Number of penalty points in Louth drops 10%
The number of penalty points being issued in Louth came under the spotlight this week, as a new report indicated a 10% drop in the number handed last year.
The ‘ Transport Omnibus’ report for 2017, published by the Central Statistics Office stated there were 11,978 penalty point offences issued in Louth last year, compared to 13,302 in 2016.
A breakdown of the points issued revealed that of the 3,443 penalty point endorsements issued in Louth, 2,100 were handed down to male drivers and a further 1,114 went to female drivers.
An analysis of the offences committed showed that male drivers were most commonly found guilty of speeding with 1,405 endorsement notices issued to local drivers for this offence.
A further 312 were for driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone with 81 for using a vehicle without an NCT certificate, 33 for failing to wear a safety belt, 48 for driving without reasonable consideration, 38 for failing to obey traffic lights, 21 for no insurance, 16 for non-display of an L Plate, while 34 went to learner drivers who were unaccompanied by a qualified driver.
Speeding was also likely to be the most common offence for female drivers to be issued with penalty points, with a total of 868 endorsement notices in Louth for speeding.
A further 102 were for driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone with 42 for using a vehicle without an NCT certificate, nine for failing to wear a safety belt, 16 for driving without reasonable consideration, 14 for failing to obey traffic lights, 9 for no insurance, six for non-display of an L Plate, and 20 to learner drivers who were unaccompanied.