The Government is considering going to the High Court to prevent potentially thousands of speeding prosecutions from being thrown out of District Courts due to confusion over the law.
The move follows a ruling by a District Court judge recently that a defendant should have been given a print-out of a reading from a speed radar gun to be able to mount a proper defence.
Confirmation that the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, is considering seeking clarification of the law in relation to prosecutions arising from Garda speed guns comes as road accidents claimed the lives of seven young people over the weekend.
The latest deaths bring the number of fatalities on the roads this year to 145. Last Friday the toll was 138, which was 10 more than the number who died up to the same Friday last year.
Mr Eddie Shaw, of the National Safety Council, last night called for tighter enforcement of the penalty points system, and pointed out that gardaí were seeking more resources to police the system.
High Court action by Mr Brennan would result in all speeding prosecutions in the District Court system involving the radar gun being put on hold pending a judgment.
This is the case now in some 2,000 drink-driving cases in the District Court which are awaiting the outcome of legal challenges to the Garda intoximeter used to measure alcohol concentration in a driver's breath.
In recent weeks defendants in some speeding cases have argued in District Courts that they should be given a print-out of the reading from Garda radar guns. In one case, the judge ruled that for that reason the prosecution was flawed.
It is not possible to give print-outs from Garda speed guns.
A spokesman for Mr Brennan said yesterday that the Department view was the issue was not the adequacy of the technology or actual legislation, but was more how the courts were interpreting the law.
"We will consider appealing the cases where people were successful in arguing that they should have been given a record of his speed for his defence."
"It is likely that the Minister and Department will then seek to have a case stated in the High Court for interpretation of the legislation."
The spokesman said defendants were arguing that there was no print-out of the reading from the radar gun, and the prosecution was flawed. The other interpretation was that the summons itself was proof.