Madam, – As a frequent commuter using the Merrion Road on my daily grind to Dublin city centre it struck me as I sat in traffic that perhaps one small contributor to improving our dire economic situation might result from An Garda Síochána “covertly” positioning themselves at the bus lane at St Vincent’s Hospital. Having made a completely unscientific survey, and extrapolating the results from a small sample, I believe it would be possible to raise approximately €14 million per annum in revenues from fixed penalty fines from non-compliant motorists illegally using the bus lanes.Assumptions in my model include one car every 10 seconds illegally enters the bus lane (a conservative estimate), that “rush hour” lasts two hours, a fixed penalty fine of circa €80 is chargeable, and of course allowing for a small reduction in transgressors at peak holiday times.
I accept that fixed penalty notices are not imposed for revenue generating purposes, but . . . – Yours, etc,