The Road Safety Authority has said it welcomes the continuing roll-out of stricter penalties for serious road traffic offences, with drink drivers facing a minimum ban of one year from this month.
Mandatory alcohol testing has been in place for nine months under the Road Safety Act 2006, while yesterday the legislation saw the expansion of the penalty points system to cover 36 road traffic offences.
The new range of offences focus on driver behaviour with particular attention to dangerous overtaking, failure to obey traffic lights, stop signs, yield signs, and crossing centre white lines on roads.
There have also been specific changes in relation to disqualifications issued following court convictions, including:
Chief executive of the RSA Noel Brett said changes had also been made to the process of getting one's licence back after a disqualification. Now, only those who have not been disqualified in the preceding ten years can apply for a reduction in their disqualification period.
Drivers who were disqualified for two years or more will be allowed to apply for the removal of a disqualification, but those with shorter disqualification periods will have to serve them in full.
"No longer will disqualified drivers be able to get their licences back as quickly as before," he said.
The RSA said there had been 10 fewer fatalities on Irish roads so far this year compared with the same period in 2006.