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Transport Omnibus 2013

Penalty Points

Penalty points

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During 2013, a total of 210,399 penalty point endorsement notices were issued, a fall of 12.0% on the previous year. Over three quarters (77%) of the penalty point endorsement notices issued in 2013 were for speeding.
Males incurred more penalty point endorsement notices than females in 2013. In cases where gender was recorded, males incurred 111,415 (63%) penalty point endorsement notices while females incurred 65,859 (37%).

Penalty points

Table 3.1 Key figures for penalty point endorsement notices, 2012 and 2013
			Number and rate
Offence type	2012	2013	% Change 2012-2013

Endorsement notices by gender
Male	125,785	111,415	-11.4
Female	74,478	65,859	-11.6
No gender recorded	38,808	33,125	-14.6

Total endorsement notices issued	239,071	210,399	-12.0

Sources: Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport and Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.1 (XLS 9KB)

Table 3.2 Key figures for penalty points, 2012 and 2013
			Number and rate
Offence type	2012	2013	% Change 2012-2013

Penalty points by user
Driver	951,473	995,622	4.6
Vehicle	7,020	9,092	29.5
Other/undefined	3,648	11,256	208.6

Penalty points by main offence type
Speeding	696,087	748,532	7.5
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	99,606	100,453	0.9
No safety belt - driver	45,304	38,492	-15.0
No insurance - (user)	21,189	23,531	11.1
Fail to obey traffic lights	22,131	20,420	-7.7

Total penalty points as at 31 December¹	962,141	1,015,970	5.6

¹ Penalty point offences are recorded on the offender’s driving licence and remain on the licence for a period of three years.
The figures presented include offences for those who hold foreign driving licences or where no driving licence number
was supplied. In these cases, the period that the offence is on the current driving licence does not count down and
therefore remains as a current offence.
Sources: Road Safety Authority and Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.2 (XLS 10KB)

Table 3.3 Number of penalty points¹by county as at 31 December 2012 and 2013

Licensing authority	2012	2013	% Change 2012-2013
County Councils
Carlow	8,660	9,047	4.5
Cavan	9,296	9,454	1.7
Clare	19,922	22,510	13.0
Cork	64,625	70,024	8.4
Donegal	15,822	15,018	-5.1
Galway	29,102	31,749	9.1
Kerry	15,510	17,480	12.7
Kildare	36,660	37,018	1.0
Kilkenny	14,794	14,524	-1.8
Laois	8,764	9,663	10.3
Leitrim	4,791	4,896	2.2
Limerick	20,943	23,285	11.2
Longford	5,860	6,606	12.7
Louth	14,898	15,366	3.1
Mayo	12,924	13,978	8.2
Meath	28,405	29,588	4.2
Monaghan	6,155	6,370	3.5
Offaly	9,069	9,932	9.5
Roscommon	10,040	10,550	5.1
Sligo	10,273	9,448	-8.0
Tipperary North	8,554	9,268	8.3
Tipperary South	10,641	12,172	14.4
Waterford	8,513	9,232	8.4
Westmeath	11,735	13,253	12.9
Wexford	22,596	20,614	-8.8
Wicklow	24,945	24,624	-1.3
City Councils
Dublin	169,018	169,388	0.2
Limerick	6,683	7,107	6.3
Waterford	6,675	6,870	2.9
No driver number / no Irish licence	346,268	376,936	8.9

Total penalty points as at 31 December¹	962,141	1,015,970	5.6

¹ Penalty point offences are recorded on the offender’s driving licence and remain on the licence for a period of three years.
The figures presented include offences for those who hold foreign driving licences or where no driving licence number
was supplied. In these cases, the period that the offence is on the current driving licence does not count down and
therefore remains as a current offence.
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.3 (XLS 11KB)

Table 3.4 Top 20 penalty point endorsement notices issued, 2012 - 2013
				Number and rate
Offence type	Penalty points on payment	Penalty points on conviction	2012	2013	% Change 2012-2013

