One in four phone-use drivers get conviction

Just over one in four drivers brought to court for mobile phone breaches are being convicted, figures show.

Between the start of 2011 and the end of July this year, 26,184 motorists ended up in court after refusing to pay a fixed penalty. But only 7,326 received a conviction.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald supplied the figures to Independent TD Tommy Broughan after he asked how many drivers had failed to pay the mandatory fixed fine for the offence within 56 days and subsequently been brought to court.

Earlier this year, it emerged that fewer than one in four of the drivers summonsed to court last year for failing to pay a fixed-fine penalty notice for any driving offence were convicted.

It also emerged the courts were continuing to allow drivers to make a payment to a court poor box to avoid a conviction, in spite of Government plans to scrap the charity option.

Mr Broughan said it was very disappointing a low conviction rate was still continuing — so far this year, just 1,368 of the 4,344 drivers before the courts have been convicted.

“It seems to be difficult to get the courts system to implement the road safety rules,” said Mr Broughan.

“Driving while talking on a mobile phone is incredibly dangerous. I will be following this up with the minister over the coming months.”

Last month, a study found that one in 10 Irish motorists continues to use a mobile phone while driving, with more than 5% of drivers texting.

Since the start of August, the penalty for holding a phone while driving has increased from two points to three points, with a fixed charge of €60 that can lead to a possible €2,000 fine on conviction.

An update to the 2006 Road Traffic Act earlier this year meant that, as of May, it became illegal to use a mobile phone to send or receive a text while driving.

Ms Fitzgerald told Mr Broughan it was “unlikely” any prosecutions had yet came for hearing before the courts in relation to the new changes.