PART 7 CERTAIN DRIVING OFFENCES

Section 56 provides for the substitution of sections 51A, 52, 53, 54 and 55 of the Principal Act in relation to inconsiderate, careless and dangerous driving, driving a dangerously defective vehicle and parking a vehicle in a dangerous position.

Repeals (Part 7)

Section 57 provides for the repeal of section 35 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861, sections 49 to 52 of the Act of 1968, section 13 of the Act of 2004 and the matters at reference numbers 11 to 16 in Part 1 of the Table to section 18 of the Act of 2006.

PART 8 MISCELLANEOUS

Section 58 provides for the amendment of section 3(1) of the Principal Act in relation to the definition of “the Minister”, “road authority” and “vehicle”.

Section 59 amends the definition of mechanically propelled vehicle, in the context of a vehicle which has been substantially disabled following a road traffic collision.

Section 60 amends section 47 of the Principal Act by inserting a rebuttable presumption provision in relation to the application of speed limits (indicated on speed limit signs).

Section 61 provides for making current third party motor insurance data available as soon as possible for the purposes of enforcing the requirements of the Principal Act and to meet the information needs of the 4^th and 5^th Motor Insurance EU Directives in providing insurance and ownership details to the victims of motor accidents by means of an Information Centre (operated by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland).

Section 62 repeals section 21 of the Act of 2002, section 15 of the Act of 2004 and section 17 of the Act of 2006 and restates the provisions in respect of evidence in relation to speeding and certain other offences and clarifies those relating to the development, production and viewing of records produced by safety cameras by Garda civilian personnel designated by the Garda Commissioner under section 19 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

Section 63 provides for the ordering by the Court of costs of prosecutions, incurred by the Court, in relation to the investigation, detection and prosecution of offences under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2009.

Section 64 repeals section 28 of the Act of 2004 and provides for any reference to the Commissioner in the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2009 or the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 to be read as a reference to the Commissioner or another member of the Garda Síochána not below the rank of Chief Superintendent authorised by the Commissioner to act or carry out a function or requirement on his or her behalf.

Section 65 replaces the Table to section 15 of the Act of 1968 in relation to obligatory maximum penalties for offences relating to excess weight of vehicles.

Section 66 amends section 18(2) of the Act of 1968 and clarifies that Regulations made by the Minister for Transport in relation to Approved Driving Instructors may include conditions relating to assessment of applicants, including the fitness of applicants to operate as an Approved Driving Instructor.

Section 67 amends section 9 of the Road Traffic Act 2004 to permit the use of lower speed limits to be applied by speed limit bye-laws on the off-ramps of motorways.

Section 68 repeals section 27 of the Act of 2004 and restates the provisions relating to exemptions from the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2009 for emergency vehicles

Section 69 amends section 30 of the Act of 2004 to provide for the penalty for the offence of supplying a mechanically propelled vehicle to a minor.

Section 70 provides for the amendment of section 35 of the Act of 1994 to allow regulations made under the section to specify the manner in which permits issued by a local authority must be displayed on the vehicle concerned

Exchequer and Financial Implications

There are no costs associated with the proposals at this stage.

Regulatory Impact Assessment

A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) in relation to the proposed reduction in blood alcohol levels was undertaken and is in the Appendix to this Memorandum.