Speeding	3	5	184,015	162,304	-11.8
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	3	5	25,640	23,291	-9.2
Adult Failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	3	5	1,447	5,005	245.9
Fail to obey traffic lights	2	5	4,659	3,519	-24.5
Driving without reasonable consideration	2	4	3,757	3,287	-12.5
No insurance - (user)	m*	5	2,606	2,364	-9.3
Use vehicle without NCT certificate	m*	5	1,987	1,877	-5.5
Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	1	3	1,553	1,359	-12.5
Cross continuous white line/broken white line	2	4	1,588	1,205	-24.1
Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. N1 vehicle	3	5	150	527	251.3
Driver fail restrain child O/3 in child restraint	3	5	160	521	225.6
Driver fail ensure passenger U/17 wear safety belt	3	5	129	415	221.7
Careless driving	m*	5	449	387	-13.8
No safety belt - driver	3	5	5,691	378	-93.4
Dangerous driving reduced to careless driving	m*	5	384	375	-2.3
22-35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath	3	..	426	344	-19.2
Entry to hatched marked area	1	3	509	324	-36.3
Driver fail restrain child U/3 in child restraint	3	5	98	291	196.9
No cert of road worthiness user	m*	5	318	274	-13.8
Offence relating to overtaking	2	5	406	261	-35.7

m* Mandatory court offence
.. Data not available
Sources: Road Safety Authority and Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.4 (XLS 11KB)

Table 3.5 Number of penalty point endorsement notices issued by gender and county, 2013
				Number
County	Female	Male	No gender recorded	Total

County Councils
Carlow	889	1,688		2,577
Cavan	1,056	1,682		2,738
Clare	2,800	3,519		6,319
Cork	7,512	12,784		20,296
Donegal	1,377	2,325		3,702
Galway	3,435	5,699		9,134
Kerry	1,893	2,892		4,785
Kildare	3,641	5,684		9,325
Kilkenny	1,671	2,638		4,309
Laois	1,126	1,956		3,082
Leitrim	624	800		1,424
Limerick	2,701	4,129		6,830
Longford	723	1,223		1,946
Louth	1,333	2,356		3,689
Mayo	1,807	2,789		4,596
Meath	3,295	5,145		8,440
Monaghan	762	1,368		2,130
Offaly	982	1,901		2,883
Roscommon	1,176	1,802		2,978
Sligo	1,121	1,427		2,548
Tipperary North	1,175	1,752		2,927
Tipperary South	1,670	2,523		4,193
Waterford	1,136	1,810		2,946
Westmeath	1,675	2,530		4,205
Wexford	2,214	3,766		5,980
Wicklow	2,570	3,928		6,498
City Councils
Dublin	14,145	29,026		43,171
Limerick	656	1,098		1,754
Waterford	694	1,175		1,869
No licence/ no Irish licence			33,125	33,125

Total	65,859	111,415	33,125	210,399

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.5 (XLS 13KB)

Table 3.6 Number of penalty point endorsement notices issued by gender, 2007 - 2013
				Number
Year	Female	Male	No gender recorded	Total

2007	77,547	249,197	5,614	332,358
2008	76,140	242,791	4,371	323,302
2009	83,127	194,625	46,933	324,685
2010	73,706	174,312	37,421	285,439
2011	79,109	136,036	42,419	257,564
2012	74,478	125,785	38,808	239,071
2013	65,859	111,415	33,125	210,399

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.6 (XLS 9KB)

Table 3.7 Number of penalty point endorsement notices issued by gender and age, 2013
					Number and rate
Age profile	Female	Male	No gender recorded	Total	% of total

Under 21	1,022	3,139		4,161	1.98
21 to 25	5,380	9,120		14,500	6.89
26 to 30	7,954	12,294		20,248	9.62
31 to 35	9,869	15,227		25,096	11.93
36 to 40	9,302	14,598		23,900	11.36
41 to 45	8,726	13,448		22,174	10.54
46 to 50	7,496	11,674		19,170	9.11
51 to 55	5,876	9,905		15,781	7.50
56 to 60	4,282	7,995		12,277	5.84
61 to 65	2,783	6,024		8,807	4.19
over 65	3,169	7,991		11,160	5.30
Date of birth not recorded			33,125	33,125	15.74

Total	65,859	111,415	33,125	210,399	100.00

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.7 (XLS 10KB)

Table 3.8 Top 20 offences for penalty point endorsement notices issued to males by age group, 2013
								Number
Offence description	Age (years)
Offence description	Under 21	21 to 25	26 to 30	31 to 40	41 to 50	51 to 65	66 and over	Total

