Road Traffic Act, 1994

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Minor and consequential amendments.

49.—(1) The Principal Act is hereby amended—

(a) in section 3 (1)—

(i) by the insertion in paragraph (a) of the definition of “hire-drive agreement” after “hire-purchase” of “or letting”;

(ii) by the insertion after the definition of “mobile weigh-bridge” of the following definitions:

“‘motorway’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Roads Act, 1993 ;

‘motorway speed limit’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 44B (inserted by the Road Traffic Act, 1994) of this Act;”;

(iii) by the substitution for the definition of “owner” of the following definition:

“‘owner’, when used in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle, trailer or semi-trailer which is the subject of a hire-purchase agreement or letting agreement, means the person in possession of the vehicle under the agreement;”;

(iv) by the substitution for the definition of “public place” of the following definition:

“‘public place’ means—

(a) any public road, and

(b) any street, road or other place to which the public have access with vehicles whether as of right or by permission and whether subject to or free of charge;”;

and

(v) by the substitution for the definition of “special speed limit” of the following definition:

“‘special speed limit’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 46 (inserted by the Road Traffic Act, 1994) of this Act;”;

(b) in section 7—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (1) for “under this Act made by the Commissioner and every rule thereunder made by him or a local authority” of “and rule made under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1994”, and

(ii) by the substitution in subsection (2) for “under this Act made by the Commissioner and rules thereunder made by him or a local authority” of “and rules made under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1994”;

(c) in section 28 (1)—

(i) by the insertion after “Garda Síochána” of “or appropriate licensing authority”, and

(ii) by the insertion after “such officer” of “or licensing authority”;

(d) in section 36 (1), by the substitution for the words in brackets of the following:

“and, in the case of an offence which would be an offence such as is specified in paragraph 1, 2, 3, 9, 10 or 12 (b) of the Second Schedule to this Act if it were a second or any subsequent offence committed within any period of 3 years and, in the case of an offence which would be an offence such as is specified in paragraph 7 of the said Second Schedule if it were a third or any subsequent offence committed within any period of 3 years and, in the case of an offence which is specified in paragraph 8 or 11 of the Second Schedule to this Act, being an offence in respect of which the court has declined, pursuant to section 26 (5) (b) of this Act, to make a disqualification order, shall”;

(e) in section 37 (2), by the substitution in paragraph (b) (i) for “five years” of “three years”;

(f) in section 53—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (2) (a) for “five years” of “10 years” and for “£3,000” (as inserted by the Act of 1984) of “£10,000”, and

(ii) by the substitution in subsection (3) for “built-up area or special” of “built-up area, special or motorway”;

(g) in section 64, by the substitution for subsection (4) (inserted by the Act of 1968) of the following subsection:

“(4) (a) For the purposes of a prosecution for an offence under this section, a member of the Garda Síochána may, by a notice in writing served by post on a vehicle insurer, require the person within 10 days of the date of service of the notice to furnish to the member any document referred to in subsection (3) of this section which is in that person's possession or within his procurement and is specified in the notice.

(b) A person who refuses or fails to comply with a requirement of a member of the Garda Síochána under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be guilty of an offence.”;

(h) in section 69 (2), by the substitution for “one month” of “3 months” in paragraph (a);

(i) in section 101, by the insertion after subsection (7A) (inserted by the Act of 1968) of the following new subsections:

“(7B) Where, in relation to a mechanically propelled vehicle, there is a contravention of a bye-law under subsection (7) of this section, each of the following persons shall be guilty of an offence—

(a) the registered owner of the vehicle,

(b) if the vehicle is the subject of a hire-drive agreement on the occasion in question, the person to whom the vehicle is hired under the agreement, and

(c) if the person who parked the vehicle is not its registered owner or the person to whom it is hired under a hire-drive agreement, the first-mentioned person.

(7C) (a) Where a person charged with an offence under subsection (7B) (inserted by the Road Traffic Act, 1994) of this section is the registered owner of the vehicle concerned, it shall be a defence for him to show that the vehicle was being used on the occasion in question by another person and that—

(i) such use was unauthorised, or

(ii) the vehicle was on that occasion the subject of a hire-drive agreement.

