Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 February 2014
180. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1244 of 18 September 2012, if he will provide an update on specific enforcement operations targeting learner drivers in conjunction with the Road Safety Authority and other relevant stakeholders; and the number of cautions issued or proceedings commenced as part of any such operations from July 2012 to date. [9884/14]
View answer183. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of learner drivers who received a caution for failure to display L plates and the number of learner drivers who received a caution for driving unaccompanied by a qualified driver for 2012 and 2013. [9887/14]
View answer184. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality for the years 2012 and 2013, the number of learner drivers who have been summoned to court for failing to display L plates and-or for driving unaccompanied by a qualified driver; the number of persons convicted on foot of these summonses; the average fine imposed on the learner drivers appearing in court for these offences after having been convicted; and if any learner driver has received the maximum fine of €1,000 for these offences. [9888/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 180, 183 and 184 together.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that 'Operation Learner Driver ' is a specific Garda operation which is conducted regularly with a particular focus on ensuring compliance with all the conditions of holding such a permit, as well as improved road safety generally. I am informed that the Garda authorities will conduct one such operation per quarter during 2014, in addition of course to other ongoing road traffic enforcement operations generally.
Table 1 sets out the information provided by the Courts Service as sought by the Deputy in relation to drivers holding a provisional learner driver permit who were summonsed to court in 2012 and 2013 in respect of the offence of failing to display 'L' plates on a vehicle. The information provided includes persons summonsed to court arising from 'Operation Learner Driver' and other ongoing Garda road traffic enforcement activity.
Table 1: Provisional Learner Driver failing to display 'L' plates on a vehicle
|
Year |
No. of drivers summonsed to court |
No. of drivers convicted |
Average fine imposed |
No. of drivers where maximum fine imposed |
|
2012 |
2,628 |
585 |
€137.29 |
1 |
|
2013 |
2,611 |
584 |
€123.18 |
None |
I am further informed that Table 2 sets out the information sought in relation to drivers holding a provisional learner driver permit who were summonsed to court in 2012 and 2013 in respect of the offence of driving while unaccompanied by a qualified driver. As above, the information provided includes persons summonsed to court arsing from 'Operation Learner Driver' and other ongoing Garda road traffic enforcement activity.
Table 2: Provisional Learner Driver driving while unaccompanied by a qualified driver
|
Year |
No. of drivers summonsed to court |
No. of drivers convicted |
Average fine imposed |
No. of drivers where maximum fine imposed |
|
2012 |
2,954 |
675 |
€151.76 |
1 |
|
2013 |
2,900 |
661 |
€123.18 |
None |
I am also advised by the Garda authorities that it would require a disproportionate amount of Garda resources to provide the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the number of cautions issued to learner drivers in respect of the offences referred to as this information is not recorded on a centralised database.
