Call for action on drivers using phones

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications has recommended higher penalty points for mobile phone use while driving.

The Committee also supported a review of speed limits, claiming that the default limit of 80km/h on most narrow rural roads was “totally inappropriate.”

In June, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar ordered a review of the penalty points system following the publication of a report recommending an increase in points for speeding and mobile phone use.

Although the committee agreed with the recommendation to increase points for mobile phone use from two to four, it advised against increasing the sanction for speeding “until such a time as the speed limits has been reviewed.”

The committee also believed that, in the case of less serious speeding offences, “consideration might be given to lowering the lifespan of the points to two years.” Currently penalty points remain on a driver’s licence for three years.

Committee chairman Tom Hayes TD said Irish road safety has improved dramatically in the ten years since the introduction of the points system.

Following discussions with representatives from the AA, the Road Safety Authority and the Irish Insurance Federation the committee concluded that “use of mobile phones is viewed as particularly dangerous by road users and accordingly, the Committee supports the recommended four penalty points for the offence.”

It was agreed also that visible Garda enforcement was the “single most important factor in ensuring continued driver vigilance.”

Mr Hayes added that “there was agreement with the recommendation that penalty points north and south of the border should be aligned.”