Road Traffic Law

Plans to criminalise the sale of e-scooters to under-16s have been dropped by ministers amid concerns the law would be unenforceable. The Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021, which cleared the second stage in the Dáil in November, will regulate e-scooters in Ireland for the first time. They will

Judith Rountree, associate at Carson McDowell, offers a Northern Ireland practitioner's perspective on the new Highway Code in England, Wales and Scotland. The Department for Transport in England, Wales and Scotland have implemented a revised Highway Code which came into force on 29 January 2022. A

The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission have today published a joint report making recommendations for the safe and responsible introduction of self-driving vehicles.  The report recommends introducing a new Automated Vehicles Act to regulate vehicles that can dr

Penalties for motorists caught parking on footpaths, cycle tracks and bus lanes will be doubled from February, the government has announced. Transport minister Eamon Ryan has signed regulations increasing the fixed charge penalty from €40 to €80 with effect from 1 February 2022.

Asylum seekers are now able to apply for driving licenses and learner permits in Ireland following a High Court ruling last month. In his judgment, Mr Justice Mark Heslin said international protection applicants should be considered "lawfully resident" in the State for the purposes of the Road Traff

Careless driving will become a fixed penalty notice offence under plans to reduce the number of minor motoring offences becoming before the Northern Ireland courts. A consultation paper published this week proposes that a fixed penalty of £100 of three penalty points should be imposed for mino

Two asylum seekers who were refused permission to exchange their foreign driving licences for Irish ones have succeeded in a High Court challenge. The legal challenge, led by solicitor Stephen Kirwan of KOD Lyons, centred on whether the asylum seekers could prove they are "normally resident" in Irel

The High Court has determined that a motor insurer must provide cover for a man who was badly injured when the lifting mechanism of a lorry failed and dropped a large bin on him. The dispute came before the court as a special case pursuant to Order 34 RSC, in circumstances where two insurers could n

All drink driving offenders will have the opportunity to reduce their disqualification period by up to 25 per cent by completing a rehabilitation training course under a new law coming into force today. The Road Traffic (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 has been commenced with effect from Mond

Personal injury and road traffic accident specialist firm JMK Solicitors has partnered with New Driver to offer school pupils the chance to win a new car.

Ireland's human rights watchdog has been granted permission to act as amicus curiae in a case concerning the National Driving Licence Service’s (NDLS) refusal to permit asylum seekers to exchange their foreign driving licences for Irish ones. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has

Justice Minister Naomi Long will next week meet with the family of an 18-year-old student killed by a drunk driver to discuss the initial findings of a major sentencing review. The family of Enda Dolan, who was killed in October 2014, have called for tougher sentences for drunk drivers ever since Da

Plans to introduce graduated speeding penalties have been scrapped by the new government. Former Transport Minister Shane Ross had secured Cabinet approval in 2019 for a new system which would have imposed sanctions on drivers according to the extent to which they exceed the speed limit.

A barrister has discovered a technical error in road traffic legislation which may render arrests in certain cases of drug driving unlawful. David Staunton, who is currently preparing a second edition of his book Drunken Driving, found that the Road Traffic Act 2016 includes a reference to section 1

Legislation exempting private vehicles of historic interest from annual MOT testing has come into effect. The change applies to private vehicles constructed or first registered more than 40 years ago and aligns Northern Ireland legislation with that in Great Britain.