Penalty point offenders to escape being named

Thousands of motorists disqualified from driving will escape being named and shamed because of the State’s concern around invading their privacy.

The Road Safety Authority has confirmed it has been in talks with a number of stakeholders around publishing a database of drivers currently disqualified.

It is envisaged the scheme would be in place early next year, though a launch date is not yet fixed. Consultations between the RSA and the Garda, Irish Courts Service, Data Protection Commissioner and Department of Transport are ongoing around the detail of the new scheme.

The names of all drivers disqualified by the courts would be published on a central database available online. The names of the drivers would remain on the list for the duration of their disqualification.

RSA chief executive Moyagh Murdock said the names of tax defaulters, banned company directors and disqualified taxi drivers were already published by the relevant State agencies.

She believed publishing the names of disqualified motorists would reduce the scope for them to openly flout their bans and continue to drive.

The Irish Times reported earlier this week that more than 500 disqualified drivers were involved in collisions causing serious injury or death in recent years.

While 1,400 people were prosecuted for driving while disqualified last year, the numbers continuing to drive and who go undetected is believed to be much higher. The number of motorists being disqualified – after court cases or by accruing 12 penalty points – has been about 13,000 per year for the last three years, according to Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe.

“It’s already a matter of public record,” Ms Murdock said of the names and addresses of those disqualified by the courts. “We are now considering formalising that in a list so that peer pressure, community pressure and society will ensure that people who have been disqualified do not continue to drive and pose a risk to other road users as well as themselves.”

However, motorists who incur repeated penalty points and other offences can accept the points and accompanying fines without challenge, thus negating the need to appear in court. Repeat offenders can amass the 12 points needed to be disqualified without ever having to appear in court, even at the point of their eventual disqualification. It is that group whose names are set to remain private despite the names of those banned in court being named from early next year.

The RSA said the legal and right to privacy status of both groups of disqualified drivers was different under the naming and shaming plans.

"Penalty points are seen as personal to the individual concerned – inherent in the concept of penalty points and avoidance of court appearance – and can only be accessed by the recipients themselves or by others with legal authority such as motor insurers," it said in response to queries from The Irish Times.