Over 345,000 drivers have penalty points

More than 345,000 drivers had received penalty points up to the end of September, though 20 per cent of these - some 71,281 - could not be allocated because it was not possible to identify the driver's licence number.

Latest figures reveal that 262 drivers are on 10 points and 35 have already reached the disqualification total of 12.

Cork has by far the highest number of drivers on 12 points with 11 so far. The next highest total is in Dublin where six drivers have been disqualified.

This data includes the 31 new penalty point offences introduced on April 3rd when the system was computerised. There are currently 36 penalty point offences.

However, it does not yet include details on mobile phone use, as this offence was only added to the list of penalty points at the end of July.

Drivers have 28 days to respond to a penalty point notice, meaning it will be next month at the earliest before these offences will show up.

A spokesman for the Garda Traffic Bureau said last night that around 260 drivers are caught for this offence each week.

The figures also show that a massive 20 per cent of all penalty points, 71,281, could not be allocated because it was not possible to identify the driver's licence number.

This category includes drivers from Northern Ireland, tourists, holders of other European licences driving in the Republic and Irish citizens driving under a licence gained in Britain or another country. These drivers are escaping penalty points for some of the most serious offences.

Of the 979 penalty points allocated for careless driving, 927 were allocated to motorists with no driver number. Of the 309 points allocated for dangerous driving reduced to careless driving, 289 were motorists without a driver number.

This category of driver also attracted the vast majority of penalty points for driving without insurance.

Yet of the 3,642 points issued to uninsured drivers, only 188 could be allocated.

Of the 355,575 penalty points issued for speeding, more than 60,000 were given to drivers with no licence number in this jurisdiction.

A spokesman for the Road Safety Authority said the no driver category issue was a recurring problem.

"There are a large number of drivers out there to whom penalty points cannot be allocated because they are using a licence from outside the jurisdiction.

"This is the same problem faced by every country in Europe because there is no penalty point harmonisation.

"In the Northern Ireland context, there are negotiations ongoing at British-Irish Council level on mutual recognition of penalty in both jurisdictions," he said.

Despite these figures, every single driver caught going the wrong way around a roundabout had their points applied, meaning they cannot use the excuse of being a tourist.

Since July, 11 penalty points have been issued to drivers for this offence.

Drivers on full licences accounted for over 70 per cent of penalty points with provisional licence holders receiving 8.3 per cent.

The vast majority of drivers - 280,000 - have accumulated just two penalty points, with a further 48,000 having four penalty points. Just under 11,000 motorists have either five or six penalty points.

Only 8,630 drivers have accumulated six penalty points or more. Just under 1,500 having either seven or eight penalty points.

To date, 448 drivers have been penalised for not having an adequate restraint on their child while driving. A further 2,716 drivers have received points for not ensuring their children were wearing a safety belt.

Just under 32,000 drivers have got points on their licence for failing to wear a seat-belt, the second biggest category after speeding.

Parking a vehicle in a dangerous position is the least frequently applied penalty point offence with just one driver identified for this offence. However, as he or she was in the "no driver number" category they did not have the points put on their licence.

Unsurprisingly, drivers in Dublin are most likely to receive penalty points.

However, drivers with an address in Co Leitrim are least likely to be penalised, with just 1,557 getting penalty points.