Speeding	1,900	6,103	8,495	21,432	19,308	19,941	7,215	84,394
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	299	1,206	2,052	4,937	3,201	1,933	236	13,864
Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	238	487	467	805	594	514	165	3,270
Fail to obey traffic lights	107	236	272	620	492	402	89	2,218
Driving without reasonable consideration	279	391	276	495	355	244	84	2,124
Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	27	73	118	244	179	165	29	835
Cross continuous white line/broken white line	66	100	90	200	173	143	28	800
Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. N1 vehicle	14	36	50	125	89	99	19	432
Use vehicle without NCT certificate	20	99	89	104	51	28	4	395
No insurance - (user)	42	99	68	96	49	20	3	377
22-35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath	8	20	29	61	55	59	21	253
Driver fail restrain child O/3 in child restraint	8	15	36	91	64	14	4	232
Entry to hatched marked area	9	15	18	62	57	40	9	210
Driver fail ensure passenger U/17 wear safety belt	4	12	13	64	60	20	10	183
Offence relating to overtaking	9	19	22	45	35	26	9	165
Driver fail restrain child U/3 in child restraint	5	24	23	56	26	10	1	145
No safety belt - driver	12	28	23	29	27	20	3	142
Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. N3 vehicle	2	1	6	36	40	32	5	122
Fail to stop before stop sign/stop line	18	27	12	27	16	19	3	122
Fail to comply with traffic lane markings	0	5	16	39	31	24	6	121

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.8 (XLS 12KB)

Table 3.9 Top 20 offences for penalty point endorsement notices issued to females by age group, 2013
								Number
Offence description	Age (years)
Offence description	Under 21	21 to 25	26 to 30	31 to 40	41 to 50	51 to 65	66 and over	Total

Speeding	775	4,167	6,135	15,653	14,045	11,759	3,005	55,539
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	69	629	1,182	2,362	1,354	630	38	6,264
Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	49	157	135	223	171	130	30	895
Fail to obey traffic lights	41	86	114	224	192	126	35	818
Driving without reasonable consideration	34	94	84	153	101	92	26	584
Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	10	45	52	111	94	46	9	367
Cross continuous white line/broken white line	7	31	31	51	42	43	9	214
Driver fail restrain child O/3 in child restraint	4	19	42	75	30	14	0	184
Driver fail ensure passenger U/17 wear safety belt	5	7	18	71	46	5	1	153
No insurance - (user)	8	29	36	33	16	2	0	124
Use vehicle without NCT certificate	4	24	33	38	20	3	0	122
Driver fail restrain child U/3 in child restraint	2	21	14	26	12	5	2	82
Entry to hatched marked area	0	4	12	28	18	11	0	73
22-35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath	1	5	9	15	6	8	3	47
Fail to comply with traffic lane markings	1	5	6	12	9	8	0	41
Offence relating to overtaking	1	3	6	10	9	8	3	40
Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. N1 vehicle	0	8	5	10	2	7	2	34
No safety belt - driver	2	9	7	9	4	2	0	33
Driving along/across median strip	1	0	3	11	5	5	0	25
Fail to comply with No Entry traffic sign	0	3	2	4	4	9	0	22

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.9 (XLS 12KB)

Table 3.10 Top 10 penalty point endorsement notice offences for males by county, 2013
											Number
County	Total no. of penalty point endorsement notices issued	Speeding	Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	Fail to obey traffic lights	Driving without reasonable consideration	Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	Cross continuous white line/broken white line	Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. N1 vehicle	Use vehicle without NCT certificate	No insurance (user)

