Irish Taxi Forum
Public Area => Taxi Talk => Topic started by: silverbullet on November 16, 2023, 06:39:18 pm
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Gardaí to be given insurance details for 3 million vehicles on daily basis
Updated / Thursday, 16 Nov 2023 15:07
The Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) has today started to provide motor insurance details to An Garda Síochána on a daily basis after the official signing of the data sharing agreement between the two organisations.
Details for three million vehicles and five million drivers will now be provided from the Irish Motor Insurance Database (IMID) each day as part of the efforts to identify vehicles being driven illegally without insurance.
Research published by the MIBI earlier this year showed that Ireland had the second highest level of uninsured driving in the EU in 2021, with the numbers rising further in 2022 reaching almost 188,000 uninsured vehicles or one in every 12 private vehicles in use across country.
It is illegal to drive on Irish roads without valid motor insurance. Under Irish law, the penalties for vehicles found without valid insurance include An Garda Síochána having the power to seize the vehicle on the spot, as well as other penalties such as an automatic court appearance, five penalty points and a fine.
As part of the deal, An Garda Síochána will now receive comprehensive insurance records every night, which will provide a real time picture of the insurance details for every private vehicle in the country.
The data which An Garda Síochána will now have access to includes the name and address of the insurance policy holder, the insurance policy number and validity dates of that policy, the vehicle registration number covered by the policy as well as named drivers included on the insurance policy and the date of birth of drivers.
This means that if a vehicle's insurance was to lapse, the Gardai would have access to information providing that detail.
The signing of the deal is the culmination of years of collaboration between the MIBI, An Garda Síochána as well as the Department of Transport, Insurance Ireland, the insurance industry and other stakeholders all aimed at reducing the number of uninsured vehicles being driven in Ireland.
The number of vehicles covered in the insurance data updates is expected to rise even further early next year when data relating to fleet and motor trader vehicles are added.
Ahead of that measure taking effect, fleet owners/ managers as well as motor traders have until the end of November to upload any vehicles covered by flexible motor insurance policies to another within a range of vehicles) to the National Fleet Database.
The CEO of the MIBI, David Fitzgerald, said today's agreement marks a significant milestone in the battle against uninsured driving.
"With the full data transfer for private vehicles now in effect, members of An Garda Síochána will have access to real time motor insurance information. So law enforcement won't be dependent on checking motor insurance certificates, they'll be able to get details for a vehicle's motor insurance policy, the period of time that policy applies as well as information on what individuals are covered by the policy," Mr Fitzgerald said.
"We have seen how effective a weapon this has been against uninsured driving in the UK and we anticipate it will have a similar effect in Ireland - making it next to impossible for motorists to act illegally and drive without valid motor insurance being in place," he added.
The Assistant Commissioner for Roads Policing and Community Engagement with An Garda Síochána, Paula Hilman, said the agreement will act as a modern and effective tool in the battle against uninsured driving.
"With this data, members of An Garda Síochána across the country will now have access to all the latest, comprehensive motor insurance information for every private vehicle operating on our roads. We look forward to using this data to help identify and penalise those who are guilty of driving without insurance, making our roads safer in the process," the Assistant Commissioner added.
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Under the Taxi Act 2013 ..THIS 44. (1) The Authority may approve cameras, CCTV or other apparatus to be set up and operated at specified locations by or on behalf of the Authority or by a person appointed under a service agreement at appointed stands or, with the consent of the Garda Commissioner, at OTHER specified locations, to facilitate—
(a) the monitoring of persons—
(i) standing for hire at appointed stands with a taxi to ensure compliance with Part 3, and
(ii) using vehicles, other than taxis, to ensure they are not standing for hire from those stands,
and
(b) the detection and monitoring of offences involving small public service vehicles at appointed stands or OTHER locations.
My TD mate says this is the Law that they will use to set up cameras and Monitor Bus Lanes .IF they were to detect Civilian Vehicles in a bus lane while monitoring them under section 44 it would then become an detected offence under the law and Civilian vehicles could be fined .He says that there is legislation being written up by the Minister for Justice to set up Camera Monitoring of Bus lanes .
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Mon Aug 28 2023 - 00:00
Camera-based enforcement of bus lanes, cycle tracks and junctions will be required to assist gardaí to ensure the benefits of the BusConnects programme are not eroded, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has said.
The Department of Transport has requested that the NTA establish a working group to examine the issue and bring forward recommendations, with a report due to be provided to the department “later this year”.
Planning consent applications for 12 bus corridors, under the BusConnects scheme, have been submitted to An Bord Pleanála by the NTA for its consideration.
‘Camera enforcement’
In submissions to An Bord Pleanála, the Dublin Commuter Coalition said there was no provision for enforcement cameras proposed as part of the project. “Without a plan for camera enforcement, the effects of the improvements proposed in this scheme will not be seen by bus users,” it said.
It added that existing bus lanes, bus priority lights, bus gates and turns are “abused every day” in Dublin due to the “near-zero level of enforcement”.
In response, the NTA said with the State having incurred “the very large expenditure” required to deliver the BusConnects programme, it is “vital to ensure that sufficient enforcement is in place such that the benefits of that investment are not eroded by widespread breaches of the restrictions applying to bus lanes, cycle tracks and junctions”.
“To effectively ensure this outcome, camera-based enforcement will be required to augment the on-street activities of An Garda Síochána,” an NTA spokesman said. “This type of arrangement is in place in many jurisdictions internationally, where camera detection of certain breaches of regulations is linked to the automatic issue of fixed penalty notices.”
The Road Safety Strategy Action Plan 2021-2024 sets out the need to further develop camera-based enforcement by the gardaí, including at junctions and for the management of bus/cycle lanes.
Following the report from the NTA’s working group, the “subsequent steps for implementation, including addressing any legislative issues that may be identified, will be determined by the Department of Transport”.
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Maybe they could go after uninsured illegal hackneys? yeah right.