News
Drivers hit by insurance hikes for one penalty point
Motorists who get caught speeding are being hit on the treble – by penalty points, fines and a hike in car insurance premiums.
Research has shown that motorists living in Galway can be hit by an increase of up to €150 on their insurance for having a single penalty point on their licence.
One motorist, who received three points with a speeding fine in the post, told the Galway City Tribune his insurance jumped by €120 when it came up for renewal.
“I was always under the assumption that points did not affect premiums until you had in excess of four. I now have three on my licence, which I declared when my insurance was up for renewal the following month.
“I was told over the phone that it would affect my renewal quote, and it increased by €119. It was a major shock. I accept I broke the law and shouldn’t have been doing 119km/h on the Athlone bypass [where the limit steps down to 100km/h], on a motorway journey from Galway to Dublin but this was a nasty sting in the tail after paying the fine and getting the points,” he said.
Meanwhile, Galway West TD Noel Grealish has claimed that measures which should be making our roads safer are instead being used to bring in extra cash for the Government and the insurance companies.
Deputy Grealish said that the activities of the GoSafe speed detecting vans contributed nothing to safety and where they positioned themselves was like ‘shooting fish in a barrel’.
“I am accusing the Government of using the GoSafe vans as just another form of revenue raising, and they are not being used to slow down traffic in the rural countryside where there are people speeding at a dangerous rate sometimes.
“They are being used to catch people coming off motorways or other major roads where there is a reduced speed limit and they are catching them just as they are starting to reduce speed, though not quickly enough,” he said.
The GoSafe Consortium secured the €80m Garda Siochana contract to operate the network of vans in 2009 and their accounts for 2012 showed an operating profit of €50,000 per week.
And the other big winners from the speed traps were the insurance companies, he said.
“Research I’ve done showed that while some insurance companies did not penalise drivers with just a few penalty points on their licences, others hiked up their premiums for even a single penalty point.
“Some companies allow drivers to have four penalty points on their licence before they increase their insurance premium at the next renewal.
“But one particular multi-national insurance company is charging as much as €150 extra if you have just one penalty point.
“And with the increasing number of offences that now bring penalty points, it is very easy for even a usually careful driver to notch up a point or two.”
Deputy Grealish said that the research involved renewing cover online for an experienced Galway driver with a ten-year-old car.
Two of the major companies surveyed imposed no increase in premium for a driver with up to four points, another increased the premium by €50 for two penalty points and by €66 for four points, while another required phone contact for renewals with penalty points.
But one company applied an additional premium of €150.22 if the driver had one or two penalty points, and an additional €309.87 for a driver with three or four penalty points.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
