Dangerous overtaking and failure to obey traffic lights are among 31 new penalty point offences announced by Minister for Transport Martin Cullen today.
Martin Cullen
The new offences will bring to 35 the number of offences for which motorists can be penalised when they come into effect on April 1st.
At the moment penalty points can be incurred for speeding, careless driving, non-wearing of seatbelts, and not having insurance. When the full system is in place a total of 69 offences will be in place.
Dangerous overtaking will incur two points, or five points if contested and lost in court. The offences of failure to obey traffic lights and failure to obey traffic rules at a railway level crossing will also carry two or five penalty points.
Travelling on a motorway against the flow of traffic will incur four points in court or two if uncontested. Driving on a footpath will carry one point, or three on conviction in court.
Lorry and bus drivers who use the overtaking lane on a motorway face one penalty point, or three if contested and lost in court. Similar penalties will be introduced for motorists who drive on a footpath or a cycle track.
Three new offences that require a mandatory court appearance, were announced by Mr Cullen: Driving a vehicle while unfit, parking in a dangerous position, and breach of duties at a crash.
The fixed-charge system already in operation for the initial four offences will operate, with fines of €60 if paid within 28 days and €80 if paid in the next 28 days.
Mr Cullen said 86 per cent of all road deaths could be attributed to driver behaviour. He added that the new measures would "highlight the downsides attached to dangerous and irresponsible driving".
Mr Cullen also announced a Government road safety group, comprising the Ministers for Transport, Justice, Finance, Health and Education. The group will be chaired by Mr Cullen and will also include senior government officials.
Asst Garda Commissioner Eddie Rock rejected fears that a Garda computer system would be unable to handle processing the new system. "It will be computerised and ready for operation. There is no doubt about that," he said today.
More than 291,800 drivers have had penalty points endorsed on their licenses, and 19 have been disqualified since the system was introduced in November 2001.
Today's announcement by Mr Cullen comes as the road death toll continues to mount. A total of 31 people have died on the State's roads so far this year, compared to 27 for the same period last year.
A total of 399 died on the roads in 2005, the highest toll since 2001, when the first penalty point offences were introduced by then minister for transport Seamus Brennan.
The introduction of points for speeding caused an initial dip in road deaths, which totalled 411 in 2001, 376 in 2002, and 335 in 2003. In 2004, however, fatalities rose to 374, before reaching 399 last year.