Published: Friday, 3rd September, 2010 12:00pm

Over 7,700 Offaly drivers amass penalty points

7, 772 drivers in Offaly have incurred penalty points on their licence, the latest statistics from the Road Safety Authority have indicated.

As of July 31 last, just three motorists in the Faithful County clocked up the maximum 12 penalty points within a three year period, a benchmark which automatically results in an immediate six month disqualification from driving, the figures indicated.

75% of the points table in Offaly is at the lower end of the scale in the two points category, with another 17% or 1,369 receiving four points to date. Another 26 people in the county are currently on the brink of a driving ban with ten points accrued over the three year period. Nationwide, 677,602 motorists have penalty points on their driving license record at present.

Any driver accumulating 12 penalty points within any given three-year period will be automatically disqualified from driving for six months.

The driver is required to surrender their licence to the appropriate licensing authority within 14 days of receiving notification of the disqualification. Penalty points remain on your licence for a period of three years.

The penalty points system for driving offences was first introduced in Ireland back in 2002 and now covers 42 different road traffic offences.

According to the RSA the aim of the system is to improve driver behaviour in Ireland and reduce the levels of death and serious injury on our roads. Penalty points has been one of the pillars of their strategy which has been lauded for the significant fall in road deaths countrywide in recent years.