(b) Where a person charged with an offence under subsection (7B) (as so inserted) of this section is a person to whom the vehicle concerned stood hired at the time of the commission of the offence, it shall be a defence for him to show that the vehicle was being used on the occasion in question by another person and that such use was unauthorised.”;

(j) in section 101B (as inserted by the Act of 1987)—

(i) by the substitution in subsection (2) for “90 of this Act” of “35 or 36 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994”, and

(ii) by the substitution in paragraph (b) of subsection (8) for “bye-laws or temporary rules under section 90 of this Act” of “regulations or bye-laws under section 35 or 36 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994”;

(k) in sections 97 (1) (b), 102, 103, 107, 110, 111, 115, 125 and 126, by the substitution for “this Act” of “the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1994”; and

(l) by the substitution for the Second Schedule of the following Schedule:

“Section 26.

Second Schedule

Offences under the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1994, involving Consequential Disqualification Orders.

Using mechanically propelled vehicle without test certificate.

1. An offence by a person under subsection (2) of section 18 of this Act, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which a previous offence was committed by the person under that subsection for which he was convicted.

Driving mechanically propelled vehicle before remedying dangerous defect.

2. An offence by a person under subsection (10) of section 20 of this Act, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which a previous offence was committed by the person under that subsection for which he was convicted.

Driving mechanically propelled vehicle when unfit.

3. An offence by a person under section 48 of this Act, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which a previous offence was committed by the person under that section for which he was convicted.

Driving mechanically propelled vehicle while under influence of intoxicating liquor or drug.

4. An offence under section 49 of this Act.

Being in charge of mechanically propelled vehicle while under influence of intoxicating liquor or drug.

5. An offence under section 50 of this Act.

Refusal or failure to provide specimen or to comply with requirement of designated doctor.

6. An offence under section 13 , 14 or 15 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994.

Careless driving.

7. An offence by a person under section 52 of this Act, where the contravention involved the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which 2 or more previous offences were committed by the person under that section for which he was convicted.

Dangerous driving of mechanically propelled vehicle.

8. An offence under section 53 of this Act where the contravention involved the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle.

Driving of dangerously defective mechanically propelled vehicle.

9. An offence by a person under section 54 of this Act, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which a previous offence was committed by the person under that section for which he was convicted.

Parking mechanically propelled vehicle in dangerous position.

10. An offence by a person under section 55 of this Act where the contravention involved the parking of a mechanically propelled vehicle and where any part of the period of the contravention was a period within lighting-up hours (as specified in the section) during which the vehicle did not fulfil the requirements imposed by law with respect to lighting and reflectors, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which a previous offence was committed by the person under that section for which he was convicted.

Use of mechanically propelled vehicle not insured.

11. An offence under section 56 of this Act.

Failure to fulfil duties on occurrence of accident.

12. (a) An offence under section 106 of this Act where the contravention involved non-compliance with paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) of that section, injury was caused to person, a mechanically propelled vehicle was involved in the occurrence of the injury and the convicted person was the driver of the vehicle concerned.

(b) An offence under section 106 of this Act (other than an offence to which subparagraph (a) of this paragraph relates) where injury was caused to person, a mechanically propelled vehicle was involved in the occurrence of the injury and the convicted person was the driver of the vehicle concerned, being an offence committed in a period of 3 years in which a previous such offence was committed by the person for which he was convicted.

Taking mechanically propelled vehicle without authority.

13. An offence under subsection (2) of section 112 of this Act.”.

(2) Reference in section 3 (1) (a) (as inserted by the Act of 1987) of the Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act, 1975 to the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1984 and references in the Act of 1993 to the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1987, shall be construed as references to the Road Traffic Acts, 1961 to 1994.

(3) The Act of 1993 is hereby amended—

(a) in section 20 (1) by the substitution for paragraph (l) of the following paragraph:

“(l) provide a specified traffic sign under and in accordance with section 95 of the Act of 1961,”, and

(b) in section 23, by the deletion of subsection (3).