FASTER DRIVERS TO GET BIGGER SPEEDING FINES
Ross’s new plan: the more you’re over the limit, the heavier the fine
SPEEDING fines will be linked to how fast a driver was going when he or she was caught, under new proposals from Shane Ross.
The Transport Minister wants to bring in a sliding scale of penalties for speeders – with the highest fines applied to those who were exceeding the limit by the most.
The plan to replace the flat-rate penalty of €80 and three points for all speeding drivers is expected to form a key part of a forthcoming Road Traffic Bill.
A source said: ‘The wide consensus is that speeding fines should be increased by the level of speed by which you are breaking the speed limit.
‘The minister wants to stop road deaths – that is the single objective of
the proposed new legislation. The fines will be linked to motorists’ speed and the time they are clocked and are going over the speed limit.’
The move will mean that those who are caught speeding far above the limit in an area will pay significantly more than those who break it by a lower amount.
A source said: ‘There’s currently a new Bill under consideration and the minister is looking at a range of things across this new Bill.
‘One of the likely new measures is set to be graduated speeding fines. It’s being considered by Minister Ross at the minute with the hope that new legislation could move forward.’
‘The fines imposed would increase by the speed a motorist is over for the area. The further over the limit a motorist is then the higher the fine will be imposed on this.’
The Department of Transport confirmed the move to the Irish Daily Mail.
A spokesman said: ‘Proposals for graduated penalties for speeding offences are currently being developed in the context of preparing the general scheme of a Road Traffic Bill.’
Mr Ross had initially explored the possibility of introducing more penalty points for breaking the speed limit but it is understood this is unlikely to happen.
A source said: ‘The possibility that motorists who break the speed limit would be penalised more in the context of more penalty points seems unlikely now – there will be higher fines imposed on motorists if the minister can get approval for the new Bill.
‘The minister wants to stop road deaths.’
Speeding currently incurs a fixed charge fine of €80, together with three penalty points. Motorists have 28 days in which to pay their fine. If they do not, the fine then increases to €120 which must be paid within 28 days, after which time it is referred to court.
The Mail understands the new fines will not be based on motorists’ salaries as had been previously suggested by the Road Safety Authority.
Similar measures have been rolled out in the UK and Finland but the Mail understands this will not be the case when the anti-speeding measures come into force as expected next year.
In 2002 Anssi Vanjoki, a former Nokia director, was ordered to pay what was believed to be the world’s biggest ever speeding fine of €116,000 after being caught driving 75kph in a 50kph zone on his motorbike.
Mr Ross had signalled his intention to take tougher action against speeders in January when he described alcohol and speeding as ‘the two big killers on the roads’.
As part of the Government’s drive to make roads safer, a new provision that sees anyone caught drink-driving hit with an automatic driving ban came into force last week.
It came despite a long campaign of opposition from some rural independent TDs.
Previously drivers found to be just over the legal drinkdrive limit received three penalty points and a fine for a first offence rather than an automatic ban. Mr Ross announced the commencement of the drink-driving provisions of the Road Traffic Act last week.
He has described the tougher drink-driving penalty as a ‘significant step’ to clamp down on the problem.
He has said: ‘I am very pleased to formally commence these measures, which mark a further significant step in clamping down on the scourge of drink driving.
‘There are few more irresponsible and dangerous things people can do in everyday life than drink and drive.
‘It was always wrong to give people the mild slap on the
‘Wrong to give slap on wrist’
wrist of three penalty points for such potentially lethal behaviour and it is great satisfaction to know that in future people who behave this way will face a disqualification from driving for three months.’
Gardaí caught close to 150 motorists driving over the speed limit as part of its National Slow Down Day last month.
Last year, the number of road deaths dropped by 15%, with 2017 having the lowest number of fatalities on the roads since records began.
Statistics showed a total of 158 people died on the roads up to December 31, 2017. This year so far 120 people have lost their lives.
ELLEN O’Malley Dunlop, the chair of the National Women’s Council, will run as a Fine Gael candidate in the next general election.
Ms O’Malley Dunlop, who was the CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for ten years up to 2016, has been added to the ticket in the Dublin South-West constituency.
This is likely to be viewed as a major coup for the party, as the mother of four is well known in the constituency – having previously been a primary school teacher in Tallaght, while her work as a psychotherapist helped establish the St
‘Champion for elderly supports’
Catherine’s Counselling Service there in the early 1980s.
The women’s rights campaigner was approved by the Fine Gael Executive Council on Tuesday night, and will be running alongside TD Colm Brophy, who was elected to his position in 2016.
The other sitting TDs in the constituency are Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe, Independent Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone, Fianna Fáil’s John Lahart and SolidarityPeople Before Profit’s Paul Murphy.
Ms O’Malley Dunlop – who made an unsuccessful tilt for the Seanad in 2016 – last night said she was looking ‘forward to the challenge’.
She added: ‘If elected I will continue to work for legislative reform for women’s and victims’ rights, and I want to be a champion for a reformed provision of supports for our older population.’ She said she also wants Ireland to have a ‘robust 21st-century mental health service’.
This is not the first high-profile women’s rights advocate Fine Gael has added to its ranks. In recent weeks, Deirdre Duffy – campaign manager for the recent Together For Yes campaign on the Eighth Amendment – was unveiled as a candidate in Dublin Central.