Northerners hired to dodge penalty points!

gurramok

From Sindo http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1724211&issue_id=14891

Does anyone who travels around border area agree, have views on this?

Its sorta seems outrageous if it is true when there is so much publicity in reducing road carnage!:eek:

*snip*
DRIVERS from Northern Ireland are being hired by companies in the Republic because they are able to dodge penalty points.

The revelation has sparked calls for the immediate harmonisation of the penalty point systems north and south of the border to eliminate any loopholes.

Under the current system, which is under review, a driver who holds a licence from outside the Republic is not eligible for penalty points. Pat O'Malley, a councillor in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal, says there is evidence that some companies are taking advantage of the discrepancies by employing drivers from the North to transport goods in the Republic.

"They want to have their lorries on the road 24 hours a day and if they have drivers who have accumulated six or eight penalty points and are put off the road, they are able to bring in drivers from outside the jurisdiction who can't be done," he said.

Cllr O'Malley added that the majority of work vehicles travelling above the speed limit overtaking him on a daily basis on the new Ballyshannon by-pass have Northern registration plates.

"With the recent rise in road carnage, everything under the sun is being blamed, but I believe that speeding by motorists who know they are exempt from the law could be a big contributory factor," he said.

And he pointed to a further discrepancy in the way speeding motorists from the Republic are being treated in the North.

"I know a woman from Ballyshannon who was caught speeding in Fermanagh.

"She did not have sufficient funds to pay the fine and she was detained by police for three hours in Enniskillen until her husband could drive over with stg£200.

"This does not happen down here. We have two sets of law - one for indigenous people and one for people from outside.

"We need equality of law so that everyone is treated the same," Cllr O'Malley said.
*snip*

MrPudding

gurramok wrote:

"I know a woman from Ballyshannon who was caught speeding in Fermanagh.

"She did not have sufficient funds to pay the fine and she was detained by police for three hours in Enniskillen until her husband could drive over with stg£200.

"This does not happen down here. We have two sets of law - one for indigenous people and one for people from outside.

"We need equality of law so that everyone is treated the same," Cllr O'Malley said.
*snip*

Ah, so is it the Northies fault that this doesn't happen in the south? Those bad Northies with proper laws and powers of arrest. How dare they detain our citizens while we can't detain theirs. I have been saying for ages that this should be introduced. Stop bitching about it and get it sorted.

MrP

Our man in Havana

Agreed!

Ste.phen

Surely the short-term way to deal with this is to introduce on-the-spot fines for anything that's usually punishable for penalty points, if the offender is has a non-irish license?

Alun

Igy wrote:

Surely the short-term way to deal with this is to introduce on-the-spot fines for anything that's usually punishable for penalty points, if the offender is has a non-irish license?

That's the way it's done in many European countries, and in some cases the on-the-spot fines are higher than for the natives. It does give rise though to allegations (not entirely unfounded) that the police in border areas unfairly target foreign motorists and let their "own" off scot free.

Ste.phen

luckily the gardaí in Donegal are known for their professionalism and honesty, so that could never occur here.