VRT drives 4,000 cars off the road every year

About 4,000 vehicles a year are being deregistered and driven off the road for good as a result of the vehicle roadworthiness tests, statistics obtained from the Transport Ministry show.

Old, dilapidated and environmentally harmful vehicles are being gradually phased out and more could follow suit as from this month when full VRT testing comes into force.

During its negotiations with the EU, the government had requested a transitional period until January 2005 for the obligatory roadworthiness testing of suspension and general conditions of vehicles.

VRT garages have now been instructed to check out the steering and suspension systems of a car. Hence test stations have to check steering controls, steering systems, the front and back suspension systems and shock absorbers. They will also be inspecting the body structure and the condition of the vehicle, the mirrors, fuel system and seat belts.

A spokesman said the Transport Ministry is convinced the complete VRT tests would lead to safer cars.

Having a suspension system in good working order leads to better road holding and shorter braking distances. Shock absorbers have a lifespan of just 30,000 miles and so obsolete ones could mean life or death where sudden braking is needed, he said.

The test on the general condition of the vehicle on the other hand protects the drivers since it exposes concealed corrosion of the body in critical parts, which could cause serious mechanical failure, such as broken shafts.

The Transport Ministry does not however believe that the new additions to the tests would eliminate a "substantial" number of cars from the roads.

Citing the tests carried out in 2000, when VRT testing also included advisory testing on suspension and general conditions, the spokesman said the proportion of cars that would have failed in both areas was under four per cent. Ironically, the failure rate for brakes in the same period was higher - five per cent.

Of the 99,864 cars tested, 3,037 had failed the steering tests and 953 the general tests. At the end of September, the number of licensed cars totalled 271,195, a third of which are over 10 years old.

Asked to respond to comments that the government was mainly to blame for the vehicles' poor suspension because of the notoriously bad state of the roads, the spokesman said this was an overly inflated claim. Thanks to the Italian Financial Protocol, 10 per cent of the 143 kilometres of arterial and distributor roads were being reconstructed. Roads have also been earmarked as the primary beneficiary of EU funding, the spokesman said.