You could by hit with €2,000 fine for using common technique to defrost car windscreen

Defrosting the car after a night of frost and ice has become a daily occurrence over the last week of freezing temperatures in Ireland.

However, a popular technique to melt the ice away could actually end up costing you thousands of Euro.

Many different hacks have been shared online in recent days to help people defrost their car quickly.

Read more: Ireland braces for ‘extreme cold’ with new Status Orange warning in place as temperatures to drop as low as -11C

One such method is to turn on the engine of the car, with many people opting to melt the ice away this way.

What some drivers may not know is that Ireland’s road traffic regulations outline that it is an offence to leave vehicles “unattended with the engine running on any public road, even in the instance that the public road adjoins a person’s property or driveway".

Regulation 87 of of the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) Regulations 1963, states that vehicles must not be left unattended on a public road with the engine running, with the engine "accessible or open" or "where doors are unlocked or where the vehicle is without a device to prevent unauthorised driving", Buzz.ie reports.

The Department of Transport previously confirmed the punishments associated with breaking this law to The Irish Mirror, with Gardaí responsible for enforcing the regulations.

The penalties for this offence, provided by Section 102 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, are:

(a) in the case of a first offence, to a fine of up to € 1,000,

(b) in the case of a second offence (or of a third or subsequent such offence other than an offence referred to in the next paragraph) to a fine of up to € 2,000, and

(c) in the case of a third or subsequent offence in any period of twelve consecutive months—to a fine of up to €2,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to up to three months imprisonment or to both a fine and imprisonment.

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