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Transport Omnibus 2016

Penalty Points

Penalty points

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During 2016, a total of 198,844 penalty point endorsement notices were issued, a decrease of 20.3% on the previous year. Seven out of every ten (71.9%) of the penalty point endorsement notices issued in 2016 were for speeding.
Males incurred more penalty point endorsement notices than females in 2016. Of the 167,843 endorsement notices where gender was recorded, males incurred 105,382 (62.8%) penalty point endorsement notices while females incurred 62,461 (37.2%) notices.
In 2016, women were more likely to incur more penalty point endorsement notices for speeding than men (79.1% vs 69.0%) whereas men were more likely to incur more notices for holding a mobile phone while driving than women (13.2% vs 10.1%).

	Penalty endorsement notices by offence type, 2016
Speeding	71.9
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	11.6
Other	16.5

	Penalty point endorsement notices by offence type, 2015
Speeding	75.4
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	10.5
Other	14.1

Penalty points

Table 3.1 Key figures for penalty point endorsement notices, 2015 and 2016
Number and rate
Offence type	2015	2016	% Change 2015-2016
Male	132,467	105,382	-20.4
Female	78,450	62,461	-20.4
No gender recorded	38,682	31,001	-19.9
Total endorsement notices issued	249,599	198,844	-20.3
Sources: Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport and Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.1 (XLS 9KB)

Table 3.2 Number of penalty point offences¹by county as at 31 December 2015 and 2016
County	2015	2016	% Change 2015-2016
Carlow	9,984	9,737	-2.5
Cavan	10,191	10,385	1.9
Clare	22,196	21,622	-2.6
Cork	79,327	77,920	-1.8
Donegal	15,644	16,144	3.2
Dublin	158,095	150,615	-4.7
Galway	42,562	43,055	1.2
Kerry	19,698	20,622	4.7
Kildare	36,814	36,358	-1.2
Kilkenny	17,200	16,960	-1.4
Laois	11,450	11,794	3.0
Leitrim	4,892	4,476	-8.5
Limerick	32,619	32,005	-1.9
Longford	6,485	6,107	-5.8
Louth	14,442	13,302	-7.9
Mayo	16,442	16,010	-2.6
Meath	28,587	26,680	-6.7
Monaghan	8,047	8,792	9.3
Offaly	11,626	11,638	0.1
Roscommon	10,755	10,306	-4.2
Sligo	9,533	9,122	-4.3
Tipperary	27,231	28,540	4.8
Waterford	17,822	17,736	-0.5
Westmeath	15,660	14,479	-7.5
Wexford	25,908	27,437	5.9
Wicklow	23,754	22,591	-4.9
Total	676,964	664,433	-1.9
Foreign licence holders²	78,738	76,219	-3.2
Unknown³	473	575	21.6
Sources: Department of Transport, Tourism & Sport and Road Safety Authority
¹ Penalty point offences are recorded on the offender’s driving licence and remain on the licence for a period of three years.
² Drivers who produce a valid foreign licence and have an Irish address.
³ Unknown refers to non-resident drivers who pay on the spot penalty fines.

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.2 (XLS 10KB)

Table 3.3 Top 20 penalty point endorsement notices issued, 2015 - 2016
				Number and rate
Offence type	Penalty points on payment	Penalty points on conviction	2015	2016	% Change 2015-2016
Speeding	3	5	188,077	142,962	-24.0
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	3	5	26,216	22,973	-12.4
Use vehicle without NCT certificate	3	5	7,408	6,181	-16.6
Driving without reasonable consideration	2	4	3,637	3,792	+4.3
Adult Failing to wear Safety Belt cat. M1 Vehicle	3	5	4,530	3,732	-17.6
No insurance - (user)	m*	5	3,011	3,318	+10.2
Learner driver unaccompanied by a qualified driver	2	4	2,234	2,766	+23.8
Fail to obey traffic lights	3	5	3,480	2,681	-23.0
Non-Display of L Plate (Learner Driver)	2	4	1,170	1,178	+0.7
Cross continuous white line/broken white line	3	5	1,214	1,067	-12.1
Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	1	3	1,284	920	-28.3
Adult Failing to wear Safety Belt cat. N1 Vehicle	3	5	905	765	-15.5
Driver Fail Restrain Child O/3 in Child Restraint	3	5	512	482	-5.9
Offence relating to Overtaking	3	5	499	471	-5.6
Dangerous Driving Reduced to Careless Driving	3	5	422	460	+9.0
Driver Fail ensure Passenger U/17 wear Safety Belt	3	5	506	452	-10.7
Careless Driving	m*	5	506	437	-13.6
22-35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath	3	..	358	403	+12.6
Entry to hatched marked area	1	3	373	369	-1.1
Driving past a red light. Contrary to sec 35(5)RTA 1994	3	5	162	290	+79.0
Sources: Road Safety Authority and Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
m* Mandatory court offence