County Councils
Carlow	1,688	1,281	221	76	9	34	10	8	7	0	1
Cavan	1,682	1,288	227	34	16	31	2	15	6	3	11
Clare	3,519	2,632	375	209	30	85	7	23	23	16	19
Cork	12,784	9,459	1,859	361	305	216	46	96	38	33	35
Donegal	2,325	1,858	162	68	13	74	6	31	25	4	25
Galway	5,699	3,907	975	246	113	148	18	32	39	20	19
Kerry	2,892	2,300	279	86	22	62	1	49	20	3	6
Kildare	5,684	4,403	765	121	91	99	21	42	11	16	10
Kilkenny	2,638	2,074	323	79	29	44	9	10	5	4	6
Laois	1,956	1,447	305	55	18	35	7	23	6	6	5
Leitrim	800	700	50	18	1	10	1	4	4	0	0
Limerick	4,129	3,337	319	202	37	72	18	21	19	8	4
Longford	1,223	943	132	35	9	22	4	16	12	2	13
Louth	2,356	1,909	253	29	41	26	13	12	4	10	11
Mayo	2,789	2,237	316	57	34	51	6	27	6	4	2
Meath	5,145	3,953	754	97	86	61	34	37	7	7	8
Monaghan	1,368	1,031	167	48	11	26	7	16	8	0	0
Offaly	1,901	1,385	251	72	23	59	6	13	22	8	7
Roscommon	1,802	1,372	226	66	12	25	6	22	21	0	4
Sligo	1,427	1,211	105	30	10	18	4	16	0	0	3
Tipperary North	1,752	1,470	157	39	6	18	7	18	7	1	0
Tipperary South	2,523	2,147	183	52	17	29	12	22	4	2	6
Waterford	1,810	1,391	204	61	23	43	1	24	16	1	3
Westmeath	2,530	1,913	333	76	26	50	5	25	16	9	8
Wexford	3,766	2,807	418	262	24	66	12	21	18	20	9
Wicklow	3,928	2,994	503	144	75	47	16	13	28	12	4
City Councils
Dublin	29,026	21,116	3,787	596	1,098	622	548	158	53	197	147
Limerick	1,098	868	104	34	21	15	7	4	4	7	8
Waterford	1,175	961	111	17	18	36	1	2	3	2	3

Total	111,415	84,394	13,864	3,270	2,218	2,124	835	800	432	395	377

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 3.10 (XLS 20KB)

Table 3.11 Top 10 penalty point endorsement notice offences for females by county, 2013
											Number
County	Total no. of penalty point endorsement notices issued	Speeding	Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	Fail to obey traffic lights	Driving without reasonable consideration	Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	Cross continuous white line/broken white line	Driver fail restrain child O/3 in child restraint	Driver fail ensure passenger U/17 wear safety belt	No insurance (user)

County Councils
Carlow	889	737	92	21	9	10	6	0	2	6	1
Cavan	1,056	923	97	6	1	3	0	7	1	3	6
Clare	2,800	2,312	265	73	26	35	4	12	13	14	9
Cork	7,512	6,170	843	84	132	60	21	36	25	16	13
Donegal	1,377	1,241	73	14	1	20	2	6	5	2	4
Galway	3,435	2,765	460	55	41	35	4	10	8	12	1
Kerry	1,893	1,619	178	28	9	19	2	15	6	5	1
Kildare	3,641	3,151	350	28	34	30	6	8	4	6	3
Kilkenny	1,671	1,469	143	25	6	11	3	3	1	3	0
Laois	1,126	919	154	11	7	9	1	5	2	2	1
Leitrim	624	588	24	3	4	1	0	0	0	1	0
Limerick	2,701	2,420	142	51	9	22	14	7	10	8	2
Longford	723	620	53	9	5	8	1	2	13	5	3
Louth	1,333	1,212	80	7	5	17	3	3	0	1	1
Mayo	1,807	1,625	131	7	6	9	6	10	3	3	0
Meath	3,295	2,789	363	31	29	21	11	12	2	6	3
Monaghan	762	656	59	13	8	4	2	3	3	3	0
Offaly	982	814	102	14	12	5	3	3	6	3	4
Roscommon	1,176	1,001	110	23	7	7	1	5	5	1	2
Sligo	1,121	1,027	47	4	18	6	1	3	7	0	2
Tipperary North	1,175	1,069	59	11	6	12	3	1	3	2	3
Tipperary South	1,670	1,494	107	19	6	8	2	13	4	2	1
Waterford	1,136	957	111	19	6	16	1	11	0	7	0
Westmeath	1,675	1,410	156	30	12	21	6	4	9	4	5
Wexford	2,214	1,849	193	77	10	11	2	4	13	7	6
Wicklow	2,570	2,189	241	48	25	20	10	2	2	3	2
City Councils
Dublin	14,145	11,337	1,538	171	370	145	247	26	29	26	50
Limerick	656	575	32	10	6	10	3	1	7	2	0
Waterford	694	601	61	3	8	9	2	2	1	0	1

Total	65,859	55,539	6,264	895	818	584	367	214	184	153	124

Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport