Gardaí last night said it was "too early to say" how the first day of the introduction of 31 new penalty point offences had proceeded. Instead, a spokesman for the Garda press office said a full evaluation will be conducted over a "reasonable" period of time.
However, responding to a report in yesterday's Irish Times that gardaí stopping motorists have no way of knowing if they have been banned from driving for accruing the maximum number of penalty points, Minister for Transport Martin Cullen suggested this issue had already been addressed.
"There were a couple of administrative issues involved in that. But the gardaí are certainly aware of who is banned on the road instantaneously, the same as the driver himself or herself," he said. "That's the position. They are advised from the driver file."
Meanwhile, hauliers yesterday expressed anger at the imposition of a penalty point if a bus or heavy goods vehicle uses the right-hand lane of a motorway.
Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association told The Irish Times he had heard some drivers suggest they might stage an unofficial "go-slow" convoy in protest at the new penalty.