. By the same token, nothing prevents him/her from asking for it.

Given the chance, the Federales will naturally try and obtain as much info from you as possible, as they may need it down the line (like when trying to contact you to serve the Summons/Bench Warrant).

You could have declined to give your mobile number. (It may not have endeared you to the Garda but what could they do?)
 
Hello gears303,

This is a sting in the tail, but you'll get over it. You won't get the fine reversed, so don't waste your time even trying, just pay it, get your car NCT'd, and move on.

If you really feel that the Garda was out of line, phone whatever station the Garda was attached to, ask to speak to the Superintendent or highest ranking officer based at that station, and explain what happened.
 
gears303 said:
Q: Any way to appeal this? The guy was completely excessive in my opinion and this was a genuine mistake.
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Yes, have you have the option of appealing this. When the penalty points are issued you can do so then, go to court, etc. AFAIK you may receive a stiffer fine and additional points if you choose to do so and are unsuccessful.

You fail to mention the purpose of your journey at the time of this incident. Don’t forget that we’re in the midst of a public health crisis, and the message is “Stay At Home”.

Had this happened in, say, February 2020, then you’d have grounds for being annoyed. However, we are all being instructed to stay at home. I would imagine that the Gardai are applying a zero tolerance approach to anyone that infringes road traffic requirements at the present time. Thirteen months ago that Garda may have said to you “get that sorted out when you get home”. But we’re on the eve of the first anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. I’m sure the Garda was thinking “you should be staying at home, but instead you’re driving around in a car with no NCT”.
If you do choose to appeal, I’d be surprised if you were successful.
 
You have done the right thing booking the NCT as quickly as possible. You might even try for a cancellation.

Then send a copy of the NCT to the Garda as quickly as possible apologising for not having it in place.

If the Garda has not initiated the prosecution, he might think again, or his superior might tell him that he was being a bit overenthusiastic.

Brendan
 
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