News 2015
27 December 2015 - PARC is very grateful to the road using public - drivers, pedestrians and cyclists for the decrease in fatalities and serious injury collisions in 2015.
We back Liz O Donnell's call to all motorists : " This New Year make the resolution to put your phone away".
17 December 2015 - PARC welcomes bill to introduce roadside testing of drivers for drugs
Link to Irish Times reports this week.. first report, second report...
16 December 2015 - Deputy Tommy Broughan's Dail questions to Minister for Transport on Mutual Recognition of Disqualified Drivers.
Link to transcript and video..
10 December 2015 - Excellent topical issue Debate by Tommy Broughan TD on the RSA today.
Link to the video and transcript of Deputy Broughan's speech.
2 December 2015 - We back the RSA in their plans to 'Name and Shame' disqualified drivers.
Anything that deters people from driving while disqualified will mean fewer lives lost on our roads and fewer injuries.
Recent figures from RSA to PARC revealed that 521 drivers were disqualified when they were convicted of dangerous driving causing death or serious injury. This shows we have a very dangerous cohort of people remaining undetected following their disqualification. Further figures reveal that 89% of drivers disqualified in court did not have their licence number recorded and 96% did not surrender their licence to the RSA.
30 November 2015 - Thousands of learner drivers issued with penalty point notices for driving unaccompanied by a fully qualified driver / non display of L plates.
Since we sought and achieved penalty points for certain offences committed by learner drivers Gardai have issued 4,863 notices to learners detected driving without being accompanied by a fully qualified driver. 3,529 notices were issued for non display of L plates. Under new rules each of these offences results in two penalty points for the offender. If contested in court and the driver is convicted, he/she is off the road - Accumulation of seven penalty points results in a learner driver losing their learner permit.
23 Nov 2015 - The Courts Service doth protest too much. Link to Statement by Deputy Tommy Broughan..
12 November 2015 - Problems surrounding recording of licences is an absolute disgrace.
Link to Irish Times Report today by Colin Gleeson...
26 October 2015 - Its time that all the courts applied the law
Drivers who pay speeding fines get 3 penalty points.
Drivers who challenge it should receive 5 points on conviction.
Drivers who donate to the court poor box receive no points.
How fair is this?
Link to media reports today..
Irish Times report..
22 October 2015 - PARC's research results - banned drivers involved in fatal and serious crashes.
Link to media reports today..
Irish Independent...
Irish Times...
20 October 2015 - Joint Statement by Deputy Tommy Broughan and PARC - Road safety legislation to be consolidated
Link to Statement...
Link to Irish Times report 20/10/15...
Link to Irish Times report 19/10/15...
14 October 2015 - Official figures received by PARC reveal thousands escape conviction for phone offences
See coverage by Irish Times reporter Carl O Brien today
13 October 2015 - Free information booklet from PARC for families of victims of RTCs.
Ask your Garda family liaison officer for a copy.
View PDF version
11 October 2015 - Positive Development
The DPP will provide victims with reasons as to why a prosecution was not pursued- under new EU rules.
Link to Irish Independent report.
2 October 2015 - PARC welcomes the news that the DPP will appeal High Court ruling on drink drivers
Link to Irish Independent report today
1 October 2015 - Some 150,000 drivers summonsed to court over penalty points not prosecuted
Link to Irish Times report today ..
29 September 2015 - Cork has highest number of drivers dodging penalty points by donating to court poor box. Link to article....
27 September 2015 - PARC welcomes Liz O' Donnell's comments - "Use of 'poor box' for driving offences makes a mockery of the law".
