Source: CNA
The Council of Ministers today approved an amendment to the Motor Vehicles and Traffic Movement Regulations that will create a database that will record the history of vehicles involved in accidents.
According to Yiannis Karousos, Minister of Transport, Communications, and Works, in statements following the Cabinet meeting, this will provide buyers with information on the history of the car they want to buy, and prevent the re-circulation of cars that were involved in a collision and considered unfit to be repaired or deemed a "total loss"
"There are vehicles that are deemed unsuitable and are compensated by insurance companies before being sold, repaired, and re-registered. This registration will prevent this phenomenon and solve many problems, as well as buyer information issues." Karousos said
He stated that under the new regulations, the Department of Road Transport (TOM) will create a central database, which insurers, damage assessors, and repair crews will be required to update. He stated that failing to report damage would be illegal.
According to Karousos, the reported damages will include collision damage, flood, hailstorm, fire, and any other incident. The damages will be listed on the vehicle registration certificate as well.
The Cyprus Insurers' Fund, the insurer who issued the vehicle's current insurance policy, the insurer responsible for its compensation, the repairer who fixed it, or the damage assessor should update the TOM in a central database so that the history, category, and degree of damage to the vehicle is recorded, the transport minister said.
According to Mr. Karousos, the amendment would also address issues with buyer information because anyone purchasing a vehicle would know what damage it had and whether it had been in a collision.
The Transport Minister responded to a query by saying that this problem had been initially fixed for cars imported from the UK and was now being fixed for cars registered in Cyprus.
Anyone looking to buy a car will be able to use this database to see exactly the history and type of damage that vehicle has experienced, the man said, adding that insurers, damage assessors, or repairers will be required to declare it.
Also being updated is the law governing driver instructors
Additionally, Karousos disclosed that the modernization of the law governing driving instructors and driving schools, which will replace the outdated law that has governed this framework since 1968 and modernize the entire philosophy of regulating instructors and driving schools, had been approved by the Council of Ministers.
He stated that the new bill institutionalizes driver instructor training programs. Instead of the current practice, where no structured training was provided and examinations were conducted by the Department of Road Transport, these post-secondary institutions would provide training and examination to prospective new driver instructors (DOT).
There will also be an obligation for driving instructors to continue their education at regular intervals through driver training schools, and categories of driver trainers and schools will be created based on their knowledge and training resources.
A quality assurance and quality control procedure will also be included, and several antiquated regulations in the current law will be repealed, such as the regulation that prohibits a licensed and qualified instructor from providing training to a candidate driver unless he/she does so as his/her main profession, and the repeal of the right of driver examiners, i.e. TOM employees, to become instructors automatically after their retirement.
In other words, as Mr. Karousos explained, if they want to work in this industry after retirement, they must go through the same procedures to obtain an instructor's license.
The new legislation establishes a code of conduct for driving instructors.
Finally, Mr. Karousos stated that the modernization of instructor legislation is part of the strategic plan for road safety 2021- 2030.
[This article was translated from its Greek original]
