Were you one of the drivers to get off?
Just under 80 per cent of drivers summonsed to court for penalty point offences have escaped conviction in the last two years, according to startling figures released by the Courts Service for the Department of Justice.
According to the Irish Times, just under 150,000 Irish drivers have managed to escape a court conviction for a variety of reasons, including ones as simple as a summons being sent to the wrong address and claiming not to have received a fixed-charge notice in the post.
Between January 2013 and March 2015, over 147,000 drivers were summonsed to court for penalty point offences, with 77 per cent of them escaping conviction.
Kerry drivers proved particularly evasive, with 89 per cent of summonsed drivers in the county avoiding conviction (the highest in the country), compared with 67 per cent in Wexford (the lowest).
The fact that fixed-charge notices are sent by regular as opposed to registered post has caused difficulties with regard to being able to prove a driver has received a notice. Gardai have also encountered problems due to inaccurate address data and people moving house.
Measures are reportedly being taken to improve the efficiency of the penalty points system, while Tommy Broughan TD, quoted in the Irish Times, has labelled the current method “a farce”.
“This is making a farce of the system,” Broughan said.
“We’ve had ongoing difficulties over the transparency and integrity of the penalty points system. This is just another way that people are getting away without prosecution.”
