Limit of six penalty points for new drivers

Learner and newly licensed drivers will only be allowed to have six rather than the standard 12 penalty points before disqualification under legislation introduced in the Dáil yesterday.

A mandatory new N-plate will be introduced for newly qualified drivers who will have to display it for two years after they pass their licence.

Eleven new penalty point offences will be created including the non-display of an L-plate or an N-plate, breaking the rules for roundabouts and failure to stop at a stop sign.

The Road Traffic (No 2) Bill will also increase penalty points for 17 offences including speeding, driving while holding a mobile phone, dangerous overtaking and failure to obey traffic rules.

The legislation will also allow for blood tests from drivers left unconscious or incapacitated and taken to hospital, under certain conditions, to establish consumption of intoxicants.

Introducing the Bill Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar also said learner drivers would have to have a minimum amount of certified accompanied driving. "In Ireland we still have a tendency to see the need for learners to be accompanied as something of a nuisance of some sort of technicality. International experience shows however that accompanying drivers can and should play an important role in the learning process," he said.

System overhaul
Mr Varadkar told the Dáil the main objective of the Bill was to develop graduated driver licensing for learners and newly qualified drivers, to overhaul the penalty points regime and strengthen the provision for testing for driver intoxication. There had been great achievements in reducing the number of road fatalities. "At the same time we need to build on these achievements and push harder to increase safety."

Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Timmy Dooley said there were 485 people seriously injured in traffic accidents last year, which left people with life-shattering illnesses. A reduction in fatalities and such injuries "will be brought about only by ensuring resources are in place to enforce the current rules of the road" and he said roads with high traffic volumes had to be upgraded continually.

Sinn Féin spokesman Dessie Ellis expressed concern about the requirement for certified accompanied driving. He said proper professional training "presents a financial barrier to many in a time of great difficulty". He pointed out that "if someone who is currently unemployed wanted to learn how to drive, the expense of paying for lessons could easily be out of their reach".

Members of judiciary
Independent TD Clare Daly said it was appropriate the legislation was being introduced as the Comptroller a Auditor General's report was published, which highlighted the problems with penalty points.

Ms Daly said “hundreds of terminations relate to vehicles caught for points on multiple occasions, including at least three members of the judiciary in this category.”

She said there was a problem with the penalty points system if members of the judiciary have points quashed and then adjudicate on the cases of others.