New law will allow gardaí identify owners of other EU cars

Measures allowing gardaí to identify the owners of EU-registered cars that commit serious offences on Irish roads have been signed into law by the Minister for Transport.

Shane Ross signed into law the EU directive that allows gardaí to search for the registration data of vehicles registered in other EU countries that have been involved in a variety of road traffic offences on the State's roads.

The EU Cross-Border Directive covers vehicles involved in a number of offences that have serious implications for road safety.

These include speeding, failing to use a seat-belt, failing to stop at a red traffic light, drink-driving and illegally using a mobile phone or any other communication devices while driving.

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Mr Ross said: “This EU directive will strengthen law enforcement in dealing with cross-Border road traffic offences. Currently, it can be difficult to identify who is the owner of a vehicle involved in a serious road traffic offence when the vehicle is registered elsewhere in the EU.”

He added that this process will now “make it much easier for An Garda Síochána to identify owners of vehicles from other member states and consequently enhance public safety and, we hope, save lives.”

Grants

Mr Ross on Wednesday also announced grants for pilot traffic calming schemes to three local authorities, in Clare, Cork and Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown.

In preparation for a report on the effectiveness of the new measures, local authorities are required to record speeds both before and after the implementation of various traffic calming initiatives.

“The consequences of speeding in built-up areas can be fatal. This initiative will examine appropriate ways of providing effective traffic-calming measures which do not overly rely on the use of ramps,” Mr Ross said.

“In many cases the measures will be associated with new lower-speed limits and in all cases are targeted at improved compliance with speed limits.”

The three county councils are being allocated €60,000 each for the proposed traffic-calming measures, which include build outs, chicanes bollards, road narrowing, on-street parking, and signs and lines.