Fines for driving offences such as speeding, using a phone or not wearing a seatbelt are set to be doubled in a matter of weeks, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport has said.
Fixed fines for drivers who don’t use their seatbelts or use their phones while driving have been increased from €60 to €120, while those who are caught speeding now have to pay €160 instead of the customary €80.
Fines will also be doubled for other offences that put the safety of vulnerable road users at risk.
The announcement was made at the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána’s mid-summer road safety appeal, which urged road users to drive safely and slow down as the peak summer holiday season gets into full swing.
Over the next weeks, there will likely be more traffic as travellers and vacationers use the roadways during a “high-risk time.”
With an appalling total of 22 deaths in August 2021, it was the deadliest month in ten years.
Minister Hildegarde Naughton said these road traffic offences put drivers, pedestrians and cyclists at risk.
“Increasing fines for these offences will act as a stronger deterrent to those who break our lifesaving rules of the road,” the Minister of State at the Department of Transport said.
The changes were announced at the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and Garda mid-summer road safety appeal.
There has been a 42% increase in deaths so far this year – with 94 fatalities and 673 serious injuries to date in 2022.
Minister Naughton said she is “gravely concerned” about the number of deaths so far this year.
This year alone 100,000 such offences had been committed, which was “simply not acceptable”.
Ms Naughton said the Government wanted to act quickly, which was why this morning 61 new speed camera zones were also rolled out across the country, bringing the total number nationwide to almost 1,400.
RSA chairperson Liz O’Donnell said: “All of us have a responsibility to stop this upward trend in road crashes.
“There are too many people being killed and seriously injured and we must act to prevent more families from going through this trauma.”
The RSA will launch a new campaign to highlight the so-called speed fallacy where drivers believe speeding saves time on a journey “when in fact the time savings are miniscule, a minute or two at most on an average journey”, O’Donnell added.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Paul Hilman said gardaí will continue to enforce road traffic laws. The force is committed to “targeted enforcement and increased Garda visibility on our roads”, she said.
More than 88,000 drivers were caught speeding so far this year.