A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Car ownership scam to avoid fines, points
A NUMBER OF unscrupulous motorists are avoiding fines and penalty points by the simply transferring vehicle ownership, the Department of Transport has acknowledged.
The scam came to light when a Co Wicklow-based child, aged 13, was presented with a motoring fine. He had somehow been registered as a speeding car’s owner. The family contacted local TD Joe Behan.
In a written response to his query, the Department of Transport acknowledged such registration errors were being detected, but that, given the volume of transactions, numbers were “relatively few”.
In a briefing note prepared for the Secretary General of the Department of Transport Tom O’Mahony late last year, officials asserted the number of cases “doesn’t suggest deliberate notification of incorrect owner details is a growing problem”.
Deputy Behan has said it was not acceptable for the Department of Transport “to acknowledge there was a problem [and] to shrug their collective shoulders”.
He said the department was counting only numbers detected, and asked how it would estimate the numbers that did not come to light.
While the case involving the 13-year-old boy came to light because the family complained, there is no evidence of identification required when someone changes ownership details.
The Department of Transport said some 750,000 notices of change of vehicle ownership are received annually. The department asserted, “as part of the recording process a number of administrative procedures are in place to ensure ownership details are correctly recorded”.
A Government spokesperson said there were penalties in place for making false declarations, particularly in relation to motor taxation, but the difficulty was in detecting the falsehood. Tim O'Brien
Ford predicts high Focus sales
Ford is still confident of selling more than 3,000 of its new Focus models in Ireland this year despite the car not arriving until April. It’s predicting 5,000 sales for a full year in 2012. It has confirmed the specification for Irish models, with a choice of five-door hatchback and four-door saloon body styles arriving in April, and an estate model shortly after. There will no longer be a three-door model.
There will be three trim levels, with the entry-level car featuring ESP with traction assist, remote central locking with flip key, stereo radio/CD with USB and capless refuelling.
Prices will not be announced until closer to the launch and according to Eddie Murphy, chairman and MD of Ford Ireland, prices are under negotiation. However he did say that prices would start at "around €22,000" for the likely best-selling Style version. Unfortunately, none of the key safety innovations in the new car, such as lane departure assistance or adaptive cruise control with low speed safety, will be offered as standard. Paddy Comyn
Opel Zafira testing
Pictured is the new Opel Zafira undergoing its latest tests in northern Scandinavia before its official debut at the Frankfurt Motor show in September. There are several differences between the prototype and the vehicle seen in a leaked design sketch last year. Among those differences are the bigger lower grille and flatter roofline. However, with a lot of camouflage gone, we can be more assured that front light clusters will retain the dynamic look of the sketch. The third-generation Zafira is built on the same platform as the current Astra, and could get similar engines.