The New South Wales Government is moving to make sure that cars that have been written off stay off the road.

The plan is aimed at stamping out a practice known as car ‘rebirthing’, where write-offs are repaired using stolen parts.

Transport Minister David Campbell says the ban on re-registering write-offs will help curb theft and protect drivers from unsafe repair jobs.

“Too many of these vehicles are doctored up in backyard chop shops and are dangerous when they are brought back on the road,” he said.

About 36,000 vehicles are written off in NSW every year. Fourteen-thousand of them are repaired and end up back on the road.

James McCall, from the Motor Traders’ Association says 60 per cent of those re-registered vehicles are dodgy.

“Some of these vehicles are death traps,” he said. “They endanger the lives of consumers in NSW.”

New South Wales is the first state to make the move. The Government says it’s reaching out to the other states and territories to get them on board to stamp out the problem nationwide.

“I expect that will lead to some criticism but i don’t apologise for it,” Mr Campbell said.

One group that stands to lose from the legislation is the insurance industry. Insurers will only be able to recoup money from selling the parts from write-offs, rather than the whole vehicle.

From August, write-offs will be crushed and entered onto a register.