Used car buyers will be able to discover if vehicles have been written off in crashes and repaired if new recommendations made to the Department of Transport become law, writes Simon Carswell.
An investigation by a group set up to examine the reappearance of such write-offs on Irish roads has recommended major changes to the existing system.
Currently, insurance companies and car owners are not obliged to pass on details of car write-offs to the National Vehicle Driver File (NVDF). This has allowed some cars classed as "total write-offs" to be repaired without detection.
These vehicles are considered dangerous because it is not known how they will react if involved in another crash.
A spokesman for the department said the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) was currently using its influence with "individual insurers to have the necessary data made available voluntarily" to the Department of Transport.
The IIF previously said it was not obliged to pass information on write-offs, which is held by insurers, to the department.
The review group, which is chaired by the Road Safety Authority and includes officials from the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda and the department, began investigating the issue last year after it received a report from Cartell, a private company, which found that some total write-offs were being put back on the road and had even passed the NCT.
The group has advised that the NVDF records be checked against those held by insurers to identify all write-offs that have been returned to the roads, so their owners could be notified.
It has also recommended the introduction of an end of life certificate for vehicles, so seriously damaged vehicles can not be repaired for use again.
