Over 10,500 local motorists have penalty points on their licences
Over 10,500 Westmeath motorists have penalty points on their licence, according to the latest statistics from the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
The figures from the RSA, which go up to the end of October 2021, show that 10,530 local drivers have points, while 23 motorists have the maximum of 12. If a motorist accrues 12 penalty points in a three year period they are automatically disqualified for six months.
Almost 7,300 local motorists have three points, while just under 1,300 have six points. A total of 83 drivers have ten points or more, while 40 drivers have one point.
Of the 13,294 notices issued in Westmeath up to the end of October last year, most were issued for speeding offences. A total of 9,525 notices were issued for speeding in Westmeath between January 1 and October 31 last year. A total of 1,261 notices for issued to motorists who were caught holding a mobile phone while they were driving, while 355 were issued to motorists for driving a vehicle without an up to date NCT cert.
A total of 347 notices were issued to local motorists for driving “without reasonable consideration" for other persons, while 104 were issued to motorists who failed to obey traffic lights.
Over 200 learner and novice drivers received notices for failing to display their L and N plates.
On October 31, 2020, a total of 9,079 local motorists had points on the licences. Penalty points stay on a driver's licence for a total of three years.
Nationally, over 540,000 drivers had penalty points on their licences at the end of October. Over 385,000 had three points and over 60,700 had six points. Over 3,000 drivers had ten or more points, while over 3,800 had one point.
Of the 673,000 notices issued between the start of January and end of October last year, the majority (462,514) were issued to drivers caught speeding, while over 78,200 were issued for driving while holding a mobile phone. Over 10,000 notices were issued to drivers caught not wearing their seat belt.