60,000 driving cases struck out as gardaí fail to issue summons

The Courts Service was forced to strike out 60,000 driving cases in the space of two years without the offender even reaching the courtroom because gardaí failed to serve the summons on the offender.

Figures from the Department of Justice confirm that, in a further 20,000 cases over the same period, the convictions were struck out in court.

The figures relate to cases in which a penalty points summons had been issued after the offender had failed to pay a fixed-charge notice.