The new on the spot fines system targeting cyclists will be in place as early as next month. It covers an initial 15 offences, which will be added to in time.
By Cian Ginty
IrishCycle.com
Officials in the Department of Transport have drawn up 15 cycling-related road traffic offences to be covered by new on-the-spot fines. expected to be in places as early as next month.
The fines are expected to be €50 or more and will become operational as early as next month.
Gardai have previously stated that the introduction of the new system will coincide with a major enforcement drive.
While the exact list of offences and the range of fines will now become known until the Government announces full details of the plans, a number of sources have suggested the fines could go as high as €200.
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The draft list of offences, which is subject to consultation with the Gardai and the Road Safety Authority, includes fines only for offences which already exist.
No new offences will be created as part of the process. In legal terms, the offences related to “driving” a “pedal cycle”; that is, cycling.
The main stated goals of the change are to act as a deterrent against reckless and inconvenient behaviour, and also to free up the time and resources within the courts system and the Garda.
The payment of fines will negate the need to summons cyclists to court; a resource intensive process even for minor offences.
The draft list of offences which will incur on-the-spot fines includes well-flagged infringements such as having no lights after the hours of darkness, running red lights, cycling on footpaths or pedestrianised streets, cycling on Luas tram lanes, and cycling or attempting to cycle while under the influence of an intoxicant.
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There will also be a fine for cycling “without reasonable consideration”, which is not well-defined in law.
The draft list also includes cycling more than two abreast, not cycling in single file when overtaking traffic, having no brakes on your bicycle, failing to stop for a school warden, and holding on to a vehicle which is in motion.
The above mentioned offences are included in what is viewed as the first phase of the roll-out of on-the-spot fines for cycling offences.
The Department of Transport has a longer list of bicycle-related offences which could be used for this or future expansion of the fines.
These future finable offences include: no rear reflector on a pedal cycle; failure to drive a pedal cycle on the left-hand side of each lane on a two-way cycle track; failure to drive a pedal cycle on the designated cycle lane of a shared track for pedal cycles and pedestrians; and driving a pedal cycle on a motorway.
A likely worry to campaigners is the inclusion of the offence of proceeding beyond a ‘No Pedal Cycles’ sign.
There is little regulation covering the use of these signs which are not yet in use widely.
To date the signs are mainly used on tunnels on non-motorway roads.
In other countries similar signs are used to force people cycling to use off-road routes; although, so-call “mandatory use” of cycle lanes was only removed in Ireland in recent years.
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