Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 446: To ask the Minister for Transport if failure to obey a traffic sign indicating a three tonne limit restriction on a road will incur penalty points. [27598/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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Provisions for imposition of a weight restriction on large vehicles entering a public road are set out in Article 17 of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (SI No. 182 of 1997). It is a matter for each local authority to determine if, and where, such restrictions should apply in its area.

Article 17 operates as imposing a restriction on entry to the specified road as opposed to an outright prohibition on entry. This policy is required to cover circumstances where it is necessary for a large vehicle (of a weight that exceeds whatever threshold is indicated on the regulatory sign) to enter a road if this is necessary solely for the purpose of gaining access or egress from premises accessible only from that road.

The regulation operates in such a way that a vehicle such as, for example, the driver of an oil tanker delivering heating oil or a large furniture removal/delivery truck, is legally permitted to pass the regulatory weight restriction sign if the premises on the road that they were delivering to could only be accessed from that entry point.

On the other hand, the driver of a large vehicle such as a truck or a passenger coach that passed the regulatory sign and used that road as a through traffic route as a shortcut, etc would be in breach of Article 17.

The offence of contravening article 17 is not scheduled in the Road Traffic Act 2002 to be a penalty point offence. Penalty points offences are targeted at offences that are based on road safety considerations. It is not intended to schedule the Article 17 offence to be a penalty point offence and the policy consideration behind this is that since access to the road is permitted in limited circumstances the issue of large vehicles being on the road is not of itself a road safety issue.

I extended the fixed charge system from 3 April 2006 to a wide range of non-penalty point offences including the offence of contravening Article 17. Enforcement is a matter for the Garda Síochána and a driver who breaches Article 17 is now liable to be issued with a fixed charge notice to pay €60 within 28 days or pay €90 within the following 28-day period.

If a fixed charge payment is not received the Garda bring a prosecution to court where a person, shall be liable, on summary conviction:

(a) in the case of a first offence to a fine not exceeding €800

(b) in the case of a second offence, or a third or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding €1,500 and

(c) in the case of a third or subsequent offence which is the third or subsequent offence in any period of twelve months, to a fine not exceeding €1,500 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 3 months or to both fine and imprisonment.

The Road Traffic Bill 2006 provides that the €800 fine be increased to €1,000 and that the fine amounts of €1,500 referred to be increased to €2,000. These measures should pose a greater deterrent against breach of Article 17.