Fines for speeding, using a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seat belt are set to double in the coming weeks, the Minister of State for Road Transport has said.
Measures to allow an increase in fines and increase penalty points would be put in place quickly as a result of the significant increase in road deaths this year, Hildegarde Naughton said.
This will see the fine for speeding increase from €80 to €160 and the fine for using a mobile phone while driving or for not wearing a seat belt will double to €120. Fines will be doubled too for other offences that put the safety of vulnerable road users at risk, such as in areas where children are travelling to school.
She made the announcement as part of a summer safety campaign with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and the Garda. The Garda, which recently announced 61 new safety camera zones, bringing the total to 1,373, is also extending road policing operations this bank holiday weekend to have more high-visibility checks at high-risk times.
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“We are about to enter a real danger time on our roads in the month of August,” the Minister said. At a time when holidaymakers use unfamiliar roads, August 2021 was the worst month for road deaths in a decade with 22 deaths recorded.
Ms Naughton said the fine increases were one tangible way to try to prevent the same carnage happening again.
Last year saw 136 people losing their lives on the roads in 123 fatal collisions. This year, post-Covid, she said the increase in road fatalities to date was “gravely concerning”. There has already been a 42 per cent increase in fatalities on the roads this year compared with the same period in 2021. Ninety-four people have died and 673 have been seriously injured.
Drug driving was being taken very seriously as part of the summer campaign, she added. “We have seen the number of detections of people taking drugs while driving has increased, also the number of checks has increased as well.”
The fine increases have been welcomed by the Road Safety Authority. Its chief executive, Sam Waide, said fines for speeding, non-wearing of seat belts and mobile phone use while driving had not increased in almost 20 years. “When you consider the fine for allowing a dog to foul a footpath is €150... you can see how fines for killer offences” were long overdue review, he said.
Road Safety Authority chairwoman Liz O’Donnell said the RSA expected popular support for the penalty increases. “Last August was appalling,” she said. “We want to avoid this year. Every opportunity we get, slow down, think of other people, if you speed and crash into a family, you can destroy their lives.”
Áine Keating, a consultant in emergency medicine at Letterkenny University Hospital, welcomed the increased fines, saying prevention is better than cure. “We see road traffic accidents day in, day out. At the worst end, it’s death and we see the devastation that has, not only on families and friends but on our department. It is very difficult to work under those circumstances,” she said.
With higher traffic volumes expected this weekend, an order has been issued to all Garda divisions in the country to increase targeted enforcement and visibility. Gardaí have analysed incidents from the past 12 years to identify the three worst times for road collisions and offences. As a result, enforcement will be targeted from 7am on Thursday to 7am on Wednesday of next week. There will be an extra focus on three periods from 3pm-6pm this coming Thursday, Friday and Tuesday.
Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman said: “There has been an alarming increase in road traffic incidents this year. We know many people will be eager to take to the roads to enjoy the remainder of the summer period, but we want people to do so responsibly. Sadly 94 families already this year have been visited by members of An Garda Síochána to be told the devastating news of the loss of a loved one.”