5% of cars not taxed or insured
A two-hour exercise conducted using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology on the M6 motorway two weeks ago scanned 465 passing vehicles, with 25 alerts highlighting potential tax and insurance issues. Gardaí said the results were provisional, but highlighted the scale of the problem and the capability of the new technology to spot cars that should not be on the road.
The Garda Traffic Corps has 104 vehicles with the ANPR equipment on board. However, a further 30 vehicles are to be equipped with the technology, which also comprises a laser, speed-detection device, in the coming months. The technology reads licence plates on the roads in real-time thanks to on-board scanners, negating the need for slow and expensive checkpoints.
It has also been used to register false number plates and since its introduction nine months ago has resulted in a number of criminal arrests.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Kevin Ludlow said gardaí were planning more-focused deployment of the technology as they compiled data on the overall level of untaxed and uninsured vehicles.
Gardaí also revealed that work on introducing a new digital tachograph is continuing with a view to better enforcement of drivers’ working hours in heavy goods vehicles.
The laptop-based system will be used to measure possible driver fatigue and gardaí said they were consulting with the Irish Road Hauliers Association and the Police Service of Northern Ireland ahead of the opening of three new motorway roadside service stations in October this year.
Gardaí also revealed that additional kits for those forensically examining the scenes of motor accidents were being provided, while 22 forensic examiners are being trained to complement the existing 21 trained staff, with a further cohort to be trained in May.
Meanwhile, cyclists in Dublin, who commit road traffic offences like breaking red traffic lights will face a major crackdown over the coming months, where they will face a possible court appearance if they repeat such offences.
Chief Supt Aidan Reid, who oversees traffic in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, said the overwhelming majority of fatalities between 5pm and 8pm were pedestrians and cyclists, while those between 1am and 4pm were almost exclusively occupants of vehicles.
Later this week, motorists in Dublin will be targeted as part of Operation Lockdown which will see early-evening checkpoints located at 16 routes within the Royal and Grand Canals and a further 16 routes outside this cordon in advance of the bank holiday weekend.
Similarly, Operation Surround, will see gardaí implement a series of late-night checkpoints on all major approach roads to key suburbs where people socialise such as Swords, Blanchardstown, Tallaght and Blackrock.
