Fines for 16 road safety offences — including speeding, not wearing seat belts and mobile phone use — are set to double from Thursday.
Three new fixed-charge notices will also come into force in the new year, relating to the misuse of a disabled parking permit (€200), illegally parking in an electric charging bay (€80) and breaching a HGV ban and entering a specified public road without a valid permit (€200).
Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton made the announcement at the Road Safety Authority (RSA) annual conference in Croke Park on Wednesday.
Speeding fines will increase from €80 to €160, while fines for mobile phone use, non-wearing of seat belts, and failing to ensure that a child is properly restrained will rise from €60 to €120.
The fine for a learner permit holder driving a vehicle unaccompanied by a qualified person will increase from €80 to €160. Novice and learner drivers not displaying ‘L’ or ‘N’ plates, or tabards in the case of motorcyclists, will see their fines doubled to €120.
Speaking at the RSA conference, Ms Naughton said there have been 123 people killed on Irish roads so far in 2022, an increase of 12 on this day last year.
“In response to the increase in road deaths this year, this summer I announced that I was bringing forward the implementation of Action 30 in the Road Safety Strategy to review the penalties for serious road traffic offences and said that I intended to increase the fines for those offences that significantly contribute to road deaths,” she said.
“Last week I signed the necessary regulations, which will double the fixed charge penalty for a total of 16 high-risk driving offences including speeding, use of a mobile phone while driving, failure to wear a seat belt or use an appropriate child restraint, and unaccompanied learner driving.
“This increase will come into effect after midnight tonight [Wednesday]. These fines have not increased since they were introduced, in some cases almost 20 years ago. Increasing fines for road offences will act as a stronger deterrent to those who choose to break our life saving rules of the road.”
Liz O’Donnell, chairperson of the RSA, said speed continues to be a contributory factor to fatal collisions in Ireland and that she commended the Minister’s decision to double the fines for drivers who “break life saving rules of the road”.
“It is timely as we head into a high-risk bank holiday and should help put us on the path to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50 per cent by the end of the decade,” she said.
While the fine for 16 road traffic offences will increase to either €120 or €160 on October 27th, if a driver fails to pay the fine within 28 days, it increases to €180 or €240.
Failure to pay after a further 28-day period will see the fine increase to €240 or €320.