The article by the Chairperson of the Road Safety Authority in the Irish Independent yesterday was hard hitting and very true. Link to article
PARC's court report presented to the Minister for Justice and Transport in 2014 highlighted this problem where many drivers can still buy their way out of penalty points in some courts by giving a donation to the court poor box. The recent official figures,by county, that PARC received through Independent TD Tommy Broughan are not complete and we await figures for Counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
As for the recent loophole in the law where hundreds of drunk drivers will now avoid criminal convictions and driving bans - PARC raised this issue with Minister Donohoe at a meeting on 5 January this year. We urged him then to consolidate the Road Traffic Acts to check for other possible loopholes. He said his department would begin this procedure if he is re-elected.
22 September 2015 - Hundreds of drink driving cases under threat - Minister rushes through new law to close loophole. Links to media reports below...
High Court ruling puts hundreds of drink cases under threat..
Legislation signed to deal with drink driving decision..
21 September 2015 -
Deputy Thomas Broughan's statement on high court ruling that breath alcohol test reports must be produced in both Irish and English to be valid. Link to statement...
14 September 2015 - Drivers avoid penalty points by donating to court poor box. Section 55 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 being ignored.
Link to Irish Times report today...
7 September 2015 - First prosecutions in Ireland for failing to present licence in court
PARC is following these prosecutions with great interest as we brought this serious matter to the attention of the powers that be. The outcome of these cases will hopefully bring about a points system which is fit for purpose - that is to save lives and prevent injuries. Link to media reports.... Irish Times & Irish Independent.....
PARC road safety group was very saddened to hear of the death of our friend Gertie Shields, founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). Gertie campaigned for safer roads since her daughter Paula's untimely death in 1983 when she was killed by a drunk driver. We believe that many are alive today because of her tireless work. She was a great supporter of PARC road safety group and was always very encouraging.
We feel privileged to have known Gertie. She will be greatly missed. May she rest in peace.
21 August 2015- PARC rejects proposal to replace penalty points with training courses
The RSA has announced plans to introduce driver training courses instead of penalty points for those caught speeding for the first time. While PARC would welcome driver training courses whereby the judge would require drivers to undertake the course, pay for it and certify completion – driver training courses should never replace penalty points and should not be used for first time offenders instead of penalty points.
14 August 2015 – Flaws remain with licence numbers not recorded on computer systems accessed by Gardaí
Official figures provided to PARC show that almost 90 per cent of 25,000-plus drivers banned in court between 2013 and March of this year did not have their licence details recorded. The RSA is reliant on the courts for this information so it can more easily identify which drivers have had their licences suspended. The Courts Service maintains that it is not a part of its function to record this information and it is not required to do so under legislation. PARC informed the Minister for Transport and he is now addressing the issue.
On Friday 7 August Carl O’Brien of the Irish Times reported on new garda power to arrest disqualified drivers on the spot. PARC road safety group was interviewed for this article …Link to Irish Times report.
5 August 2015- PARC delivers their second court report to the Minister for Transport today.
PARC's most recent report after members attended 26 District Court sittings in 9 counties shows a major problem within many of our courts in relation to the non-recording of licence numbers of those convicted of penalty point offences and those disqualified in court.
Both the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Transport are alarmed at the extent of the problem and thanked PARC for the research carried out. They plan to tackle the issues raised as a matter of urgency.
2 August 2015 - Minister Donohoe closes penalty points loophole
On Monday 27 July David Labanyi of the Irish Times reported that 14 new penalty point offences introduced last year cannot be correctly applied to driving licences when a motorist is convicted in court because of a legal loophole. Drivers who fail to provide their licence on conviction of any of these offences cannot be prosecuted later for this separate offence as the commencement order has yet to be signed into law. Link to Irish Times article..
Susan Gray Chairperson of PARC road safety group was interviewed for that article and called on the Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe to sign the commencement order immediately.
We are pleased to announce that the Minister signed the commencement order later that evening to take effect from Tuesday 28 July 2015.
PARC welcomes this - however we had already pointed out to the Minister that unless all the Road Traffic Acts are consolidated into one Act these types of serious omissions will continue to happen.
