Kilkenny Gardaí’s Road Policing Unit (RPU) were recently out on patrol as part of a National Day of Action on Wednesday 12 November to combat non-wearing of seatbelts by both drivers and passengers.
In an online post, the Gardaí said they were “delighted” to only give out three fixed charge penalty notices (FCPNS) following the patrol, highlighting that bad weather may have prevented more detections on the day, but that “they would far rather see compliance in this area than give out tickets.”
The offence of non-wearing of seat belt carries a €120 fine and three penalty points on a driving licence. If you are summoned to court for non-payment of the fine, you have the option of accepting the penalty points and paying €240, which is double the original fine, up to seven days before the court date. However, a conviction in court for not wearing a seatbelt carries five penalty points, and a fine of €2,500 for a first offence.
While last Wednesday’s patrol was mainly aimed at cracking down on non-seatbelt use, Gardaí also caught a number of people for other road traffic offences. They said the most “extreme” of these was a driver who was on a video call while a Garda member cycled beside her on John Street, Kilkenny city.
In their post online, Kilkenny Gardaí added: “Now for the bad news, nine motorists were detected holding their mobile phones. The most extreme was a driver of a lovely Audi on a video call as our member cycled beside her on John Street! Further recipients of FCPNs included an unaccompanied learner, another for non-conforming number plates and an uninsured driver that had their car seized, with a day in the District Court to follow.”
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
