1,000-plus drivers per month caught driving with mobiles

More than 1,000 motorists a month are being caught using a mobile phone while driving and incurring four penalty points on their licence, according to the latest report on the system.

Penalty points data up to January 31st, shows that more than 4,000 drivers have penalty points for driving with a mobile since it became a penalty point offence on September 1st.

However, the true figure is actually closer to 6,000, with the time required to update the penalty point database behind the discrepancy. Loquacious Dublin drivers, where over 1,000 drivers have been penalised for the offence, and Cork city (461) are the worst offenders.

However, the data also highlights the ongoing problem unregistered drivers present for the penalty points system.

Of the 4,016 motorists penalised for driving with a mobile phone, over 600 escaped points because they do not hold an Irish licence.

Of the 400,000 drivers given points to date, one in five, or more than 90,000 have slipped through the net because these motorists do not have an Irish licence.

In some instances these drivers are fined or charged and brought before the courts, although there is no information on how many are prosecuted.

Penalty points cannot be applied when it is not possible to identify the driver's licence number and this group includes drivers from Northern Ireland, tourists, holders of other licences driving in the Republic and Irish citizens driving under a licence gained in Britain or another country.

For some of the more serious road traffic offences, unregistered drivers account for the vast majority of those incurring points.

For example, of the 1,338 drivers penalised for careless driving, the vast majority (1,262) did not have an Irish licence. Of the 447 motorists given points for dangerous driving reduced to careless driving, 425 held licences from outside the State.

There is a similar pattern among drivers given points for the offence of "a breach of responsibilities at a crash" where 41 of the 47 drivers penalised were not registered.

In total, just under 400,000 penalty points have been handed out to speeding motorists, which is by far the most common offence.

Of this total, 74,055 points could not be imposed because the driver did not have an Irish licence. The next most frequent reason for incurring points is failure to wear a seat-belt for which over 38,200 points have been handed out.

The least commonly penalised offence is failing to stop for a school traffic warden, with just one Dublin motorist penalised for the offence.

The next lowest penalised offence is parking a car in a dangerous position. However, all three offenders in this category did not hold an Irish licence and therefore did not have points added to their licence.

The data also throws up some interesting issues. For example, 24 drivers have been awarded points for turning right on to a roundabout and all but six of these held an Irish licence, suggesting some Irish motorists find roundabouts confusing. A further five drivers have been given points for driving the wrong way on a motorway.

Seventy-four drivers have been put off the road for having 12 points and some 404 others are within two points of losing their licence.

However, the majority of drivers have just two points and there are 317,692 motorists with this total.