Almost 23,000 incur penalty points since November

Nearly 23,000 motorists have received penalty points since the system was introduced last November, figures released today show.

The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, also announced that, from next week, motorists convicted of driving without insurance will receive five penalty points in addition to any fine imposed in court.

He said this increased penalty will send out a "clear signal" to the five per cent, or 80,000 drivers, who are uninsured that they "are gambling with losing their driving licence and high premiums when they do insure".

Mr Brennan added that accidents involving uninsured drivers were costing the insurance industry an estimated €50 million a year.This cost was being passed on to law-abiding motorists in the form of higher insurance premiums.

The statistics from the Department of Transport also show that the number of road deaths has dropped by 22 per cent in the past seven months since points began. A total of 180 people have been killed since last November, compared to 231 in the corresponding period in the previous 12 months.

Since the beginning of this year, 135 people have been killed on the roads, which is 19 fewer than for the same period in 2002. There has also been a significant reduction since in the number of people who suffered serious injury and minor injury in road accidents.

Of the 22,969 drivers who have incurred penalty points, 22,570 have received two points; 379 have four points; 18 drivers have six points and two drivers have accumulated eight points.