Cyclists who do not pay fines under the new on-the-spot fines system are taken to court where the fines are bigger. But the majority who end up in court are simply not paying.
The majority of cyclists caught by the Garda under a new on the sport fines system have simply not paid the fine handed down, according to the Courts Service.
New information compiled by the Courts Service and supplied to Fianna Fail suggests only one in four cyclists caught breaking the rules of the road last year have paid.
And of those caught under the new system in 2015, just half have paid their fines.
It has always been feared that if cyclists were stopped by the Garda and had no identification to prove who they were they could supply a false name and address meaning the full extent of the law could never be brought to bear against them.
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“Supplying the name and address is fundamental to making sure this new system is implemented,” the then minister for transport Pascal Donohoe said in 2015 when the on-the-spot fines system was implemented.
The figures for collection rates from last year may be lower because those who were fined in the latter months of the year may not have paid yet. When the figures for last year are reviewed again in coming months, the compliance rate is almost certain to be higher.
However, the figures showing that half of those caught in 2015 had paid are unlikely to change very much.
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Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan, who obtained the figures after a Dáil question, has criticised those cyclists who have not paid and also the system for being apparently unable to force payment from them.
“If penalties are not collected then we undermine laws that are put in place to protect the community,” he said.
“People cycling on footpaths is a big issue for pedestrians and older people in particular and it is important that footpaths are kept safe for pedestrians. And I say this as a cyclist.”
In 2015, the year the new on-the-spot fines were cyclists were introduced, the courts imposed 101 fines to the total value of €13,785. However, only 43 cyclists paid and €4,410 collected from them.
That represents a cyclist payment rate of 43 per cent and a collection rate of just 32 per cent.
Last year a total of 121 fines were imposed by the courts and to date only 29 have been paid. Just €3,650 has been paid over of the €20,718 total value of fines imposed.
That represents a payment rate by just 24 per cent of cyclists and a collection rate of just under 18 per cent.
The figures supplied are only for those cases that went to court. A list of the total number of cyclists detected and caught on the spot and who paid the fine so did not progress to court was still be finalised.
New legislation came into force in August 2015 under which cyclists faced on-the-spot fines for offences including:
- Cyclist driving a pedal cycle without reasonable consideration – €40
• No front lamp or rear lamp lit during lighting-up hours on a pedal cycle – €40
• Cyclist proceeding into a pedestrianised street or area – €40
• Cyclist proceeding past traffic lights when the red lamp is illuminated – €40
• Cyclist proceeding past cycle traffic lights when red lamp is lit – €40
• Cyclist failing to stop for a School Warden sign – €40
• Cyclist proceeding beyond a stop line, barrier or half barrier at a railway level crossing, swing bridge or lifting bridge, when the red lamps are flashing – €40
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