Time to end penalty point write offs in the courts, says Labour

Deputy Ahern said:

“Allowing motorists to hand over a few hundred euro to make penalty points vanish completely undermines the integrity of road safety enforcement. The High Court ruled over a decade ago that this approach is inappropriate. There should not be one law for those who can afford to make a donation and another for everyone else. It is completely unacceptable that this practice appears to be continuing in some courts.

“The use of the court poor box for road traffic offences trivialises what are serious offences. Road safety campaigners are right to be alarmed.We are seeing far too many families devastated by preventable collisions. If we are serious about tackling deaths on our roads, enforcement must be consistent and firm. We cannot have a situation where drivers with deeper pockets can simply buy their way out of the consequences.

“If we want to reduce collisions and deaths, we need enforcement that is consistent. Zero tolerance should mean exactly that. No loopholes. No opt outs. No exceptions. The courts should be reinforcing the message that driving offences have consequences. Instead, reports suggest that some courts are undermining the very principle of fairness.

“The minister must work with the judiciary to ensure this practice stops immediately. There should be a clear instruction that penalty point offences cannot be disposed of through donations to the court poor box. The law applies equally to everyone. A person’s financial means should not influence the outcome of a road traffic case.

“Road safety laws exist to protect the public and save lives. Nobody should be able to pay to sidestep them. The message must be crystal clear. If you commit a driving offence that carries penalty points, you will receive the penalty points.”