Drivers advised to stay away from NCT centres as decision due on whether they will reopen in coming days
Drivers are advised that all NCT car testing centres are closed today due to the Government's increased restrictions for the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Road Safety Authority, a decision on whether or not the centres can reopen in the coming days will be made later.
People are asked not to go to any NCT centre today as a result.
They did advise that the National Driver Licence Service and the Commercial Vehicle Testing System (CVRT) will not be open for business today either.
Meanwhile, RSA chairwoman Liz O’Donnell has urged motorists to slow down amid the decreased traffic volumes during the pandemic to allow overburdened hospitals to concentrate on treating Covid-19 victims.
Ms O'Donnell told the Irish Times: “If there is a serious road crash, it is a huge burden on accident and emergency. What we don’t want is accidents and fatal road crashes coming on top of overburdened health workers and hospital wards.
“We are waiting for the surge so now, more than ever, people should be careful in everything we do, which should be to support the collective effort in the national emergency.”
So far this year, 47 people have died on our roads, a 24% rise on the same period last year.
Between March 17 and March 22, nine people were killed on the roads.
One Garda source said the dramatic decrease in traffic has seen some motorists driving at higher speeds.
They said: “We are seeing some outrageous speeds on the motorways. Traffic density is much lower but lower traffic density is associated with more fatalities as people tend to speed more.
“Whether these are individual incidents or part of a trend we can’t say yet.”
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