Gardai have warned motorists of a little known rule that could see drivers rack up several penalty points.
Speaking on RTE's Crime Call programme on Monday, gardai emphasised the importance of driving responsibly whilst using Ireland's motorways.
Regarding the correct practice to use, gardai said drivers should be aware that staying in the motorway's outside lane and failing to return to the left-hand lane after overtaking is an offence.
The legislation states that it is an offence incurring penalty points and fixed charges to drive "a vehicle subject to an ordinary speed limit of 90 kms per hour or less on the outside lane on a motorway."
Penalty points can significantly impact a driver's pocket as they usually lead to a hike in insurance premiums and so should be avoided.
The points are recorded on your driving licence when you are convicted in a court of a driving offence that incurs them, or you pay a fixed charge notice issued to you for an offence that also carries penalty points.
Should a driver get 12 penalty points in any three year period, they will be automatically disqualified from driving for six months.
However, learner permit drivers are disqualified if they have seven penalty points. This lower threshold also applies for the first two years of a driver's first full driving licence.
Penalty points remain on your licence record for three years, and any period where your licence is out of date, or you are serving a court disqualification does not count as part of the three years.
If you accumulate 12 points or seven where applicable and are disqualified from driving for six months, the points which led to the disqualification are removed at the end of the six months.
But if you had more offences that had not been endorsed on your licence record by the time you started your six-month suspension, these extra points would be added to your licence record and would remain on your licence for three years from the time your licence was reinstated.
Other motorway offences that incur penalty points or a fixed charge notice include:
- Driving a vehicle on a motorway against the flow of traffic
- Driving on the hard shoulder of a motorway
