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THE PENALTY POINTS system needs to be overhauled to stop serial offenders from “escaping” sanctions, the Public Accounts Committee has heard.
John O’Brien, the former head of the Garda Traffic Corps, told the committee that the current system is unsustainable for a number of reasons.
“The worst offenders escape … all you have to do is ignore the system.”
The retired Chief Superintendent said that once an offence goes to the summonses-issuing stage, “a very small percentage of summonses are served” and “even less are convicted”.
He said only 14% of cases that went to court resulted in convictions so people had an 86% chance of escaping sanctions.
A recent report into the quashing of penalty points carried out by Assistant Commissioner John O’Mahoney found that 52% of the summonses issued in respect of 178,500 cases in 2012 and 2013 were never served.
In total, notices were terminated for 42,700 offences (5%) detected in 2011 and 2012.
On Tuesday, acting Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan announced a raft of reforms of the fixed charge notice system, including that local gardaí could no longer overturn penalty points.
O’Brien noted that speed cameras had done a lot in helping reduce the number of road deaths, which dropped from 396 in 2006 to 190 in 2013.
He said that Irish roads had “come a long way” over the years, noting that over 600 people were killed in road accidents in 1972, the worst year on record.
O’Brien admitted these figures would “do little to comfort” people who have lost someone on our roads, but said it was important to note the progress that had been made.
However, he questioned the fact that “eight or ten” Garda detection cameras accounted for about 24% of all speeding detections on Irish roads while 40 GoSafe cameras detected 22% of speeding.
He also said that the GoSafe system is not “flexible” enough as people are becoming familiar with where the cameras are stationed and it is a “major exercise” to move them.
PAC Chairman John McGuinness said that the cameras were “just a waste of a resource” if they could not be moved freely.
O’Brien previously raised these and other issues in a report he compiled for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman in 2008, but said both GSOC and the Department of Justice ignored his recommendations.
He added that the photos taken when a person is caught speeding should be used to identify people who are driving company cars and trying to avoid penalty points.
An Garda Síochána’s speed camera operations were outsourced to GoSafe in November 2010 and became fully operational in March 2011.
The cost of operating the GoSafe system was €0.2 million including VAT in 2010, €15.8 million in 2011 and €15.6 million in 2012. The estimated cost for 2013 is €16.6 million.
Receipts collected in 2012 from fixed charge notices issued on foot of detections by the GoSafe safety cameras amounted to €4.6 million.
As a result, there was a shortfall of €11 million relative to the cost of the service. An Garda Síochána made up for this through money made from penalty points issued in other ways such as Garda camera vans.
GoSafe speed cameras record about 7,375 hours of driving in 727 locations across the country each month.
In April, Assistant Garda Commissioner John Twomey of the Garda National Traffic Bureau told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that the average compliance in the monitored zones by speed cameras was above 90%.
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“People are slowing down at the go system cameras because they know where they are”. Erm isn’t that the point? Saving lives?! Think the lament is on lost revenue or am I being too cynical?!
That’s how it reads.
Personally I think it it wasn’t about revenue they would have made local speed limit sensitive (dynamic) speed limiters a mandatory condition of sale of vehicles long ago. The technology is there.
There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.
It is nothing more than revenue generating ,As for the go safe company didn’t a well known business man get the contract who was a friend of Bertie.
I’d love to see the stats on what speeds people were caught at.
“There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
Probably because there is “There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport” and everyone obeys the speed limit so “In all (your) years working at the airport (you’ve) never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
I take it you are not familiar with the stretch of road that I mentioned, It starts at the major roundabout at the airport and finishes about 1 km when you come to another roundabout for the M1.
Three lanes all going in the same direction revenue generating if you ask me.
I know the road, but you are failing to link the lack of accidents with the presence of the speed van.
No speed van, people will speed and there will be accidents.
