Nearly 700 cyclists handed €40 on-the-spot fines as detection rate declines

A total of 691 on-the-spot fines of  €40 each were issued to cyclists in Ireland in just over the first 9 months of the new system, according to the latest figures released by the Department of Justice.

Level of fines issued amounts to an average of just 2.4 fines issued per day or 77 fines per month. If the figures are correct, only 120 fines were issued since January when the last stats were published.

Although Gardai in Dublin this week look to have responded to the reduced detection rate with an enforcement blitz. On Wednesday, the offic Garda Traffic Twitter account tweeted: “DMR Traffic 3 hour Cycle Safety op in City-Centre this p.m. Multiple red light offenders stopped all FCPN (€40 fine).”

The latest data on the fines — which are officially known as Fixed Charge Notices — were in reply to a parliamentary question from Timmy Dooley, the Fianna Fáil spokesman on transport. The reply was published on Tuesday of this week, and is available via kildarestreet.com.

In the order of offences listed by most fines issued, here’s the total figures cover from 31 July 2015 to  12 May 2016:

  1. Cyclist proceeding past traffic lights when red lamp illuminated — 382
  2. No front lamp or rear lamp lit during lighting-up hours — 153
  3. Cyclist riding a pedal cycle without reasonable consideration — 86
  4. Cyclist in pedestrianised street or area — 51
  5. Cyclist proceeding past cycle traffic lights when red lamp illuminated — 18
  6. Cyclist going beyond a stop line, barrier or half barrier at a railway level crossing, swing bridge or lifting bridge, when the red lamps are flashing — 1
  7. Cyclist failing to stop for a School Warden sign — 0
    Total: 691

The department noted that the latest figures are provisional, operational and subject to change.

It follows a recent Irish Times article on May 2 that covered the numbers of fines issued based on a parliamentary question published in January — althought IrishCycle.com covered that same parliamentary question on Febuary 2 in a story headlined: “577 cyclists fined for road traffic offences in first 6 months.”

The new data amounts to a decline in the daily average from over 3 fines issued per day to 2.4 fines per day.

Here’s the full difference between the two releases of information:

fines

ALSO READ: Fines for cyclists should be welcomed but a bit of perspective is needed 

 


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6 comments

  1. Could the decrease in number of fines not be due to a decrease in the number of offences and not a failure of detection? This would seem to be a reasonable interpretation given the change from virtually no enforcement of the rotr for cyclists to hundreds of FPNs being handed out.

    Reply
  2. I wonder could we find out how many motorists driving/parking in cycle lanes and reported to @gardatraffic were even dealt with? The gardaí usually give out to me for including the number plates and other evidence.

    Reply
  3. Is it rational to fine the quiet, nonpolluting cyclists whilst filthy cars and trucks go largely unfined, spewing pollution and GHGs take up all the road space and manage to kill thousands every year?

    Reply
  4. @Robert
    No, not in my opinion. But there you go, I’m just a Joe-Blogs on the internet, so you might be better off just ignoring me.

    And anyway, go onto most internet comment sections or internet forums and you’ll encounter plenty of people who think it most definitely is proper and right to fine cyclists because they heard that their neighbor’s cousin’s work-colleague’s elderly mother was knocked over by a cyclists and she’s now in a home. And the cyclist just rode off. And he wasn’t wearing a helmet either.

    And sure, didn’t you know that cyclists don’t pay any road tax, don’t buy anything at the shops, are a drain on the economy and actively contribute to the slump in house-prices thus keeping young couples in negative equity and are mostly unemployed atheist Satan-worshiping low-down dirty vagabonds with rich life-styles from D4, who contribute nothing to society and are all hipsters who have no notion of what it’s like out there in the real world of hard-graft.

    Motorists on the other hand hold down 3 jobs, pay 99% of their income on tax, prop-up our economy, are concerned about our children, are decent middle-classed and working-class decent traditional country folk who go to mass every Sunday never ask for anything in the form of handouts.

    Reply

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