The significant increase in road traffic offences recorded in the latest Garda Síochána annual report shows the public is not listening to the road safety message, the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said.
Speaking at the Garda Representative Association annual conference in Galway last night, Mr McDowell said the sharp rise in road traffic prosecutions revealed in the Garda Síochána annual report for 2005 meant it was clear large numbers of motorists were breaking traffic laws.
Enhanced enforcement ahead of the recent introduction of new fixed-penalty system had led to more than 350 people a day receiving penalty points in the first month of the new fixed-penalty system.
Twenty-eight new Garda vehicles were commissioned and an additional 240 officers recruited to enhance enforcement ahead of the introduction of the system.
The annual Garda report for 2005, issued yesterday, revealed a sizeable increase in recorded traffic offences with a growth in general traffic offences of 32 per cent in 2005 with a 10 per cent increase recorded in drink driving-related offences.
Insurance offences recorded an increase of 12 per cent, driving licence offences were up by 16 per cent with an increase of 12 per cent in recorded tax registration offences.
An increase in Garda attention being paid to heavy goods and similar vehicles led to an increase in road transport offences 51 per cent.
There are currently 600 dedicated traffic officers patrolling the Republic's roads in both marked and unmarked cars.
