Written answers
Tuesday, 5 November 2013
Department of Justice and Equality
Road Traffic Offences
Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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803. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will report on the rate of enforcement of the speed limit on roads here by An Garda Síochána in the years 2012 and to date in 2013; and if he will provide a breakdown of the number of motorists detected having exceeded the speed limit in each of the Garda districts. [46592/13]
Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána is committed to working closely with all road safety agencies to focus on high risk behaviour, including speeding, with the key objective of reducing the number of serious injury collisions and fatalities on our roads. Levels of enforcement are high and involve targeted policing and awareness raising measures, including the deployment of safety cameras throughout the country.
In so far as detections are concerned, I am informed by the Garda authorities that fixed charge notices are issued for relevant speeding offences. Such notices are classified into 'intercept' and 'non-intercept' detections. 'Non-intercept' offences are recorded by fixed and mobile speed cameras, which include speed cameras operated by Go Safe as well as Garda mobile speed detection 'Robot' vehicles. These are distinct from 'intercept' speeding offences which are detected by members of An Garda Síochána in person.
I am advised that the following tables set out the number of intercept and non-intercept incidents of speeding recorded in each of the Garda Divisions in 2012 and to end of August, 2013. It should be noted that the figures are provisional, operational and liable to change.
Table 1: The number of speeding incidents recorded by Garda Division to 31 August, 2013
Garda Division Intercept Non-intercept Total Cavan/Monaghan 642 2398 3040 Clare 1255 2950 4205 Cork City 1071 1776 2847 Cork North 1096 8947 10043 Cork West 679 2075 2754 D.M.R. Eastern 2373 564 2937 D.M.R. North Central 818 1681 2499 D.M.R. Northern 1850 6774 8624 D.M.R. South Central 1120 4649 5769 D.M.R. Southern 936 2176 3112 D.M.R. Western 3533 12031 15564 Donegal 225 1617 1842 Galway Div 1289 4492 5781 Kerry 135 2402 2537 Kildare Div 1203 6126 7329 Kilkenny/Carlow 1000 3911 4911 Laois/Offaly 1067 3271 4338 Limerick 1536 8883 10419 Louth Div 334 1962 2296 Mayo 329 1717 2046 Meath Div 1120 2409 3529 Roscommon/Longford Div 642 3456 4098 Sligo/Leitrim 400 4692 5092 Tipperary 944 3121 4065 Waterford Div 960 2744 3704 Westmeath Div 980 2246 3226 Wexford Div 697 2663 3360 Wicklow Div 738 4250 4988 Total 28,972 105,983 134,955
Table 2: The number of speeding incidents recorded by Garda Division in 2012
Garda Division Intercept Non-intercept Total Cavan/Monaghan 400 4167 4567 Clare 1738 5750 7488 Cork City 2704 6224 8928 Cork North 2291 11905 14196 Cork West 1442 2738 4180 D.M.R. Eastern 4014 931 4945 D.M.R. North Central 1170 6559 7729 D.M.R. Northern 2862 14902 17764 D.M.R. South Central 1484 7266 8750 D.M.R. Southern 1546 4506 6052 D.M.R. Western 5343 15600 20943 Donegal 332 5249 5581 Galway Div 2414 7275 9689 Kerry 474 4784 5258 Kildare Div 1721 10518 12239 Kilkenny/Carlow 1582 6586 8168 Laois/Offaly 1570 3590 5160 Limerick 2319 10330 12649 Louth Div 792 4790 5582 Mayo 629 1751 2380 Meath Div 422 6623 7045 Roscommon/Longford Div 1235 7809 9044 Sligo/Leitrim 773 8674 9447 Tipperary 1512 3146 4658 Waterford Div 1771 2994 4765 Westmeath Div 1430 2225 3655 Wexford Div 978 2347 3325 Wicklow Div 690 10164 10854 Total 45,638 179,403 225,041
Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
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804. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if it is appropriate that a person (details supplied) in County Kerry should go to court in view of the fact that the fine was paid just past the deadline. [46603/13]
Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The payment of a fixed charge in respect of a speeding offence is a discretionary option for the recipient of a fixed charge notice following their detection for speeding. The relevant road traffic legislation provides an initial period of 28 days from the date of the notice, during which payment is accepted at the original charge. If no payment is received, a second notice is issued and a further period of 28 days is provided during which payment is accepted at the fixed charge plus 50%. Only if no payment is made by that date is the recipient liable for prosecution for the offence alleged. Once this occurs the matter then proceeds to be dealt with by the courts.
The Deputy will appreciate that road traffic legislation is the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. I am informed that a number of legislative changes are contained in the Road Traffic Act, 2010 which provide that a person who is served with a summons in respect of a fixed charge offence will have a further option to pay a fixed charge, of an amount 100% greater than the original fixed charge, not later than seven days before the date of the court on which the charge is to be heard. The section further provides that, if the person pays, the fixed charge proceedings in respect of the alleged offence will be discontinued and the person need not attend the court on the day. I understand the measures necessary to enable this provision to be brought into effect are being addressed at present.
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