Rise in crashes involving immigrants

TRAFFIC collisions involving foreign-registered vehicles are reaching record levels, with about 900 such accidents notified to the authorities during 2006.

Provisional estimates by the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) indicate a growing number of such accidents involve motorists from Eastern European countries such as Poland and Lithuania.

Details of accident rates involving foreign drivers came as Fine Gael transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell accused the Government of doing nothing to stop foreign motorists escaping punishment for road traffic offences.

Yesterday she expressed concern that 20% of penalty point offences detected by gardaí are not being enforced because they involve the drivers of foreign-registered cars. She claimed such vehicles would also be exempt from fines for offences detected by the new system of speed cameras due to be introduced later this year.

“The Government has not taken any steps to address this loophole in spite of the dramatic increase in the number of foreign-registered cars on Irish roads in recent years,” she said. She pointed out that foreign vehicles will also be able to escape having to pay the M50 toll when the new electronic system replaces the existing barriers at the Westlink bridge in 2008.

Although official figures are still to be released, MIBI chief executive John Casey said anecdotal evidence suggested there was an increase last year in the number of accidents involving foreign-registered vehicles on 2005’s record level of 880 collisions, itself up 10% on 2004’s figures.

However, he said the increase was largely proportionate to the growing number of foreign cars on Irish roads associated with recent high levels of immigration. Non-nationals now account for almost 10% of the population.

Official MIBI figures from 2005 show 15% of foreign motorists involved in accidents in Ireland, compared to the average of 6% among Irish drivers.

Cars registered in Northern Ireland and Britain still account for the biggest number of accidents, although they no longer account for over 50% of all collisions involving foreign cars.

Since 2004, Mr Casey said, vehicles registered in Lithuania and Poland had replaced countries like France and Germany as the next biggest groupings.