Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has lit a fire under the penalty points proposal. It's about to bite. Paddy Logue looks at how the system may change driving habits.
Hours after the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, announced that he would be introducing the driver penalty points system this October the by-now customary bank holiday carnage on the roads was underway. In the days following his announcement, at the start of the August bank holiday weekend, nine people lost their lives on the State's roads.
Countless bank holiday weekends paint a similar picture. Garda statistics show that almost 7,000 road users have died in crashes over the past 15 years. Although the yearly total is slowly decreasing, more than 400 people are still losing their lives on the roads every 12 months.
It was reassuring, therefore, to hear the recently appointed Minister say he was determined that "everything available to the State is applied to make sure that people slow down and we start to save some lives."
Many would say that until now such determination has been lacking. The penalty points system got Cabinet approval in July 1998 and the Road Traffic Bill, which provided for the introduction of penalty points, was finally produced last November. Almost a year later the system is being phased in, initially without a new computer system in place. This will not be ready for roll-out until the end of next year.
But Mr Brennan wanted to "accelerate" the process and from October of this year drivers caught speeding will get two points on their licences or five points if they chose to contest the violation in court and lose. Drivers accumulating 12 points will be automatically disqualified for six months.
The non-wearing of seat belts is likely to be the Minister's next target in the new year.
While commentators in the Republic have been getting worked up about penalty points, the system has been working well in Northern Ireland for a number of years in reducing speeding offences, the main cause of fatal crashes. Chief Inspector Brian Kee of the PSNI's road policing development branch believes the penalty points system - introduced in October 1997 - has saved many lives.
"There has been a reduction in excessive speed in Northern Ireland," he says. "The number of drivers being killed has reduced over the five years. There is an overall downward trend."
There can be no absolute proof that penalty points lead to a reduction in road deaths, but police statistics seem to back up the Chief Inspector's assertion. For the year up to August 7th, 33 drivers died on the North's roads. This compares with 39 in the same period last year and 58 in the same period in 2000.
The Garda welcomes the phased introduction of penalty points from October and the force has worked closely with Mr Brennan to expedite it.
At a recent seminar organised by Nifast, health and safety consultants and organisers of advanced driver training, Inspector Con O'Donoghue of the Garda National Traffic Bureau pointed to research which shows that even slight reductions in the speed can significantly reduce the number of collisions.
Conversely, he said, it has been found that, if the average speed travelled by an individual goes up by 1 mph, collisions will go up by 19 per cent.
The Garda can claim some success in clamping down on speeders - 345,652 on-the-spot speeding penalties were issue last year, an increase of 54 per cent on 2000. But none of these drivers had any further sanction imposed on them.
In times of relative economic prosperity, there is little incentive to force speeders to mend their ways - if you can afford to buy, tax, insure and maintain a car in today's market, you can well afford to pay a speeding ticket.
The penalty points system will seek to punish repeat offenders by taking away their right to drive their cars. Drivers with penalties on their licences are also likely to find it more expensive to insure their cars.
But what about tree falling in an empty forest? Does it make any sound? If a motorist speeds undetected, what use is a penalty points system?
Martin Long of the Irish Insurance Federation believes the system can only work if it is properly "enforced and resourced". If this is the case and the cost of claims is reduced for insurance companies, we could ultimately see a reduction in the cost of insurance for motorists, Long contends.
"The IIF has always clearly stated that, if we can control and arrest the cost of claims, we can control and arrest the increase in the cost of premiums."
Long is calling on the Government to immediately introduce a dedicated Garda traffic corps to "be in the motorist's face" operating 24 hours a day 365 days a year. He also believes that a seamless computer system linking the Garda, the Department of the Environment and the Courts Service is a crucial factor in the success of the penalty points system.
Pat Costello of the National Safety Council "wholeheartedly" welcomes Minister Brennan's initiative, arguing that the penalty points system will indeed be effective.
'I think it will undoubtedly save lives," he says. "Inappropriate and excessive speeding are the major cause of fatal crashes. Any measure to combat these is to be welcomed."
He points to statistic showing that 40 per cent of all fatal crashes are caused by excessive speed.
Costello is not critical of the Government for the time it has taken for the system to be realised. "The essential components had to be gone through," he says.
The Labour Party has described Minister Brennan's phased introduction of the system as "half-baked" but, political point scoring aside, it's difficult to argue against any initiative which has the potential to make the State's roads safer and reduce the number road deaths.
The statistics in the coming years will be judge and jury.