Sharp rise in penalty points for June

OVER 10,000 motorists received penalty points in June - almost a third of all points issued since the system began seven months ago.

But there is still an estimated backlog of 26,000 speeding detections to be processed at the Garda Fines Office in Dublin.

Figures released yesterday show 33,283 drivers received points by the end of June, compared to 22,969 by May 27.

The 33,283 drivers received a total of 34,100 notifications of penalty points. This includes drivers who have speeded more than once and received separate notifications.

The sharp rise in motorists being caught for speeding last month coincided with the worst June for road fatalities since 1998.

Transport Minister Seamus Brennan said: “Drivers should be in no doubt that if they speed or drive without insurance they will get penalty points.”

Driving without insurance - which carries five penalty points - was only introduced on June 1 and is not reflected yet in the figures.

The statistics also highlight an increase in the number of drivers contesting the penalty and drivers committing more than one offence.

If an offender goes to court and loses, the initial two point penalty is doubled to four.

A breakdown of the statistics show that:

l32,500 drivers incurred two penalty points by end of June - compared to 22,570 by May 27.

l751 drivers now have four points - compared to 379 in May.

l29 drivers have six points - compared to 18 in May.

lThree drivers have accumulated eight points - compared to two in May.

Drivers who accumulate 12 points are automatically disqualified from driving for six months.

The minister noted the increase in drivers being hit for penalty points coincided with a rise in road fatalities.

There were 37 road deaths in June, compared to 34 in June 2002.

It followed an exceptionally bad May, when 38 people died on the roads, compared to 20 in May 2002.

Despite this, Mr Brennan said that 46 fewer people were dead since November 1, 2002, compared to the same period the previous year.

Meanwhile, figures show there are still an estimated 26,000 speeding detections - including 16,000 manual tickets and 10,000 camera detections - yet to be processed.