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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
William Dunne

Two thirds of motorists in Ireland caught speeding 'not receiving penalty points' on licenses

Penalty points may not have been given to the majority of drivers convicted of speeding offences, new figures show.

Just 34% of motorists presented their licenses when being convicted in courts across Ireland between 2017 and May 2019.

Road victims group PARC has questioned the application of the law.

It also suggested that as penalty points are not being received, would-be disqualified drivers are remaining on the road.

Spokeswoman Susan Gray said: "This shows that nobody is monitoring the situation.

"The minister is bringing in new speeding laws and he thinks his job is done. The agencies need to work together.

"If penalty points aren't being collated there will be some people who should be off the road and aren't."

Overall, 8,008 out of 12,429 people convicted did not have their licenses recorded for penalty points.

In the two-and-a-half years only 13% of speeders in Kerry displayed licenses in court, according to figures from the Courts Service released to Dublin TD Tommy Broughan.

Just 27 drivers from a total of 208 caught in Kerry, and only 196 out of 1,160 in Kildare had licenses recorded after conviction.

Four in five of those sentenced in Wicklow did present their licenses, while 68% of speeders in Wexford did so.

It's understood a number of these motorists would not have Irish licences or would not be in possession of a valid licence.

PARC's Susan Gray added to RTE that gardai are to begin using handheld devices which can check licenses.

Gardai are to begin using handheld devices which can check licenses (Collins)

The Department of Transport is said to be developing the licence record project which will provide a link between driving licences and vehicle registration numbers.

The figures obtained by Mr Broughan also showed that 21% of those summoned to court on speeding charges were convicted.

Mayo and Kerry had the lowest conviction rates with 7% and 11% respectively, while the highest rate in the country was recorded in Louth, where 30% of drivers were convicted.

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