Speeding driver racks up nine penalty points in 90 minutes

A VAN driver racked up nine penalty points in just 90 minutes after being caught speeding in the Dublin Port Tunnel three times.

The unnamed driver came within a whisker of being banned from the road after he was caught by new speed cameras installed to clamp down on motorists who race through the underground route.

Had he been caught once more, he would have received 12 penalty points and would have been automatically banned from driving for six months.

As well as the nine penalty points, he will be hit with €240 in fines, although that could increase if the case goes to court. Aside from the triple offender, one other motorist was clocked at 132kph in the past month – more than 50kph above the 80kph speed limit.

The Port Tunnel brought in new speed cameras to track drivers’ average speed along the 4.5km route early last month. The new technology has caught an average of 50 speeding motorists each day since.

That amounts to 1,500 €80 fixed penalty fines dished out automatically in the cameras’ first month of operation – worth €120,000 if all drivers pay up.

While a fixed speed camera captures a vehicle’s speed at a fixed point on the road, average speed camera systems track a vehicle’s speed over a set distance.

Anyone who takes less than threeand-a-half minutes to drive the length of the tunnel faces a fine.

A spokesman for Infrastructure Ireland, which operates the tunnel, said: ‘It’s being monitored by the Garda, like any speed camera. But obviously if it acts as a deterrent to people speeding it’s good news.’

The eight high-tech cameras cost more than €50,000 each.

Motorists will not know if they have been caught by the speed cameras as they operate without ‘flashing’ cars, as the tunnel is well-lit.

A VAN driver managed to accrue nine penalty points, one offence short of losing his licence, in just 90 minutes – thanks to new speed detection methods in the Dublin Port Tunnel. He might feel a little persecuted and hard done by, but that is tough. Penalty points are a nuisance, as are the fines of €240 he faces, but nothing compared to killing someone recklessly, or maybe even killing yourself. There is an easy way to avoid points: slow down.