LAST UPDATE | 27 Oct 2022

FINES FOR 16 road safety offences have doubled since midnight.

The change sees fines for speeding and learner drivers travelling unaccompanied double to €160, while the penalty for drivers caught using a mobile phone doubles to €120. 

Similarly, the fine for not wearing a seatbelt doubles to €120, as does failing to ensure that a child is properly restrained in a car.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton has also announced that three new Fixed Charge Notices will come into force in the new year.

These relate to the misuse of a disabled parking permit, illegally parking in an electric charging bay and breaching a heavy good vehicle (HGV) ban by entering a specified public road without a valid permit.

The measures come as the death toll on Irish roads this year hits 122, an increase of 11 people compared to the same time last year. It is also an increase on 2019′s figures. 

“In response to the increase in road deaths this year, this summer I announced that I was bringing forward the implementation of Action 30 in the Road Safety Strategy to review the penalties for serious road traffic offences and said that I intended to increase the fines for those offences that significantly contribute to road deaths,” Naughton said. 

“These fines have not increased since they were introduced, in some cases almost 20 years ago. Increasing fines for road offences will act as a stronger deterrent to those who choose to break our lifesaving rules of the road.”

Liz O’Donnell, Chairperson of the Road Safety Authority, welcomed the new penalties, adding that research, such as from the World Health Organisation, had estimated that a 5% reduction in average speed could result in a 30% reduction in fatal collisions.

She said that analysis of data from coroners showed that “one quarter of driver fatalities with a record of their actions available were exceeding a safe speed”.

O’Donnell pointed to recent research conducted by the RSA which found that a third of drivers admitted to exceeding 50km/h speed limits by more than 10km/h “at least sometimes”, while the same research found just under a third of drivers reported exceeding 100km/h speed limits by more than 10km/h “at least sometimes”. 

“This behaviour is concerning and that is why I want to commend the Minister’s decision to double the fines for drivers who break lifesaving rules of the road,” O’Donnell said.

“It is timely as we head into a high-risk Bank Holiday and should help put us on the path to reduce deaths and serious injuries by 50% by the end of the decade.”