Motorists will face up to five penalty points on their driving licences when a number of new offences are introduced next month.
From May 1st, motorists will face five penalty points for driving a dangerously defective vehicle and five points for driving without a certificate of roadworthiness.
Driving a vehicle without fixing a fault uncovered during the NCT test will attract three penalty points.
Truck drivers who hit an overhead bridge will also face three penalty points on their licences. There were more than 700 such collisions between 2001 and 2006 and repairs cost some €25.5 million.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has approved the measures, which take effect on the next bank holiday weekend.
“We are going to introduce these five new penalty point offences because it makes good road safety sense to do so. Driver behaviour is improving all the time and with that we are seeing fewer people dying our roads in recent times,” Mr Dempsey said.