350 speeding drivers escape penalty points

Over 350 drivers in Galway avoided convictions and penalty points for speeding because summonses were not served on them by Gardaí.

The figures have been published by the Department of Justice, and refer to a three-month period this year.

Justice Minister, Frances Fitzgerald has welcomed plans by An Garda Siochana to begin prosecuting motorists for failing to present their driving licenses in Court – which is an offence under the Road Traffic Act.

Almost 2,000 Galway drivers were guilty of doing this, in many cases, avoiding penalty points as a result. Nationally, 72% avoided penalty points, and the incidents were even worse in Limerick and Leitrim, where the figure was 90%.

However, Gardaí will begin the crackdown soon, with prosecutions at multiple locations nationwide for those who fail to present their driving licences in Court.

“Enforcement and prosecution of offences in this area is critical to public safety and to reducing deaths on our roads,” the Minister said.

“There must be no way-out for anybody seeking to avoid getting penalty points, and I welcome the initiative by An Garda Síochána to commence prosecutions for failure to present driving licences in court.”

In 2014, there were 21,709 persons convicted under the Road Traffic Act of a Penalty Point offence. But, only 8,059 had their Driver Licence Number recorded on the Criminal Case Tracking System (CCTS).

The National Vehicle and Driver File is notified about the penalty points, which are then assigned to the relevant driver record, in cases where driving licence details are supplied.

Where a driving licence number is not recorded, penalty points are assigned through a process of matching with other available identification information.

It is not always possible to achieve a match and, in these cases, penalty points are not assigned.

The penalty for failing to produce your licence in a driving matter is up to €1,000 for first offence, rising to €2,000 on second and subsequent offences, and/or up to three months imprisonment for third and subsequent offences within a 12 month period.

The penalty applied on conviction in any particular instance is a matter for the judge to determine, however, so no two cases are treated the same.