Motorists in Laois and Wexford have higher proportion of penalty points than other motorists

Motorists in Laois and Wexford have a higher proportion of penalty points than other Irish motorists.

Almost 20% of drivers with either a full or learner licence in both counties had been issued with penalty points within the previous three years, compared to the national average of 16%.

Other counties with above-average levels of penalty points are Clare, Limerick, and Kildare.

In contrast, motorists in Donegal had the lowest share of drivers with penalty points, with just 11.5% of the county’s driving population having an endorsement.

Figures published by the CSO, based on data collated by the Road Safety Authority and Department of Transport, show 563,673 motorists out of over 2.9m with an Irish driving licence had a penalty point recorded against them at the end of 2018.

However, the number of motorists with penalty point offences was down 8.5% compared to 12 months earlier — a decrease of over 52,400.

Irish Road Victims’ Association chairwoman Donna Price said it was difficult to interpret whether the decrease represented better driving behaviour or lower levels of enforcement.

“Gardaí reassure us that they are out there enforcing road traffic law and there’s no doubt many people have changed their driving habits but we would always say that more can be done, including in relation to enforcement.”

Latest Garda figures show the number of officers attached to dedicated Roads Policing Units had fallen from 744 at the end of last year to 648 in September.

Anyone who incurs 12 penalty points over a three-year period receives an automatic driving ban of six months. A lower threshold of seven points applies to learner and novice drivers within the first two years of driving on a full licence.

The figures show that 798 individuals, including 46 with a foreign licence, had each amassed 12 penalty points at the end of 2018.

Longford and Wexford had a disproportionately high number of licence-holders who received an automatic disqualification — over twice the national average.

On average, three in every 10,000 motorists amass 12 points, but the figures were eight and seven in Longford and Wexford respectively.

The figures show a total of 177,092 penalty-point notices were issued last year — a fall of 6.3% on 2017. Almost two thirds of offences are related to speeding.

However, there was a 12.6% reduction in the number of penalty points for speeding recorded last year.

Laois was the only county where there was a rise in the number of motorists receiving penalty points last year.

Decreases in excess of 10% were recorded in counties including Kilkenny, Cork, Westmeath, Galway, Sligo, Tipperary, Donegal, Kildare, and Roscommon.

Male drivers incur almost twice as many penalty points as females.