24th June 2015 -
Donohoe to be called in front of committee to explain latest penalty points controversy
TRANSPORT Minister Paschal Donohoe has been called in front of an Oireachtas committee to explain the latest penalty points controversy. Link to Irish Independent..
22 June 2015- Gardai to target drivers who fail to produce their licence in court
Revealed: 20,000 use loophole to dodge penalty points
Motorists who dodge penalty points by failing to produce their driving licences in court are to be targeted for the first time as part of a new gardaí operation, the Irish Independent has learned.
Link to Irish Independent article by Shane Phelan...
Lives are being lost because drivers don't fear our broken penalty points system
PARC road safety group came into being as a result of my husband Steve's death in a road traffic collision in 2004, and my subsequent anger at the manner in which the investigation was carried out by the gardaí at the time.
Link to article..
21 June 2015 - PARC welcomes new Garda ‘power of arrest’ for drivers who continue to drive while disqualified.
PARC road safety group is grateful to the Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe for signing an Order commencing new powers for An Garda Siochana, allowing them to arrest people who drive while disqualified. The law comes into effect on Monday 22 June and will enable Gardai to deal swiftly with this offence by bringing the offender to court within days.
We are confident that the interest of the media, particularly RTE Prime Time in this matter greatly helped in bringing about a resolution.
We have been campaigning for stronger road traffic laws in this area for a long time. Our research discovered that over 80 per cent of drivers disqualified are not surrendering their licences to the RSA, as required by law.
Deputy Tommy Broughan has been consistently raising these issues with the Ministers for Transport and Justice and we wish to thank him for his endless work in this area.
PARC is following up on outstanding issues remaining in relation to disqualified drivers.
2 June 2015 - PARC wish to thank all those who took part in the Women's Mini-Marathon in Dublin yesterday for PARC and road safety. Well done everyone!
7th May 2015 -
Broughan and PARC road safety group call for improved collaboration between the Road Safety Authority, the Gardai and the Courts Service.
Link to Statement...
25 April 2015 -
Over the past year PARC members have visited District Court sittings throughout the country to observe road traffic offence cases. We found that many drivers are escaping penalty points by not producing their licences on conviction which is a requirement by law. None have been prosecuted to date for this offence. We have written to the President of the District Court and to all District Court judges with our observations and to explain the concerns of families of victims of road traffic collisions. We would like to thank everyone who helped us in any way with this project.
Link to report by Shane Phelan of the Irish Independent..
24 April 2015 -
The Minister for Justice provides Deputy Thomas Broughan TD with details of driving licence numbers recorded on the Courts Service Criminal Case Tracking System (CCTS).
19 April 2015 -
PARC welcomes new proposal - three penalty points for drivers using smartphones while driving.
See Report by Michael Brennan, Sunday Business Post...
15 April 2015 -
Some of the most dangerous drivers are ignoring their driving bans and continue to commit motoring offences.
Link to Irish Times report today....
8 April 2015-
PARC is very grateful to the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan and Garda Headquarters for distributing our 2015 edition of our booklet 'Finding Your Way' to all Garda Family Liaison Officers in the 26 counties. These in turn are ensuring that the families of those killed and injuried on our roads are receiving copies.
30 March 2015 -
Very few drivers are surrendering their licence when disqualified. Link to statement by Deputy Tommy Broughan TD..
2 March 2015 -
Gardai must be given adequate powers to prosecute drivers for texting while driving.. See Irish Times..
5 January 2015 -
Representatives of PARC road safety group discussed issues of mutual interest with Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe today. The Minister informed PARC that the Government has allocated in the region of one million to An Garda Síochána to update their IT system to facilitate the third payment option by drivers who have received a fixed penalty notice. This is a very welcome development and should improve road safety as it will put an end to drivers claiming in court that they did not receive a FCN and thus evade prosecution. Deputy Tommy Broughan has pursued this issue in the Dail relentlessly...so our thanks goes to Tommy for his support and his tenacity.
