CLARE has recorded the highest “fail dangerous” rate for vehicles doing the NCT in Ireland during the first half of the year.
Of the total number of cars tested in Clare during the first six months of 2026, 9.6% of vehicles tested failed dangerously, almost one in ten. County Meath is second behind Clare at 9.2%.
Of the 12,605 vehicle inspections performed at Ennis NCT centre during the first half of the year, 6003 Clare vehicles failed majorly while 1276 failed dangerously. Just under half of cars in Clare passed the inspection at 5326.
Clare consequently recorded the joint lowest pass rate, alongside Cavan at just 42.9%. The RSA is reminding road users that it is an offense to drive a vehicle that is deemed as having failed dangerously. Cars which received the unwanted classification will receive a sticker outlining their vehicle’s condition and owners advised to tow the car away.
New figures from the RSA revealed that almost 8% of vehicles submitted for an NCT from January till June were tested as having dangerous defects with a total of 71,308 vehicles receiving this classification. While Clare had the highest number of dangerous fails,
Across the 50 NCT centres throughout Ireland, figures of cars failing the test are at their highest ever for the first half of this year at 7.7%, in comparison with 7.6% and 7.6% in the corresponding time period of the previous two years.
The fail dangerous classification is given to vehicles that display dangerous defects that “constitute a direct or immediate risk to road safety such that the vehicle should not be used on the road under any circumstances”, during the compulsory annual vehicle inspection, the RSA state.
More than 2200 vehicles still presented serious risks to road users after being submitted for retests following their initial failure from January to June of this year. An RSA spokesperson commented on the figures, stating that “Vehicle owners need to embrace year-round responsibility for maintaining their cars, rather than relying on the NCT to identify faults”, and expressed disappointment over road users treating the NCT as “a diagnostic tool”.
