Missing the point

The incidence of motorists speeding to respond to medical emergencies has plummeted in the last six months, according to a garda source.

This information is gleaned from the Pulse system where, theretofore, “medical emergency” was the top reason for canceling penalty points.

Today, there are far fewer records of points being cancelled due to “medical emergencies”. The fall-off in the number of incidences recorded coincides with major publicity around the penalty points issue. Either there are far fewer emergencies or else senior gardaí are no longer canceling points based on an unsupported claim that the speeding motorist was engaged in a vital endeavour.