27 December 2015 - PARC is very grateful to the road using public - drivers, pedestrians and cyclists for the decrease in fatalities and serious injury collisions in 2015.
We back Liz O Donnell's call to all motorists : " This New Year make the resolution to put your phone away".
17 December 2015 - PARC welcomes bill to introduce roadside testing of drivers for drugs
Link to Irish Times reports this week.. first report, second report...
16 December 2015 - Deputy Tommy Broughan's Dail questions to Minister for Transport on Mutual Recognition of Disqualified Drivers.
Link to transcript and video..
10 December 2015 - Excellent topical issue Debate by Tommy Broughan TD on the RSA today.
Link to the video and transcript of Deputy Broughan's speech.
2 December 2015 - We back the RSA in their plans to 'Name and Shame' disqualified drivers.
Anything that deters people from driving while disqualified will mean fewer lives lost on our roads and fewer injuries.
Recent figures from RSA to PARC revealed that 521 drivers were disqualified when they were convicted of dangerous driving causing death or serious injury. This shows we have a very dangerous cohort of people remaining undetected following their disqualification. Further figures reveal that 89% of drivers disqualified in court did not have their licence number recorded and 96% did not surrender their licence to the RSA.
30 November 2015 - Thousands of learner drivers issued with penalty point notices for driving unaccompanied by a fully qualified driver / non display of L plates.
Since we sought and achieved penalty points for certain offences committed by learner drivers Gardai have issued 4,863 notices to learners detected driving without being accompanied by a fully qualified driver. 3,529 notices were issued for non display of L plates. Under new rules each of these offences results in two penalty points for the offender. If contested in court and the driver is convicted, he/she is off the road - Accumulation of seven penalty points results in a learner driver losing their learner permit.
23 Nov 2015 - The Courts Service doth protest too much. Link to Statement by Deputy Tommy Broughan..
12 November 2015 - Problems surrounding recording of licences is an absolute disgrace.
Link to Irish Times Report today by Colin Gleeson...
26 October 2015 - Its time that all the courts applied the law
Drivers who pay speeding fines get 3 penalty points.
Drivers who challenge it should receive 5 points on conviction.
Drivers who donate to the court poor box receive no points.
How fair is this?
Link to media reports today..
Irish Times report..
22 October 2015 - PARC's research results - banned drivers involved in fatal and serious crashes.
Link to media reports today..
Irish Independent...
Irish Times...
20 October 2015 - Joint Statement by Deputy Tommy Broughan and PARC - Road safety legislation to be consolidated
Link to Statement...
Link to Irish Times report 20/10/15...
Link to Irish Times report 19/10/15...
14 October 2015 - Official figures received by PARC reveal thousands escape conviction for phone offences
See coverage by Irish Times reporter Carl O Brien today
13 October 2015 - Free information booklet from PARC for families of victims of RTCs.
Ask your Garda family liaison officer for a copy.
View PDF version
11 October 2015 - Positive Development
The DPP will provide victims with reasons as to why a prosecution was not pursued- under new EU rules.
Link to Irish Independent report.
2 October 2015 - PARC welcomes the news that the DPP will appeal High Court ruling on drink drivers
Link to Irish Independent report today
1 October 2015 - Some 150,000 drivers summonsed to court over penalty points not prosecuted
Link to Irish Times report today ..
29 September 2015 - Cork has highest number of drivers dodging penalty points by donating to court poor box. Link to article....
27 September 2015 - PARC welcomes Liz O' Donnell's comments - "Use of 'poor box' for driving offences makes a mockery of the law".