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.3 (XLS 10KB)

Table 3.4 Number of penalty point endorsement notices issued by gender and county, 2016
County	Female	Male	No gender recorded	Total
Carlow	935	1,486	98	2,519
Cavan	1,035	1,684	167	2,886
Clare	2,524	3,543	226	6,293
Cork	7,111	12,684	1,150	20,945
Donegal	1,453	2,701	203	4,357
Dublin	12,671	24,608	1,993	39,272
Galway	3,836	5,975	625	10,436
Kerry	2,187	3,494	313	5,994
Kildare	3,534	5,434	447	9,415
Kilkenny	1,738	2,623	136	4,497
Laois	1,249	2,112	163	3,524
Leitrim	414	591	33	1,038
Limerick	3,165	5,069	694	8,928
Longford	557	976	77	1,610
Louth	912	1,879	223	3,014
Mayo	1,550	2,564	150	4,264
Meath	2,526	4,159	252	6,937
Monaghan	1,086	1,660	149	2,895
Offaly	988	1,900	146	3,034
Roscommon	1,029	1,565	93	2,687
Sligo	844	1,267	102	2,213
Tipperary	3,274	4,798	349	8,421
Waterford	1,725	2,876	199	4,800
Westmeath	1,064	1,807	170	3,041
Wexford	2,869	4,630	125	7,624
Wicklow	2,185	3,297	125	5,607
Foreign licence holder¹			22,396	22,396
Unknown²			197	197
Total	62,461	105,382	31,001	198,844
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
¹ Drivers who produce a valid foreign licence and have an Irish address.
² Unknown refers to non-resident drivers who pay on the spot penalty fines.

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.4 (XLS 13KB)

Table 3.5 Number of penalty point endorsement notices issued by gender, 2010 - 2016
Year	Female	Male	No gender recorded	Total
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
2014	73,397	122,808	36,925	233,130
2015	78,450	132,467	38,682	249,599
2016	62,461	105,382	31,001	198,844
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.5 (XLS 9KB)

Table 3.6 Number of penalty point endorsement notices issued by gender and age, 2016
Age profile	Female	Male	No gender recorded	Total	% of total
Under 21	820	3,284		4,104	2.1
21 to 25	4,413	9,390		13,803	6.9
26 to 30	6,684	11,452		18,136	9.1
31 to 35	8,737	13,666		22,403	11.3
36 to 40	9,328	13,616		22,944	11.5
41 to 45	8,555	12,777		21,332	10.7
46 to 50	7,296	10,921		18,217	9.2
51 to 55	6,036	9,368		15,404	7.7
56 to 60	4,202	7,371		11,573	5.8
61 to 65	2,827	5,414		8,241	4.1
over 65	3,563	8,123		11,686	5.9
Date of birth not recorded			31,001	31,001	15.6
Total	62,461	105,382	31,001	198,844	100.0
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.6 (XLS 9KB)

