Officials in the Republic, the North and Britain are working on a system which will recognise penalty points across the borders. But it won't be an easy process, writes David Labanyi
AS ANY regular user of the M1 linking Dublin and Belfast is aware, Northern registered cars frequently ignore speed limits in the Republic while impatient drivers from the Republic do likewise once north of the border.
This is because no system exists whereby a motorist committing a penalty point offence outside the jurisdiction where they are registered can have points applied to their licence.
A guide to the extent of the issue can be seen from the fact that 156,000 penalty points have been given to drivers who do not hold an Irish licence. A significant proportion of these are drivers of Northern Irish or British registered vehicles. Because the points are not recognised, a driver with more than 12 points and disqualified for six months in the Republic can drive in the North or in Britain.
A recent agreement between the three jurisdictions will lead to the recognition of disqualifications for serious motoring offences including drink or drug driving and dangerous driving, but will not cover penalty points.
Given the volume of traffic between the Republic, Northern Ireland and Britain, the various governments have agreed to try and establish a system to apply and recognise penalty points given to non-resident drivers.
A recently released report into the challenges by the British Department for Transport - which is leading the project - shows it will not be a simple task.
It found the British and Northern Irish penalty point systems were relatively similar, but there are "significant differences between the UK and Ireland". In Ireland, 69 offences have been deemed suitable for penalty points but only 37, mostly relating to driver behaviour, have been activated. If the remaining provisions, mainly dealing with vehicle condition were introduced, the two systems would be more similar in scope, the report found.
Another obstacle is the different penalty point weightings for similar offences in the different jurisdictions. The report proposes drivers receive the points applying to a particular offence based on the country where the offence was committed.
The report said that any harmonisation programme would have to provide the option of a court appearance in the country where the offence took place, to safeguard driver's rights and deter them from ignoring the offence. Because a summons issued in such cases could not compel the driver to attend court "it would have to be made clear to the driver that failure to offer defence or make an appearance would create the presumption of guilt . . ." the report said.
The report expresses serious concern about the quality of data held on motorists registered in this State. "It is not clear that the Irish records are sufficiently robust to achieve the desired result, even for resident drivers", says the report.
According to the British report, only 30 per cent of address data held by the National Vehicle Driver File (NVDF) in Shannon is accurate. When asked to comment on the quality of the information of the NVDF the Department of Transport said it was satisfied "records held by the National Vehicle Driver File are in fact accurate and fit for purpose".
A spokesman was unable to say to what extent NVDF data is considered accurate.
Other problems to be resolved include the length of time penalty points remain on a driver's licence and the different disqualification thresholds that apply.
In the absence of an EU directive on the issue, primary legislation will be required in each of the countries to provide for mutual recognition.
One controversial aspect identified could result from drivers reaching the disqualification threshold due to offences committed in other countries which would not have put them off the road in their country of residence.
The report also seeks to estimate the number of offences per annum in each jurisdiction. It suggests penalty point harmonisation could lead to an additional 9,000-29,000 enforcements across the three jurisdictions per annum.
Given the complexity and size of the project, the report says 2013 is the earliest possible implementation date. However, senior road safety figures in the Republic believe the introduction of such a system could take considerably longer.