Disqualified Drivers Targeted By New Safety Laws
Disqualified drivers will be kept off UK and Irish roads by new regulations laid before Parliament.
The move will mean that UK drivers disqualified for an offence in the Republic of Ireland will no longer escape that punishment when they return home. Likewise, disqualifications earned by Irish drivers while in the UK will be recognised and enforced when they return to Ireland.
The measures are the result of a pioneering deal agreed between the British, Irish and Northern Ireland Ministers in Belfast in June and represent the first practical step of its kind in Europe.
Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said, “Britain has one of the best road safety records in the world but we need to do everything we can to improve even further. These measures will keep dangerous drivers off our roads by ensuring that disqualified drivers are not able to escape their punishment. The agreement was the first to be drawn up under the terms of the 1998 European Convention on driving disqualifications. Regulations to bring the agreement into law in Great Britain were laid before Parliament today and mutual recognition of disqualifications between the three administrations should be in place by Spring 2009.
Simon McBride
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