Government poised to ban clocking

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar is set to move amendments to the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013 on Wednesday which will introduce the offence of “interference with the odometer of a motor vehicle” into Irish law.

The news has been welcomed by vehicle history check expert, Cartell.ie.In 2010, Cartell.ie presented draft legislation which sought to criminalise the practice, along with related matters. That legislation was initially rejected by the FF/PD/Green Government in June 2010. In December 2012 a modified version of it was moved as a Private Members Bill by Anthony Lawlor TD (Fine Gael).

Cartell’s Legal and PR Manager, John Byrne, who drafted the original “clocking” Bill in 2010, says: “We are hopeful the legislation will be enacted and enforced imminently and bring with it a significant layer of protection for consumers who are vulnerable to buying a “clocked” vehicle in Ireland. This should be considered a major advancement for consumer protection in Ireland and is a critical step in the battle to eradicate the practice of vehicle clocking in this country.”

Cartell.ie says the rate of clocking in Ireland is still above 10% although it did reduce marginally last year. The rate in November 2013 was 10.5% down from a rate of 11% in January 2013. The figure of 10.5% is based on a sample size in excess of 50,000 from a data-set which is the most complete in the Irish market. The rate of clocking had been steadily increasing since the recession commenced. The figure of 11% – recorded earlier in 2013 – was the highest rate recorded by the company. The current figure of 10.5% is still almost twice as high as the comparable figure in the UK which stands at 6%.