RSA calls for penalty points to rise

The Government is considering an increase in the penalty points for speeding and not wearing a seat-belt, after a request from the Road Safety Authority (RSA), The Irish Times has learned, writes David Labanyi.

The RSA has asked for the number of penalty points for speeding motorists to be raised from two to three (on payment of a fine) and for a similar increase in points for the offence of not wearing a seat-belt.

If convicted in court, a driver would have six penalty points added to their licence under the proposal. Drivers with 12 points over a three-year period are disqualified for six months.

The RSA has also recommended that the fine attached to speeding be increased from €80 to €100.

Noel Brett, chief executive of the RSA, said the change was being recommended in order to highlight the problem of excessive speed with Irish drivers which, along with drink driving, is seen as a primary cause of road collisions.

"What the board of the RSA is trying to do is get back to the attitude to speeding that prevailed when penalty points were introduced in December 2002," he said.

"The board are of the view that it is necessary and appropriate to increase from two to three the number of penalty points given to drivers detected for exceeding speed limits and also to increase the fine. It will ultimately save lives and prevent injuries."

Mr Brett added that the delay in the roll-out of the new speed cameras was another reason why chairman Gay Byrne had written to the Minister seeking the points increase.

"One of the reasons the board are concerned and the chairman wrote to the Minister is the fact that it has taken so long to get the speed cameras in place. It was an action in the last road safety strategy an it is an action in this one. There is a need for an intervention," Mr Brett said.

The roll-out of a network of privatised speed cameras has been delayed. A contract was due to have been signed with a private operator before Christmas.

While fixed charges can be changed by regulation, any change to the number of penalty points applying to specific road traffic offences will require primary legislation.

"My Department is examining the new Road Safety Strategy 2007-2012 in order to determine legislative changes which will be necessary to implement the actions set out in the document. The recommendations with regard to increasing the penalties for speeding and other offences will of course be fully considered when legislative proposals are being delivered," the Minister for Transport said.

To date, the Minister has largely followed RSA recommendations. Yesterday, speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland in the context of the decision not to include a new drink-driving limit in the new strategy, Mr Dempsey said: "They [ the RSA] are the experts that advise me on road safety . . . I take their advice . . ."

Speeding and not wearing a seat-belt are the two most common penalty point offences. Up until the end of December last, some 450,610 penalty points notices had been issued for speeding and a further 45,816 issued for failure to wear a seat-belt.

Increasing to three the number of penalty points awarded for speeding would mean that the offence would then attract the same number of points in the Republic, Northern Ireland and Britain. The RSA first suggested a reweighting of penalty points in February 2007, as part of an overall package of measures on graduated licences submitted to the Department of Transport.

These proposals, released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, had originally called for the penalty points incurred for to speeding to increase to four.

Last night, Mr Brett explained why the RSA had instead opted instead to recommend an increase to three penalty points.

"First of all, there is proportionality. Secondly we were looking at regimes in other jurisdictions. You get three penalty points in the North and the UK. Their systems are different, but getting on to the same tariff would be helpful," he said.

He said that in the context of increasing the penalty points for speeding, it was also decided to increase the penalty points for the second most common offence - awarded for not wearing a seat-belt from two to three.

The Republic and Northern Ireland are working on a project for the mutual recognition of penalty points and the different penalty points applied for motoring offences in each jurisdiction is one of the major issues.

The RSA is not the only agency to recommend an increase in penalty points for speeding. The Health Service Executive has also called for an increase.