Imelda Munster
Question:
276. Deputy Imelda Munster asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of persons who have been prosecuted, fined or penalised for the offence of tailgating at the M1 toll barrier in each of the years 2014 to 2018. [7887/19]
View answer
The Deputy will appreciate that my Department is not responsible for road traffic enforcement, which is an operational matter for An Garda Síochána. However, to be of assistance, I have asked An Garda Síochána whether it is possible to extract the specific statistics sought in response to your query.
I will contact the Deputy directly on receipt of a Garda response.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question 276 of 19 February 2019, in which the Deputy asked for information on the number of persons that have been prosecuted, fined or penalised for the offence of tailgating at the M1 toll barrier, in each of the years 2014 to 2018. The Deputy may recall I had asked An Garda Síochána whether this data is available. Unfortunately, I have been informed that such statistics cannot be compiled as there is no specific offence for "tailgating".
An Garda Síochána state that in instances where a vehicle is reportedly driving too close to a vehicle in front, they can consider prosecuting for other offences such as driving without reasonable consideration[1], careless driving[2] or dangerous driving[3] . Of course, it should be noted that any statistics compiled on incidents involving these offences would also include incidents not related to tailgating.
[1] Section 51(a) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (as substituted by section 4 of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Act 2011)
[2] Section 52(1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (as substituted by section 4 of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Act 2011)
[3] Section 53(1) of the Road Traffic Act, 1961 (as substituted by section 4 of the Road Traffic (No. 2) Act 2011).
