Large numbers of disqualified drivers still not surrendering licences, says road safety group

Large numbers of disqualified drivers are still not surrendering their driving licences with their designated driver number, making it difficult for gardaí and insurance companies to determine that a ban is in place.

That is according to the civil society group Parc which has compiled a league table of the number of disqualified drivers, by county, who have simply failed to hand up their driver numbers to the courts and return the licence to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Over the two year period 2022-2023, just six out of 232 drivers in Co Carlow surrendered their licences on being disqualified by the courts. The number was four in 2022 and this fell to two in 2023. Over the two years this represents a compliance rate of just 2.6 per cent.

In Dublin city and county there were 4,708 disqualification notices issued in 2022-2023 but just 154 people, or 3 per cent, complied with their legal obligation to send their licence back to the RSA.

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Under normal circumstances a driver on being disqualified by a court, should produce their driving licence so its driver number may be noted by the court. The licence is then handed back to the defendant or their legal representative, to facilitate 12 day period in which an appeal may be launched.

Should no appeal be launched or an appeal be ultimately unsuccessful, the law requires the licence be returned to the RSA.

However, the RSA has previously told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that to police such an arrangement, and to prosecute disqualified drivers for not returning their licences, the RSA would have to have staff in every court which deals with motoring offences.

New Garda hand-held devices which can scan insurance discs and licences can tell if the driver is insured or has a licence, but without the driver number being recorded by the courts the is not accessible record available. “The hand held devices do not give access in real time to the National Driver File, so even if the courts have recorded a ban, it may not be visible,” said Parc’s Susan Gray.

According to the league table just seven out of 230 banned drivers in the two year period 2022-2023 surrendered thier driving licences in Co Longford. The figure for Leitrim was six out of 90.

Ms Gray said the organisation has been seeking figures since 2017 on the number of drivers who were prosecuted for not returning their licences but has still not been given the figures. “It is an offence but one they wont give us figures on,” she said.

Just seven banned drivers out of 303 surrendered their licences in Co Monaghan; while in Co Laois the number was 13.

In Kildare just 42 out of 793 drivers surrendered their licences in the two years to December 2023.

Catherine Murphy TD for Kildare North who tables a Parliamentary Question to secure the release of figures for those disqualified drivers who fail to return licences, said the numbers were disturbing.

“You would have thought that once somebody was disqualified the system would automatically reclaim their licence.”

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