The reason you don’t see accidents is, as you say yourself, there is normally a speed van there.
speed cameras have had no effect on saving lives, cause all speed camera are on dual carridgeways and main roads, most deaths occur in the country on secondary roads.
speed cameras just as you come out of airport. N11, N4, N3, . they list these as blackspots, and maybe they were many years ago before they improved the roads, but now they are just easy targeting areas. speed limits are too low for the type of road, you spend more time looking at yer speedo than the road
If speed cameras weren’t about raising revenue then the system would be changed to average speed cameras. Instead of people speeding along the road then slowing down where they know there is usually a van the speeding back up, people would actually have to obey the speed limit on the entire stretch of road.
Also the fact that fpc notices are not sent by registered post is a joke. You can simply say when summonsed that you never received the original charge notice and had no way of knowing you needed to pay and take the 2 points. Judges are copping onto this now and not taking it as a defence, but what if you actually didn’t receive the notice?!! I know people that have appealed to high court after district court didn’t take the above as a defence and it was overturned on appeal
Surely the judges have to take denial of receipt as a defence. The burden of proof is on the state, no? “Prove I received it. You can’t? Ok – see you later.” Shouldn’t have to appeal it at all.
You’d think that wouldn’t you?! But just in the same way a guard can pull you over if he thinks he saw you hold your phone, if it goes to court you pretty much have no defence. A judge will always take the gards word over the member of the publics.
Sending penalty charges by registered post would solve the problem over night. But it’s a broken system from the ground up.
Ignoring lots of this government theft (aka taxes and fines) works. Try it. I’ve stood up to many solicitors and guards ad they back off.
Oh not a popular point of view I see. It is however true that if you go to court for some of these offences they are struck out because a lot of people are being fined because they accept & admit to it. Due process has been replaced in these cases until you stand up for yourself. If you go on youtube you will see how many ways its possible to overturn these offences unless you are doing stupid kmh.
So give people ways to endanger lives without fear of penalty, well done
Endangering lives, don’t talk such manure. Speeding does not kill, bad driving does. You could drive past a ‘gosafe’ van in a with no tax, no insurance, no driving licence, no nct, no brakes, bald tyres, off your tits on coke, speed and LSD, with a boot full of explosives and corpses and as long as you’re watching your speed, you’re safe???
Half tempted to try that out
LIES AND LET ME TE YOU WHY….if speed checks and cameras were about safety they would be highly visible and also people should be given well advanced warnings of where they are like in other countries example on the raidio etc. At the end of the day it is should be about getting people to slow down rather than given points and a fine.
The ultimate aim is to get gossfe to be allowed ti setup anywhere. This will ensure max revenue generation as it basically will be shooting fish in a barrwll hiding and been around corners where speef changes suddenly.
This whole Gosafe as so many know are usually where there is max revenue generation but no crashes etc.
Or you could just follow the speed limits.
Or the yellow. Rick road
How come I don’t see the guards at obvious black spots. There’s a stretch of road near where I live that has a sign saying black spot on it that’s totally dangerous. I’ve never seen a guard there yet on a slip road coming off a motorway nearby which is a three laned mile long downhill bit where they always are. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.it just doesn’t seem to make sense.
Because we have enough Gardai to pull them away from all duties to stand at a Black Spot sign
another money grabing exercise from a pack of no hopers come trhe next election
I honestly dont think speed cameras are having much of an impact on road deaths.They are placed in areas where the roads are 3 and 4 lanes wide with ridiculously low speed limits.its entrapment at best.The M4 at liffey valley being a prime example.Its four lanes wide with a speed limit of 80km/h (think it used to be 60!!) as you come up off the M50 and I for one in all my years driving into work have never seen anything other than a brushing of bumpers on this stretch of road.Id be very surprised if theres ever been a death there since it was upgraded.Its absolutely crazy that such a stretch of road should be subject to the same speed limits you can find down most country lanes where alot of these fatalities happen.How often do you hear of road deaths in the capital at all?im sure they happen but Id love to see the figures of where these accidents actually happen.Its easy to say the cameras are having an impact on road deaths when they’re placed on the widest,best lit and generally safest sections of our roads.
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