In the first two months of 2019, almost 5,000 drivers in\nIreland were detected holding their mobile phone while driving by An Garda\nS\u00edoch\u00e1na, an increase of 24 percent in detections compared to the same period\nin 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, the Garda\u00ed and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and are\nurging drivers, ahead of the Easter weekend, to put their mobile phones away\nwhile driving so they can focus all their attention on the road. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA 24 percent increase in detections for holding a mobile\nwhile driving is shocking but clearly, the Garda\u00ed are working hard to stamp out\nthe practice, and it should serve as a warning to those people who refuse to\nlisten,\u201d said Shane Ross, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. \u201cEvidence\nshows that driver distraction is one of the major risk factors in causing road\ntraffic collisions. When you use your mobile phone behind the wheel, taking\nyour mind and eyes off the road for just a split second can destroy everything\nforever. The message is put the phone away while driving and take extra care\nover the coming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Ireland, the offence of holding a mobile phone while\ndriving is the second highest reason for a driver to receive penalty points,\nafter speeding, and 81,199 penalty points notices for mobile phone usage were\nissued in the three-year period up to end of March 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUsing your mobile phone when driving makes you four times\nmore likely to crash,\u201d said Moyagh Murdock, Chief Executive of the RSA. \u201cDespite\nthis, rational, intelligent people continue to text, make phone calls and check\ninto their social media accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Motorists detected holding a mobile phone risk a fixed charge notice of \u20ac60 and three penalty points. If a fully licensed driver receives 12 penalty points in a three-year period they will be disqualified from driving for six months. If a learner permit holder or novice driver receives seven points in a three-year period they will face a six months disqualification. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the first two months of 2019, almost 5,000 drivers in Ireland were detected holding their mobile phone while driving by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, an increase of 24 percent in detections compared to the same period in 2018. Now, the Garda\u00ed and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and are urging drivers, ahead of the Easter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":8547,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}