Penalty points deemed a ‘farce’ as errors emerge in speed tickets

FINE GAEL has accused Transport Minister Seamus Brennan of losing his credibility after it emerged that thousands of motorists could avoid penalty points because of faulty speeding tickets.

Two cases were struck out in Dublin last week after solicitors for accused drivers pointed to flaws in tickets issued by gardaí. The problems included the lack of mention of the 2001 act which allows for the imposition of penalty points, according to weekend reports.

Fine Gael’s transport spokesperson Denis Naughten said the penalty points system has descended into farce.

“Only last week, it was revealed that there were legal issues surrounding the use of radar guns to detect speeding motorists. And now it seems that, potentially, tens of thousands of motorists will avoid penalty points because of a manual error on speeding tickets,” Mr Naughten said.

The validity of penalties imposed based on garda radar guns was questioned last week after a District Court judge threw out a case because no print-out of the alleged speed was available to the driver.

The Department of Transport has insisted the decision will not have major implications, and amendments will be made to road traffic legislation.