The article by the Chairperson of the Road Safety Authority in the Irish Independent yesterday was hard hitting and very true. Link to article
PARC's court report presented to the Minister for Justice and Transport in 2014 highlighted this problem where many drivers can still buy their way out of penalty points in some courts by giving a donation to the court poor box. The recent official figures,by county, that PARC received through Independent TD Tommy Broughan are not complete and we await figures for Counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
As for the recent loophole in the law where hundreds of drunk drivers will now avoid criminal convictions and driving bans - PARC raised this issue with Minister Donohoe at a meeting on 5 January this year. We urged him then to consolidate the Road Traffic Acts to check for other possible loopholes. He said his department would begin this procedure if he is re-elected.
22 September 2015 - Hundreds of drink driving cases under threat - Minister rushes through new law to close loophole. Links to media reports below...
High Court ruling puts hundreds of drink cases under threat..
Legislation signed to deal with drink driving decision..
21 September 2015 -
Deputy Thomas Broughan's statement on high court ruling that breath alcohol test reports must be produced in both Irish and English to be valid. Link to statement...
14 September 2015 - Drivers avoid penalty points by donating to court poor box. Section 55 of the Road Traffic Act 2010 being ignored.
Link to Irish Times report today...
7 September 2015 - First prosecutions in Ireland for failing to present licence in court
PARC is following these prosecutions with great interest as we brought this serious matter to the attention of the powers that be. The outcome of these cases will hopefully bring about a points system which is fit for purpose - that is to save lives and prevent injuries. Link to media reports.... Irish Times & Irish Independent.....
PARC road safety group was very saddened to hear of the death of our friend Gertie Shields, founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). Gertie campaigned for safer roads since her daughter Paula's untimely death in 1983 when she was killed by a drunk driver. We believe that many are alive today because of her tireless work. She was a great supporter of PARC road safety group and was always very encouraging.
We feel privileged to have known Gertie. She will be greatly missed. May she rest in peace.
21 August 2015- PARC rejects proposal to replace penalty points with training courses
The RSA has announced plans to introduce driver training courses instead of penalty points for those caught speeding for the first time. While PARC would welcome driver training courses whereby the judge would require drivers to undertake the course, pay for it and certify completion – driver training courses should never replace penalty points and should not be used for first time offenders instead of penalty points.
14 August 2015 – Flaws remain with licence numbers not recorded on computer systems accessed by Gardaí
Official figures provided to PARC show that almost 90 per cent of 25,000-plus drivers banned in court between 2013 and March of this year did not have their licence details recorded. The RSA is reliant on the courts for this information so it can more easily identify which drivers have had their licences suspended. The Courts Service maintains that it is not a part of its function to record this information and it is not required to do so under legislation. PARC informed the Minister for Transport and he is now addressing the issue.
On Friday 7 August Carl O’Brien of the Irish Times reported on new garda power to arrest disqualified drivers on the spot. PARC road safety group was interviewed for this article …Link to Irish Times report.
5 August 2015- PARC delivers their second court report to the Minister for Transport today.
PARC's most recent report after members attended 26 District Court sittings in 9 counties shows a major problem within many of our courts in relation to the non-recording of licence numbers of those convicted of penalty point offences and those disqualified in court.
Both the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Transport are alarmed at the extent of the problem and thanked PARC for the research carried out. They plan to tackle the issues raised as a matter of urgency.
2 August 2015 - Minister Donohoe closes penalty points loophole
On Monday 27 July David Labanyi of the Irish Times reported that 14 new penalty point offences introduced last year cannot be correctly applied to driving licences when a motorist is convicted in court because of a legal loophole. Drivers who fail to provide their licence on conviction of any of these offences cannot be prosecuted later for this separate offence as the commencement order has yet to be signed into law. Link to Irish Times article..
Susan Gray Chairperson of PARC road safety group was interviewed for that article and called on the Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe to sign the commencement order immediately.
We are pleased to announce that the Minister signed the commencement order later that evening to take effect from Tuesday 28 July 2015.
PARC welcomes this - however we had already pointed out to the Minister that unless all the Road Traffic Acts are consolidated into one Act these types of serious omissions will continue to happen.
