Cyprus Mail 6 February 2021 - by Vasos Vassiliou
The phenomenon of repairing a "useless" vehicle involved in a serious traffic accident and then being sold to unsuspecting buyers will end with a bill promoted by the Ministry of Transport, transport minister Giannis Karousos told "F". As is well known, vehicles which are disabled after serious traffic accidents and which should be withdrawn from traffic are compensated but then repaired and re-promoted to traffic, with the owner 'getting rid of the trouble'.
Any serious accident will be registered in a database that will be created, either by the repair person or by the insurance company that compensates the owner for the damage. Mr Karusos told "F" that it was initially decided to record the damage to the title of the imported vehicles and is now being promoted to the "locals" involved in road accidents.
In the past, the deception of buyers had taken on dimensions and the phenomenon never seemed to end, when the state decided to act legislatively. As Mr Karusos explained, in order to avoid the return of the damaged vehicles to the roads, after each accident, the vehicle's certificate of technical inspection (MOT) will be cancelled and after its repair, in order to be able to be re-released, it must be re-released by MOT to ensure that it is indeed in a state that can be released. The Department of Road Transport will cancel the MOT after being told by the traffic police. As Mr Karusos explained, in addition to seeking to end the deception of unsuspecting buyers, the safety of both the new user and his owner is sought if he does not wish to alienate it. It is understood that if the vehicle does not meet safety standards, it will not pass the MOT, then its owner will not only be able to sell it but also to release it himself, the transport minister said.
