Penalty points save 77 lives in first year

Seventy-seven fewer road fatalities and savings of about €155 million - that is the outcome in road safety terms on the first anniversary of the introduction of penalty points which occurs today.

However about 40 people will still die on the Republic's roads between now and Christmas unless extra care is taken by drivers, the National Safety Council has predicted.

In the 12-month period since the introduction of the penalty points system on November 1st, 2002, there were 332 road deaths recorded, compared 409 deaths in the similar period in the previous year.

This represents a 19 per cent drop in fatalities. The target for the five-year Road to Safety, the Government's road safety programme 1998-2002, was just 20 per cent.

The National Safety Council (NSC) says it has estimated that as many as 346 serious injuries may also have been prevented over the past 12 months.

This represents a 21 per cent drop in the numbers of serious injuries. In 2001 the National Roads Authority estimated that the costs of a fatal collision and a serious injury were €1,297,000 and €161,000 respectively.

It calculated the 77 road fatalities and 346 serious injuries possibly prevented may have resulted in a financial saving of over €155 million.

However, according to the NSC chief executive, Mr Pat Costello, a major effort would be required to match the "dramatic reductions" in road deaths achieved in the run-up to Christmas last year.

Year on year the reductions represent an almost halving of the number of road deaths.

Just three offences out of a potential total of more than 60 currently carry penalty points. These are imposed for speeding, non-wearing of seat belts and not having insurance.

The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, initially said he hoped to have all 60 offences liable for penalty points to be in operation by the end of this year, an agenda which would have required at least five additional measures each month.

However difficulties with processing of offences - the system is still not fully computerised - led to a slower rate of implementation than initially forecast.

However, the National Safety Council says it expects the full penalty points system "to be in operation by the middle of 2004". The council says the new offences for which points will be applied will be widespread.

These include not stopping at a red light, poor lane discipline, non-compliance with stop and yield signs and a number of offences relating to vehicle safety and driver licensing.

To date 57,454 drivers have received notification of penalty points. The largest number of recorded points to an individual at the beginning of September was 10, which had accumulated to a driver in the Dublin area.

When a driver accumulates 12 points he or she is automatically banned.

Mr Brennan has been keen to ensure that reductions in deaths and serious injuries result in reductions in insurance premiums for compliant drivers. From today, Hibernian Insurance is to offer discounts of 10 per cent for its drivers who remain "clean".

Hibernian says its reductions were dependent on the release of the State's National Driver File, which contains details of points levied on each motorist.