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AN OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE reviewing the penalty points system, has recommended higher points for mobile phone use while driving.
Chairman of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, Tom Hayes, TD, said the introduction of the penalty points system ten years ago made a major contribution to improving safety on Irish roads. He said:
The Minister for Transport tasked our Committee with considering carefully the recommendations of a review to the points system conducted earlier in the year. It emerged from our discussions that use of mobile phones is viewed as particularly dangerous by road users and accordingly, the Committee supports the recommended 4 penalty points for the offence.
Hayes said it was best, on balance, not to have graduated penalty points based on speeds in excess of the limit until speed limits have been reviewed.
“For instance, it appears that there is a default speed limit of 80km/h on many narrow, winding rural roads, which are often totally inappropriate,” he said.
The committee also said that in the case of less serious speeding offences, consideration might be given to lowering the lifespan of the points to two years.
Hayes said committee members also agreed that visible Garda enforcement was the single most important factor in ensuring driver vigilance and it was recommended that the points systems north and south of the border should be aligned.
However the committee suggested that penalty points should not be extended to include non-traffic offences.
What do you think about increasing penalty points for drivers using their phones? Tell us in today’s poll…
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re nu7. of course martin should be gone along with any of the others who sat around the table with his mates bert brian ect. these are the people who got us into this mess.
That John Perry fella just has to go….do the right thing man, fess up and sort out your biz for cryin out loud
If John Perry has to resign as TD then so does Mick Wallace and James Reilly, can’t force one to go and ignore the other too
conor u know we dont do that kind of thing in Ireland that wood only happen in other Countrys.
Well, the NSA has to prove that their actions are useful, so why not invent a BIG situation and when it does not happen say ‘Well thank God we listened in to all those conversations because we managed to stop an huge terrorist activity in the middle east against our interests’…. Who is kidding whom?
Perry has his Ballymote Costcutter Supermarket leased. How will Danske Bank’s possession affect that? What other properties have been taken by the bank?
Australian election still not news.
Hi Conor, it is news, and we will be covering it on the site shortly, if you would like to check back.
You’re right, it’s not news. In the same way that an election in Ireland or UK or any number of countries would not be news in Australia.
To the 48000 odd followers of the Prophet [pbuh], Eid Mubarak.
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