AA Proposes 'Parallel Record' to deal with Non-National Licences
Recent figures from the Road Safety Authority show that a quarter of all traffic offenders do not get penalty points because a legal loophole allows them to avoid it. Holders of out-of-state licence cannot get points – they can only apply to an Irish licence. The AA has put forward a detailed proposal to deal with the problem and close the loophole. The proposal will create a ‘parallel record’ of a driver’s behaviour in Ireland and this will bring out-of-state licences within the scope of the Irish penalty points system.
More than 500,000 drivers have received points since their introduction in 2002 but 147,109 of these drivers do not hold an Irish driving licence and so the points cannot be applied. The ‘foreign’ licences include those from Northern Ireland, the UK, Eastern Europe and further afield. The AA is also aware that there is a large amount of anecdotal evidence that individuals and companies are routinely putting forward non-nationals as the driver when an offence is committed – even if the real driver holds an Irish licence – in order to avoid penalty points.
A non-national licence does not mean a non-national driver. The AA is aware of several cases – and there must be many more – of ordinary Irish couples one of whom happens to have a UK licence acquired while living in London 15 years ago. British licences don’t expire after ten years, so it suits people to hang onto them. Whenever either one of them is caught by a speed camera they can simply volunteer the British licence as the driver and no penalty points will apply.
So if your licence is not Irish, then you can thumb your nose at everything that Ireland is trying to achieve in road safety enforcement. This is undermining our system, and it has to be stopped.
It is worth stressing that there is no evidence that out-of-state drivers are any worse on the roads than locals. However having a large group of the driving population immune from penalty points is clearly an unacceptable situation. The AA is putting forward a simple, workable system that can change this.
The Proposal:
Drivers holding licences issued by other states are allowed to drive in Ireland under EU Treaties (in the case of EU members) and by the 1949 and 1929 Geneva Conventions. That does not change. However when a driver first comes to the attention of the Garda for a road traffic offence, then a record is taken of the national licence number. That reference is then used to create a parallel record of the driver’s behaviour in Ireland.
That record is then used in all future prosecutions. Penalty points are applied to the Parallel Record in the same way as they are applied to Irish driving licences, and the sanctions which apply in respect of various driving offences are the same.
As with an Irish licence if the parallel record accumulates 12 points within any three year period then that individual is prohibited from driving in the Republic of Ireland for six months. Likewise if a ban of any period is handed down by the courts then that ban applies to the parallel record.
In effect this means that the foreign licence becomes every bit as accessible and usable for the Garda as an Irish licence. Produce a foreign licence to the Garda and the parallel record can be readily called up.
The AA is satisfied that no legal obstacle exists to the proposed new system, which will govern the behaviour of non-national drivers in Ireland without affecting our international obligations.
“There are proposals for mutual recognition of driving offences between the Republic and Northern Ireland, and also with Great Britain.” Says Faughnan. “In the longer term is entirely logical that there should be mutual recognition right across the EU. But we will be waiting years for this to come about. We must act now to deal with the situation here.”
The AA is calling on the government to give the proposal detailed consideration without delay.
