Senator Robbie Gallagher recognised that the “penalty points are designed to encourage safe driving and to reduce casualties on our roads.” The Senator detailed that “ If a person drives over the speed limit, he or she gets three penalty points and an initial fixed-charge fine of €160.”
However, the Senator highlighted “an absence of fairness” in the system. “Most drivers are careful and responsible on the roads but might occasionally be caught driving over the speed limit, for example doing 54 km/h or 55 km/h in a 50 km zone. Such drivers are clearly over the speed limit - there is no issue with that - and therefore are rightly liable to pay the penalty. However, questions arise sometimes when a careless and reckless driver who drives at 90 km/h in the same zone receives the same number of penalty points.”
Senator Gallagher called attention to California’s 4-tiered approach to penalty points. “The first tier is those driving between 1 and 15 miles per hour - as it is over there - over the limit. The second tier is anybody driving between 16 and 25 miles per hour over the limit, the third is between 26 and 100 miles per hour over the limit, and the fourth is anybody driving over 100 miles per hour. The rise in penalty depends on the level of speed. If the driver's speeding falls into a certain category, he or she gets a certain fine.” The Senator deduced that this “system has merit and deserves to be explored.”
Senator Gallagher concluded by asking the Minister for Transport to come before the House to have a discussion on this proposal. “I feel such a system would impose greater penalties on the greater offence which would surely be worth considering in the interest of fairness.”
Comments