Garda plan crackdown on 'boy racers'

A MAJOR new crackdown on so-called “boy racers”, is being planned by the Garda which in recent days has advertised for new technology to help assess vehicles for compliance with noise regulations and rules governing the levels of darkened windows.

The Garda, which advertised for the equipment on the Government e-tenders website, is also seeking new technology to crack down on digital tachographs infringements, using laptop computers. The move is aimed at tackling breaches of regulations particularly in relation to drivers’ hours, which is believed to be a serious problem in the haulage industry.

The penalties for offences relating to tinted windscreens and excessive sound levels are a fine of up to €2,500 and or up to three months in prison. The penalties for  tachograph offences are a fine of up to €2,500 and or three months in prison.

But the Garda has said it doesn’t want large numbers of prosecutions of boy racers clogging up the courts system and is preparing to launch a number of publicity campaigns, in association with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and other agencies, aimed at increasing compliance instead of numbers of actual court cases.

Assistant commissioner in charge of the traffic division Eddie Rock said most of the owners of “boy-racer” cars would be known to individual gardaí in the areas where they live.

He said the new technology which the Garda was seeking would enable a quick roadside test to check if exhaust noise levels exceeded the permitted maximum of 80 decibels, and offenders would be given a chance to put their vehicles right.

Similar checks would be carried out on vehicle windows to see if they conformed to regulations governing the amount of visibility drivers are required to have through the front windscreen and passenger windows.

Mr Rock said it was important for policing that the driver of a vehicle be visible. It was also important for other road users to be able to see which way a driver was looking and visibility was also a key issue on wet, dull evenings when windows which were darkened too much could be a serious danger.

But while gardaí were seeking to avoid a surge of “boy racer” cases before the courts, Mr Rock warned that where owners of modified cars failed to meet regulations, the gardaí would have no hesitation in moving to put them off the road. No leniency is expected for tachograph offences, however, as gardaí warned that exceeding driver hours was a very serious safety issue. The initiatives were outlined at Garda headquarters in Dublin yesterday.