New law to keep banned
drivers off UK and Irish roads - Embargoed until 0001 Thursday 28
January 2010
A new law to keep
disqualified drivers off UK and Irish roads comes into force today.
As a result of a groundbreaking agreement between the British,
Irish and Northern Ireland Ministers, UK drivers disqualified for
serious motoring offences in Ireland will no longer escape
punishment when they return home.
Similarly, disqualifications earned by Irish drivers while in the
UK will be recognised and enforced when they return to Ireland.
Road Safety Minister Paul Clark said:
“We’ve cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on our roads
by 40% since the mid-1990s – that’s more than 19,000 fewer deaths
or serious injuries in a year and means we now have some of the
safest roads in the world.
“But we need to continue to work to make our roads even safer and
if a UK driver commits a serious offence while in Ireland it is
right that their ban should still apply when they return home.
“From today this new law will ensure that disqualified drivers
are not able to escape their punishment and so keep dangerous
drivers off the roads.”
The new law is the first practical step to recognise driving
disqualifications in Europe under the terms of the 1998 European
Convention on driving disqualifications.
Notes to Editors
1. In 1998, the UK and Ireland along with all thirteen (at the
time) other EU Member States of the European Union signed the
Convention on driving disqualification (98/C 216/01). The
Convention intends to ensure that drivers disqualified from
driving in a Member State other than their normal place of
residence should not, on their return home, escape the
consequences of that disqualification.
2. The Convention provides for six agreed kinds of conduct which
will be internationally recognised for the purposes of driving
disqualification. The Convention automatically comes into force
across all Member States only when all original signatory States
have ratified it. However, the Convention allows one EU Member
State to recognise another's driving disqualifications
before all Member States have ratified.
3. The agreed behaviours covered by the 1998 Convention include:
reckless or dangerous driving; hit-and-run driving; driving whilst
under the influence of alcohol or drugs; speeding; and driving
whilst disqualified. The Convention and therefore also
today's agreement does not apply to disqualifications
under the totting up of penalty points procedure.
4. The UK and Ireland implemented the necessary primary
legislation to allow for ratification (in Great Britain through
the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003, and in Ireland
under the Road Traffic Act (2002). Both Ireland and the UK have
made the relevant notification to the EU Council; legislation in
Ireland and the UK must come into force 90 days after
notification, i.e. 28 January 2010.
5. Mutual recognition of driving disqualification came into
effect between Britain and Northern Ireland on 11 October 2004 and
was extended to include the Isle of Man on 23 May 2005.
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