Motorists speeding up to 30km/h over limit may face 7 penalty points

Drivers caught speeding at between 20 and 30 km/h over the limit could get seven penalty points and a €200 fine, according to proposals from Minister for Transport Shane Ross.

The changes have been put forward because Mr Ross believes the current system of flat penalties does not provide an adequate deterrent.

Mr Ross told RTÉ Radio's News at One programme that "speed is a killer."

He said the idea behind his proposals “is that the faster you go the more points you get”.

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“The current system is a flat rate, flat fine and it obviously isn’t deterring enough people, we’re having a large number, absolutely appalling number of people being killed as a result of speed,” Mr Ross said.

“We have got to discourage and prevent and inhibit people speeding irresponsibly. The number of fines for speeding is absolutely enormous but we’ve got to bring down the deaths. That’s what’s wrong, too many people are being killed.”

Under the plan, drivers travelling up to 10 kilometres above the speed limit would receive between three and five penalty points and an €80 fine.

Drivers detecting travelling at speeds between 10 and 20 kilometres above the limit would receive between four and six points and €150 fine.

Those travelling more than 30km/h above the limit will no longer be dealt with under the penalty points system and instead will face prosecution for dangerous driving.

Speeding is the driving offence that attracts the highest number of penalty points.

In 2017, 128,191 drivers received penalty point notices, a fall of 10.3 per cent on 2016. Almost seven out of every 10, or 67.8 per cent, of all penalty point endorsement notices issued in 2017 were for speeding.

Women drivers

Overall a total of 189,095 penalty point endorsement notices for a range of motoring offences were issued, a decrease of 4.9 per cent on the previous year.

According to the latest data from the CSO, women drivers were more likely to incur penalty points for speeding than men.

Some 74.3 per cent of penalty points handed to women were for speeding, while just 65 per cent of penalty point notices issued to men were for speeding.

The changes proposed by Mr Ross would represent a considerable ramping up of the penalties for errant drivers.

The current penalty for speeding is three points, rising to five if the motorist opts to contest in court and loses.

There is also a fine of €80 which rises to €120 if not paid in the first 28 days. Following this a district court may impose summary fines of up to €5,000.

Any driver who receives 12 penalty points in a three-year period is automatically faced with a six-month driving ban.

For probationary or novice drivers the disqualification threshold is seven penalty points.

Last year road deaths fell to 156, a sharp fall from the 186 deaths in 2016, and the lowest annual death toll since records began in 1959.

The number of people killed on the roads up to December 11th was 149, according to provisional figures from the Gardaí released on Tuesday.