Know your rights:
Penalty points for driving offences
Citizens Information explains how penalty points around driving are used in Ireland:
Ireland uses penalty points to enforce the rules of the road and improve road safety. If you commit a motoring offence, and the penalty for the offence includes penalty points, your driving licence will be endorsed with one or more penalty points. Some traffic offences have other penalties, such as fines as well as penalty points.
While penalty points are endorsed on your driving licence, the points do not physically appear on the licence. Your penalty points are recorded on your driving licence record, which is held on the National Vehicle and Driver File operated by the Department of Transport.
Penalty point endorsements remain on your licence record for 3 years and must be notified to your insurance company when applying for motor insurance. Endorsements on your licence record will often lead to an increase in your motor insurance premium.
How do penalty points work?
Penalty points are recorded on your driving licence when you are convicted in court of a driving offence that attracts penalty points or you pay a fixed charge notice that was issued to you for an offence that also carries penalty points
If you get 12 penalty points in any 3 year period, you are automatically disqualified from driving for 6 months. Learner permit drivers are disqualified if they have 7 penalty points. This lower threshold also applies for the first 2 years of a driver’s first full driving licence.
What are the rules in relation to fixed charge and penalty offences?
Fixed notice penalties are issued for driving offences that attract penalty points and/or just a fine.
If you receive a fixed notice penalty, you will be issued a notice by the Department of Transport. If you pay the fixed charge fine within 56 days, you will get a further notice from the Department of Transport confirming that the penalty points will be added to your driving licence. The penalty points will be added to your licence 28 days after that.
If you do not pay the fixed charge fine within 56 days, you will get a summons to appear in the district court. If you are convicted of a driving offence in court, the court will notify the Department of Transport of the number of penalty points attached to that conviction. The Department of Transport will then issue a notification that these penalty points will be added to your driving licence 28 days after the notification date.
How long do penalty points stay on my licence?
Penalty points remain on your licence record for 3 years. Any period where your licence is out of date or you are serving a court disqualification does not count as part of the 3 years.
If you accumulate 12 points or 7 and are disqualified from driving for 6 months, the points which led to the disqualification are removed at the end of the 6 months.
But if you had more offences that had not been endorsed on your licence record by the time you started your 6 month suspension, these extra points would be added to your licence record and would remain on your licence for 3 years (from the time your licence was reinstated).
What motoring offences result in penalty points?
The Road Traffic Act 2002, as amended, legislates for motoring offences that incur penalty points. The Road Safety Authority maintains an up-to-date list of penalty point motoring offences.
Examples of how penalty points and fines are awarded.
Speeding offences: A fixed charge fine of €160, together with 3 penalty points.
Seatbelt offences: If you drive without a seatbelt or allow children under 17 years to travel in your car without a seatbelt, you will incur a fixed charge fine of €120. You must pay this fine within 28 days or face an increased fine of €180 payable within 56 days of the offence. 3 penalty points will be added to your licence if you pay the fine on time.
Motor insurance offenceS: If you drive without insurance, you will get 5 penalty points and will have to appear in court. The court can issue a fine of up to €5k and can send you to prison for up to 6 months. The court can disqualify you from driving instead of issuing penalty points.
Careless driving: If you drive ‘a vehicle in a public place without due care and attention' you can get up to 5 penalty points on your licence and a fine of up to €5k. If careless driving causes death or serious bodily harm, you are liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term of up to 2 years or to a fine of up to €10k or to both.
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