From today, the 1st of May, Irish drivers face severe new penalties if they are caught texting (or emailing) from their mobile phones while driving. Technically, texting was already covered as part of the general offence of using a phone when driving, leading to a €90 on-the-spot fine and three penalty points. However, there was a loophole in the legislation whereby if the phone was connected to a hands-free kit at the time, the offence was not clear.
Now though, texting is being seen as a much more serious offence than merely using the phone, and will incur a fine of €1,000 and a court summons. The new offence carries no automatic application of penalty points, but a Garda on the scene may levy points as part of the existing and continuing offence of using the phone when driving.
Second offenders will be hit with a €2,000 fine and another court appearance and those caught for a third time within 12 months could land themselves with a three-month custodial sentence. Speaking to The Irish Times a spokesman for Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said that texting while driving is considered a serious enough offence to warrant a mandatory court appearance, which would rank it alongside drink- and drug-driving.
The Department feels that penalty points are often these days seen as a less serious deterrent than a court appearance, hence the change in the legislation.
The news comes as insurance provider Liberty Insurance released details of its own survey into the bad habits of Irish drivers. The research, carried out by Millward Brown, revealed that, whilst just three per cent of drivers rate themselves as unsafe, almost half (46 per cent) admit to engaging in distracting activities when driving.
The campaign is calling on drivers to be more aware of the risks posed by some of their habits when driving and encourages them to change their behaviour in efforts to make Irish roads safer. Some 56 per cent of respondents said they would consider themselves to be as safe as most drivers, and 41 per cent would consider themselves safer than the majority of drivers.
The Liberty Insurance research revealed 13 per cent stated they engaged in digital distractions including texting, checking emails and talking on their mobile. Eating while driving, was cited by nine per cent of respondents, with more men (11 per cent) partaking in this activity than women (seven per cent).
Taking/placing calls while driving was cited by seven per cent of drivers in the Liberty Insurance research as an activity they had partaken in the day before. Talking on the phone while driving was higher among men (nine per cent) than women (six per cent), Additional digital distractions drivers admitted to executing included sending or reading a text message at four per cent, using Map Apps at three per cent, with checking emails, posting on Facebook/Twitter and checking a traffic report from their phone, all at one per cent respectively.
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Some 36 per cent of respondents said that they have changed a channel on the radio, a lower level distraction, but the most common distracting activity carried out while behind the wheel. The biggest culprits for this were 17-34 year olds and young families, at 41 per cent each.