The European Commission proposed important changes to the rules on periodic vehicle inspections on Thursday to take into account the growing number of electric cars, advanced driver assistance systems and reduce mileage fraud.
The new rules should reduce harmful emissions, mileage fraud and increase road safety, it writes. Business diary, The Commission proposed a revision of three directives: on periodic technical inspections of vehicles; on vehicle registration documents; and on the roadside inspection of commercial vehicles.
The Commission proposes to introduce mandatory roadworthiness tests for cars and vans over 10 years old once a year, instead of the current requirement every two years.
This obligation already exists in most Member States, including Croatia, but in 11 Member States, cars and vans over 10 years old only have to undergo a roadworthiness test every two years.
In some Member States, mandatory annual roadworthiness tests are carried out after the vehicle is three or four years old. To reduce odometer fraud, Member States will, according to the proposal, have to set up national databases of odometer readings.
Readings must be recorded every time a vehicle is serviced or repaired, even when it comes to changing light bulbs or tyres. Such databases already exist in Belgium and the Netherlands and should now become mandatory in all Member States.
If a used car is sold to a Member State, the Member State from which it was exported will have to share the mileage history of that car or van with the Member State in which it is re-registered. Under the existing Directive on periodic roadworthiness tests, mileage must be recorded at each such test, and manipulating mileage is considered a criminal offence.
However, the problem is that roadworthiness tests are only carried out annually, even more frequently every two years, and for new vehicles only after three or four years. A significant proportion of mileage fraud occurs before the first test, as greater price gains can be achieved by manipulating the mileage of relatively new vehicles. Combating mileage fraud is important from a consumer protection perspective, but also for fair competition in the vehicle trade.
Source: Free Press – Free Press