Table 3.7 Top 20 offences for penalty point endorsement notices issued to males by age group, 2016
Number
Offence description	Age (years)
Offence description	Under 21	21-25	26-30	31-40	41-50	51-65	66 and over	Total
Speeding	1,506	5,309	6,899	17,702	16,860	17,421	7,105	72,802
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	254	1,166	1,956	4,921	3,211	2,080	311	13,899
Use vehicle without NCT certificate	100	426	537	924	726	409	88	3,210
Adult Failing to wear Safety Belt cat. M1 Vehicle	120	337	323	626	497	450	123	2,476
Driving without reasonable consideration	252	392	311	563	447	358	114	2,437
Fail to obey traffic lights	61	171	196	445	401	323	85	1,682
Learner driver unaccompanied by a qualified driver	418	501	267	302	133	30	0	1,651
No insurance - (user)	88	199	160	235	126	59	5	872
Non-Display of L Plate (Learner Driver)	159	268	129	135	61	9	2	763
Cross continuous white line/broken white line	27	88	77	182	163	152	29	718
Adult Failing to wear Safety Belt cat. N1 Vehicle	7	37	69	186	151	145	43	638
Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	8	63	76	157	141	101	26	572
Offence relating to Overtaking	26	35	35	96	71	49	14	326
22-35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath	8	38	31	65	87	58	24	311
Entry to hatched marked area	8	27	35	54	65	40	12	241
Driver Fail ensure Passenger U/17 wear Safety Belt	6	15	22	65	65	29	7	209
Driver Fail Restrain Child O/3 in Child Restraint	2	6	37	79	49	20	9	202
Fail to comply with traffic lane markings	4	14	23	66	43	37	4	191
Driving past a red light. Contrary to sec 35(5)RTA 1994	4	12	17	39	48	50	13	183
Non-Display of N Plate (Novice driver)	97	44	13	8	1	1	0	164
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.7 (XLS 12KB)

Table 3.8 Top 20 offences for penalty point endorsement notices issued to females by age group, 2016
Number
Offence description	Age (years)							Total
Offence description	Under 21	21-25	26-30	31-40	41-50	51-65	66 and over	Total
Speeding	514	2,914	4,643	13,558	12,910	11,543	3,335	49,417
Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	68	555	1,021	2,446	1,464	675	52	6,281
Use vehicle without NCT certificate	12	115	242	593	415	185	14	1,576
Learner driver unaccompanied by a qualified driver	99	259	168	219	100	35	1	881
Driving without reasonable consideration	22	108	111	193	168	116	51	769
Fail to obey traffic lights	14	75	75	165	155	135	29	648
Adult Failing to wear Safety Belt cat. M1 Vehicle	16	88	95	176	139	92	19	625
Non-Display of L Plate (Learner Driver)	27	98	73	108	46	11	1	364
No insurance - (user)	10	53	71	113	57	15	0	319
Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs	2	18	15	69	72	52	8	236
Cross continuous white line/broken white line	4	18	17	58	47	43	9	196
Driver Fail Restrain Child O/3 in Child Restraint	1	11	36	68	49	5	0	170
Driver Fail ensure Passenger U/17 wear Safety Belt	3	2	17	58	58	13	3	154
Entry to hatched marked area	2	12	16	22	15	16	3	86
Driving past a red light. Contrary to sec 35(5)RTA 1994	0	8	4	27	17	9	1	66
Offence relating to Overtaking	1	9	9	19	11	13	3	65
Driver Fail Restrain Child U/3 in Child Restraint	2	7	11	26	14	3	2	65
Fail to comply with traffic lane markings	0	4	3	15	11	18	2	53
Careless Driving	2	6	5	9	9	8	7	46
Fail to stop before stop sign/stop line	6	3	3	6	11	12	3	44
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.8 (XLS 12KB)

