S.I. No. 91/1983:

ROAD TRAFFIC (REMOVAL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF VEHICLES) REGULATIONS, 1983.

ROAD TRAFFIC (REMOVAL, STORAGE AND DISPOSAL OF VEHICLES) REGULATIONS, 1983.

The Minister for the Environment in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 5 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (No. 24 of 1961) and section 97 of the said Act, as substituted by section 63 of the Road Traffic Act, 1968 (No. 25 of 1968), hereby makes the following Regulations:--

PART I. Preliminary and General.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1983.

2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of May, 1983.

3. The Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1971 ( S.I. No. 5 of 1971 ) and the Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations, 1977 ( S.I. No. 95 of 1977 ) are hereby revoked.

4. (1) In these Regulations:

"the Act" means the Road Traffic Act, 1961 ;

"car park" means a car park provided under section 101 of the Act;

"the Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána;

"day" means any period of 24 hours;

"unlawfully parked" means parked in contravention of the Act, or of a regulation, bye-law or rule thereunder;

(2) In these Regulations a reference to a vehicle which has been abandoned shall be construed as including a reference to a vehicle which appears to have been abandoned.

PART II. Removal and Storage of Abandoned Vehicles.

5. (1) A vehicle which has been abandoned on a public road or in a car park may be removed by or on the authority of a road authority.

(2) Where an officer or an Inspector of the Garda Síochána requests a road authority to remove an abandoned vehicle, the road authority shall comply with such request.

(3) A road authority may take such steps, including the making of an arrangement with any person, as they think fit, for the removal of an abandoned vehicle in a particular case or generally, and for the storage of a vehicle so removed.

PART III. Removal and Storage of Unlawfully Parked Vehicles.

6. (1) An unlawfully parked vehicle may be removed by or on the authority of

( a ) an officer or a member of the Garda Síochána, or

( b ) where a road authority, after consultation with the Commissioner have appointed persons for that purpose, a person so appointed,

and for that purpose such officer or member or person may take such steps, including the making of an arrangement with any other person as he may think fit for the removal of such vehicle, and, in the event of storage of a vehicle, for the storage of a vehicle so removed.

(2) Removal of an unlawfully parked vehicle under this article may be made to any convenient place, including a place of storage, and includes removal first to a place not being a place of storage and thence to a place of storage.

PART IV. Removal and Storage Charges.

7. (1) Where a vehicle has been removed, or both removed and stored, in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, there shall be paid by the owner of the vehicle to the road authority or to the Commissioner, as the case may be, a removal charge, or both removal and storage charges, as follows:--

( a ) for the removal of the vehicle -- £20;

( b ) for the storage of the vehicle -- £2 for each day or part of a day during which the vehicle is stored.

(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) of this article, a vehicle which has been both removed and stored under these Regulations shall not be released until the person claiming the vehicle produces satisfactory evidence that he is the owner of the vehicle or is authorised by the owner to claim the vehicle and the charges due for the removal and storage of the vehicle have been paid in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1) of this article.

(3) Where the owner of a vehicle which has been removed, or both removed and stored, in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations shows to the satisfaction of the road authority or the Commissioner, as the case may be, that immediately before its removal the vehicle was unlawfully parked while being used by a person other than the owner and that such use was unauthorised, the road authority or the Commissioner, as the case may be, may remit the charges due for the removal and for the storage of the vehicle.

(4) A charge under this article may, in default of being paid, be recovered as a simple contract debt in any court of competent jurisdiction.

PART V. Disposal of Vehicles.

8. Subject to the provisions of subsection (4) of section 97 of the Act, a road authority or the Commissioner, as the case may be, may dispose of a vehicle which has been removed and stored in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations in any manner they or he think fit where the owner of the vehicle has not claimed it or has not paid the charges due in accordance with the provisions of article 7 of these Regulations.

9. Where a road authority or the Commissioner proposes to dispose of a vehicle in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, the road authority or the Commissioner, as the case may be, shall

(1) serve on the owner a notice of intention to dispose of the vehicle or,

(2) where it has not been found possible after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the name and address of the owner of the vehicle, publish in at least one daily newspaper circulating in the area where the vehicle was abandoned or unlawfully parked notice of the intention to dispose of the vehicle.

PART VI. Disposal of Moneys received on foot of Removal, Storage or Disposal of Vehicles.

10. (1) Moneys received by a road authority on foot of the removal, storage or disposal of an abandoned or unlawfully parked vehicle shall be paid into the relevant county or municipal fund, in accordance with sections 8 and 16, respectively, of the Local Government Act, 1946 (No. 24 of 1946).

(2) Moneys received by the Commissioner on foot of the removal, storage or disposal of an unlawfully parked vehicle shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs.

(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this article, where before the expiration of the period of one year commencing on the date of the disposal of a vehicle by a road authority or by the Commissioner a person satisfies the road authority or the Commissioner, as the case may be, that he was the owner of the vehicle at the time of its disposal, the road authority or the Commissioner shall pay him a sum by which the proceeds of the disposal exceed the charges due for the removal and storage of the vehicle, together with the expenses reasonably incurred in the disposal of the vehicle.

GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment this

30th day of March, 1983.

DICK SPRING,

Minister for the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations empower the Gardaí and, in certain circumstances, a road authority to remove, store and dispose of unlawfully parked vehicles and empower a road authority to take similar action in relation to vehicles which have been abandoned on a public road or in a public car park. They replace the Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) Regulations, 1971 and the Road Traffic (Removal, Storage and Disposal of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulations, 1977.

The Regulations provide, inter alia, for an increase in the removal charge from £10 to £20 and for an increase in the storage charge from £1 per day to £2 per day. They also provide that unlawfully parked vehicles may be removed either to a place of storage or to any other convenient place.