Some shocking new information came to light earlier today. What was it? Well, did you know that over 80,000 drivers in Ireland don’t actually get penalty points when they’re convicted of road traffic offenses? We bet you didn’t.
Why, you ask? Well apparently there’s a random loophole to the penalty points conviction legislature. No, we didn’t know about it either. Here’s the breakdown of what’s going on with dodgy driving and penalty points in Ireland right now.
Okay, explain to me again what’s going on with penalty points today?
Let’s make this as simple as possible. Basically, more than 80,000 Irish drivers who are brought up in court with regards to road traffic offenses are not getting penalty points on their licence.
But isn’t the deal that if you drive dangerously your punishment is penalty points? Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?
Yes it is, but there’s a legal loophole in place that is allowing motorists to wriggle out of getting their penalty points.
A legal loophole? Sounds very interesting. What does this involve?
Let’s go back to the beginning. If you’re brought up in court on road traffic offenses you’re supposed to bring your driving licence with you so the penalty points can be put on your licence. However, the summons letter that you receive from the court doesn’t say that you need to bring the licence with you.
Thus, people started copping on that if you don’t bring the licence with you (or if you just miss your court appearance) you may be fined for your actions, but you won’t get any penalty points on your licence. So in a nutshell, no licence in court = no points. Essentially, you’ll still have a squeaky clean motoring record.
Wow. What has the Courts Service done about this?
Well, in October last year new legislature was passed which would effectively get rid of the loophole. This involved changing the wording of the summons letter and updating IT services so the driving licence of offenders would be kept on file, meaning that they would have no way of escaping their penalty points.
However, that was five months ago now and none of this has been acted upon so people are still getting away with not bringing the licence to court.
How many people are getting away with it?
An exact figure is hard to pin down at the minute, but according to the Department of Transport, as of August 2011, at least 85,709 people had escaped getting penalty points on their licence.
Am I likely to get away with it?
We don’t recommend that you try. First and foremost, dangerous driving can kill you and other people, so don’t be an idiot. Secondly, the Courts Services have said that they have started work on correcting the summons letter and are currently in the process of upgrading their IT systems.
So even if you do try it, by the time you’re brought up in court chances are the rules will have changed. Don’t be stupid – always drive safe.
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