Seanad debates
Wednesday, 14 May 2003
Road Safety: Motion.
Another group of drivers unfairly affected by the penalty points system is the membership of the Irish Road Hauliers Association. The law on penalty points, as it currently stands, is unbalanced because the right to redress of road hauliers is reduced and, in some cases, eliminated. They cannot comply with certain aspects of the law. For example, large areas of the network do not allow for their vehicles to stay inside the white line. If, however, their vehicles cross the white line, drivers can be given penalty points. Infrastructure in terms of road markings is not in place and funding has not been given to local authorities to amend markings to accommodate such vehicles. There is no other profession where penalty points received in the course of their work would also affect people's private and social lives to the extent that is currently the case with professional drivers, particularly if the Minister hands over files to insurance companies. This will have serious repercussions.
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