24th June 2015 -
Donohoe to be called in front of committee to explain latest penalty points controversy
TRANSPORT Minister Paschal Donohoe has been called in front of an Oireachtas committee to explain the latest penalty points controversy. Link to Irish Independent..
22 June 2015- Gardai to target drivers who fail to produce their licence in court
Revealed: 20,000 use loophole to dodge penalty points
Motorists who dodge penalty points by failing to produce their driving licences in court are to be targeted for the first time as part of a new gardaí operation, the Irish Independent has learned.
Link to Irish Independent article by Shane Phelan...
Lives are being lost because drivers don't fear our broken penalty points system
PARC road safety group came into being as a result of my husband Steve's death in a road traffic collision in 2004, and my subsequent anger at the manner in which the investigation was carried out by the gardaí at the time.
Link to article..
21 June 2015 - PARC welcomes new Garda ‘power of arrest’ for drivers who continue to drive while disqualified.
PARC road safety group is grateful to the Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe for signing an Order commencing new powers for An Garda Siochana, allowing them to arrest people who drive while disqualified. The law comes into effect on Monday 22 June and will enable Gardai to deal swiftly with this offence by bringing the offender to court within days.
We are confident that the interest of the media, particularly RTE Prime Time in this matter greatly helped in bringing about a resolution.
We have been campaigning for stronger road traffic laws in this area for a long time. Our research discovered that over 80 per cent of drivers disqualified are not surrendering their licences to the RSA, as required by law.
Deputy Tommy Broughan has been consistently raising these issues with the Ministers for Transport and Justice and we wish to thank him for his endless work in this area.
PARC is following up on outstanding issues remaining in relation to disqualified drivers.
2 June 2015 - PARC wish to thank all those who took part in the Women's Mini-Marathon in Dublin yesterday for PARC and road safety. Well done everyone!
7th May 2015 -
Broughan and PARC road safety group call for improved collaboration between the Road Safety Authority, the Gardai and the Courts Service.
Link to Statement...
25 April 2015 -
Over the past year PARC members have visited District Court sittings throughout the country to observe road traffic offence cases. We found that many drivers are escaping penalty points by not producing their licences on conviction which is a requirement by law. None have been prosecuted to date for this offence. We have written to the President of the District Court and to all District Court judges with our observations and to explain the concerns of families of victims of road traffic collisions. We would like to thank everyone who helped us in any way with this project.
Link to report by Shane Phelan of the Irish Independent..
24 April 2015 -
The Minister for Justice provides Deputy Thomas Broughan TD with details of driving licence numbers recorded on the Courts Service Criminal Case Tracking System (CCTS).
19 April 2015 -
PARC welcomes new proposal - three penalty points for drivers using smartphones while driving.
See Report by Michael Brennan, Sunday Business Post...
15 April 2015 -
Some of the most dangerous drivers are ignoring their driving bans and continue to commit motoring offences.
Link to Irish Times report today....
8 April 2015-
PARC is very grateful to the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan and Garda Headquarters for distributing our 2015 edition of our booklet 'Finding Your Way' to all Garda Family Liaison Officers in the 26 counties. These in turn are ensuring that the families of those killed and injuried on our roads are receiving copies.
30 March 2015 -
Very few drivers are surrendering their licence when disqualified. Link to statement by Deputy Tommy Broughan TD..
2 March 2015 -
Gardai must be given adequate powers to prosecute drivers for texting while driving.. See Irish Times..
5 January 2015 -
Representatives of PARC road safety group discussed issues of mutual interest with Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe today. The Minister informed PARC that the Government has allocated in the region of one million to An Garda Síochána to update their IT system to facilitate the third payment option by drivers who have received a fixed penalty notice. This is a very welcome development and should improve road safety as it will put an end to drivers claiming in court that they did not receive a FCN and thus evade prosecution. Deputy Tommy Broughan has pursued this issue in the Dail relentlessly...so our thanks goes to Tommy for his support and his tenacity.