Table 3.9 Top 10 penalty point endorsement notices issued for males by county, 2016
Number
County	Total no. of penalty point endorsement notices issued	Speeding	Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	Use vehicle without NCT certificate	Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	Driving without reasonable consideration	Fail to obey traffic lights	Learner driver unaccompanied by a qualified driver	No insurance - (user)	Non-display of L Plate (learner driver)	Cross continuous white line/broken white line
Carlow	1,486	1,105	182	25	13	43	16	23	8	16	6
Cavan	1,684	1,205	166	66	22	38	10	29	36	11	16
Clare	3,543	2,396	476	84	115	112	26	63	37	23	22
Cork	12,684	8,277	2,050	402	296	230	241	286	75	93	122
Donegal	2,701	1,950	275	42	86	85	11	15	42	10	28
Dublin	24,608	17,633	2,420	924	310	512	732	465	237	197	72
Galway	5,975	3,699	1,044	136	260	179	90	54	52	25	69
Kerry	3,494	2,376	661	59	48	74	21	55	9	9	48
Kildare	5,434	3,861	685	172	109	184	89	53	34	49	31
Kilkenny	2,623	1,884	367	66	49	46	20	53	19	19	21
Laois	2,112	1,320	335	98	75	66	16	27	19	24	27
Leitrim	591	454	72	4	12	12	5	2	2	1	4
Limerick	5,069	3,075	1,013	122	202	115	78	60	26	28	31
Longford	976	677	101	28	17	17	11	7	35	13	8
Louth	1,879	1,264	273	94	25	47	38	26	18	6	17
Mayo	2,564	1,778	363	43	79	67	18	29	8	13	36
Meath	4,159	3,002	545	153	47	74	58	39	39	26	23
Monaghan	1,660	1,272	193	23	11	35	8	7	16	9	18
Offaly	1,900	1,205	204	99	80	65	14	44	25	29	10
Roscommon	1,565	1,081	210	36	55	42	8	15	12	6	15
Sligo	1,267	963	132	28	16	32	11	8	2	10	10
Tipperary	4,798	3,688	528	95	75	93	35	41	24	33	23
Waterford	2,876	2,112	291	81	60	85	36	56	18	22	17
Westmeath	1,807	1,119	276	84	58	54	21	33	43	11	11
Wexford	4,630	3,054	666	137	273	60	30	106	18	50	20
Wicklow	3,297	2,352	371	109	83	70	39	55	18	30	13
Total	105,382	72,802	13,899	3,210	2,476	2,437	1,682	1,651	872	763	718
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Note: since the time of publication, data in this table has been revised for Leitrim, Limerick, Longford and Louth

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2016 Table 3.9 (XLS 19KB)

Table 3.10 Top 10 penalty point endorsement notices issued for females by county, 2016
Number
County	Total no. of penalty point endorsement notices issued	Speeding	Driving a vehicle while holding a mobile phone	Use vehicle without NCT certificate	Learner driver unaccompanied by a qualified driver	Driving without reasonable consideration	Fail to obey traffic lights	Adult failing to wear safety belt cat. M1 vehicle	Non-Display of L Plate (Learner Driver)	No insurance - (user)	Fail to comply with prohibitory traffic signs
Carlow	935	780	83	19	12	9	4	3	5	3	7
Cavan	1,035	864	79	32	8	8	0	5	8	11	0
Clare	2,524	1,946	299	38	50	40	14	35	9	16	6
Cork	7,111	5,332	918	230	134	62	113	57	40	25	13
Donegal	1,453	1,269	92	14	9	21	1	6	1	15	1
Dublin	12,671	10,055	895	450	240	121	243	86	94	102	153
Galway	3,836	2,773	577	56	39	78	44	75	19	15	6
Kerry	2,187	1,678	350	22	19	24	10	21	3	3	4
Kildare	3,534	2,861	344	101	36	62	28	27	21	13	3
Kilkenny	1,738	1,454	136	31	36	23	6	12	8	10	2
Laois	1,249	972	140	41	11	16	4	17	8	4	0
Leitrim	414	371	28	4	0	8	1	1	0	0	0
Limerick	3,165	2,244	543	61	49	35	37	68	15	9	8
Longford	557	444	39	17	2	14	6	5	5	9	0
Louth	912	698	88	41	10	15	12	10	7	5	6
Mayo	1,550	1,259	170	20	10	15	9	18	10	6	1
Meath	2,526	2,088	227	65	25	27	21	11	5	8	3
Monaghan	1,086	950	77	3	3	15	4	1	2	3	2
Offaly	988	787	72	33	12	12	8	16	13	7	1
Roscommon	1,029	832	95	25	9	20	1	14	5	2	2
Sligo	844	732	54	6	10	9	6	4	3	4	1
Tipperary	3,274	2,799	266	47	25	31	14	17	15	13	3
Waterford	1,725	1,462	110	30	22	35	14	15	9	7	0
Westmeath	1,064	792	98	42	18	29	7	13	14	16	2
Wexford	2,869	2,202	326	72	60	17	12	67	28	6	7
Wicklow	2,185	1,773	175	76	32	23	29	21	17	7	5
Total	62,461	49,417	6,281	1,576	881	769	648	625	364	319	236
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport