Irish drivers will soon face penalty points unless their tyres are roadworthy

Penalty points will soon apply to drivers whose tyres are defective or non-roadworthy.

A report released today, entitled 'Pre-Crash Report on Vehicle Factors in Fatal Collisions' found that defective tyres played the biggest role in fatal accidents, being a factor in two-thirds of the collisions studied. As a result, current Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe has announced his intention to make the offence of driving with defective tyres punishable within the penalty points system, or by fixed charges. The Minister said: "To highlight how critical this is to our safety on the roads, work is currently on-going to bring the offence of defective and non-roadworthy tyres within the penalty point system. I would urge people to take preventative measures by checking their vehicles regularly and ensure they are roadworthy.”