Banned drivers not giving up their licences

Only one in three drivers on 12 points are surrendering their licence voluntarily as they are supposed to do, The Irish Timeshas learned.

According to information released by the Department of Transport, of the 121 drivers currently on 12 penalty points, just 40 had handed their licence into their local motor tax office as of November 1st, as required.

The remaining 81 drivers had failed to do so, despite receiving a minimum of two letters instructing them to surrender their licence to their local motor tax office within 14 days.

Every month, the Department compiles a list of drivers who have failed to surrender their licence and sends it to the Garda. Responsibility for ensuring the licence is surrendered then transfers to them.

Any driver who accumulates 12 points over a three-year period is required to surrender their licence, and is disqualified for six months.

Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said last night the current situation was "madness" and that gardaí should collect each and every licence.

"I would take away the discretion that requires someone to surrender their licence to the motor tax office and instead change the policy so that the local Garda station is notified of every driver on 12 points.

"Then let the gardaí ensure that all licences are surrendered. It is unacceptable that so many people are ignoring this requirement," the deputy said.

"It is a very serious issue. Someone on 12 penalty points has obviously committed some very serious road traffic offences, and clearly should not be in possession of their licence once they reach that total," Mr O'Dowd said.

A Department spokeswoman said that once the disqualified drivers had been informed that they had reached 12 penalty points, and failed to surrender their licence "it is up to the gardaí to enforce the law".

A Garda spokesman was unable to confirm last night how many of the 81 licences outstanding had been surrendered.

This issue first came to light in March last year, when it emerged that gardaí stopping a motorist at the roadside had difficulty determining if the motorist was disqualified due to the accumulation of 12 penalty points as the points are not held on the licence.

The Department of Transport moved to increase the penalties for not surrendering a driving licence under the Road Traffic Act 2006 which was passed into law in July.

The offence now attracts a fine of up to €1,000 for a first offence. A driver who fails to surrender their licence for a third time in one year can face a fine of up to €2,000 and/or a jail term of three months.

As of the end of September 2007, some 469,000 drivers had accumulated 557,000 penalty points.

However, more than 120,370 drivers could not have their points applied because they do not hold an Irish driving licence.

Some 433,000 of the points awarded were for speeding; a further 44,000 were for non-wearing of a seatbelt, and over 19,000 were for driving with a mobile phone.