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Clampdown on souped-up cars 15.01.10

YOUNG drivers in Inishowen who spend money on souped-up exhausts and tinted windows could be wasting their cash as new rules come into force.
The Government has announced a crackdown on 'boyracers' that includes restrictions on the darkness of car windows and decibel levels of exhaust pipes.
Senator Cecilia Keaveney welcomed the measures saying they would help communities that have been "terrorised by boy racers roaring through their towns and villages".
“I am delighted that these new measures include restrictions on certain modifications boyracers usually subscribe to, such as window tinting and exhaust manipulation.
“Vehicles will be required to have a level of noise no greater than 99db and glass in the windscreen and front side windows will also be subjected to tests. Cars that do not pass the tests will be deemed unroadworthy," said Senator Keaveney.
Senator Cecilia Keaveney visits the new NCT centre in Carndonagh where she meets NCT managing director Grant Henderson, Michael McLaughlin, site owner; Peter Shiels, NCT property manager; Aidan Donaghey, manager of the NCT centre and Pauric Judge, NCT North West Regional Maintenance.
“Boyracers like the mystery that tinted windows can provide but it is important, in the interests of safety, that other road users are able to see what way a driver is looking. It also means that these drivers are identifiable to people as they drive past, most importantly the Gardaí.
“The noise from modified exhausts can be very intimidating for people and I know many people who have been haunted in their own homes by people roaring past at night time with doctored exhausts.
The measures will be introduced as part of the NCT test this April.
"The authorities have flagged the changes well in order to give car modifiers time to make the necessary changes to their cars. I hope that the introductions of these measures to the test will make some of the drivers with modified cars realise that the things they do to their cars have consequences for other people,” added Senator Keaveney.
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