ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1994

• (2) Regulations under this section may, in particular and without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1)—

• (a) authorise and provide for the recovery by such persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the regulations from the owners of vehicles detained, removed, stored, released or disposed of, of charges in accordance with a prescribed scale, in respect of such detention, removal, storage, release or disposal and for the disposal of moneys received in respect of such charges,

• (b) provide for the waiver or deferral of such charges in such circumstances as may be specified in the regulations,

• (c) provide for the release, by or on behalf of persons referred to in paragraph (a), of vehicles detained, removed or stored to such persons and upon such conditions as may be specified in the regulations,

• (d) authorise and provide for the sale (or the disposal otherwise than by sale), by or on behalf of persons referred to in paragraph (a) of vehicles detained, removed or stored and provide for the disposal of moneys received in respect of such sale or other disposal.

• (3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a vehicle shall not be disposed of thereunder before the expiration of a period of F59[3 weeks] from the date of its detention or 2 weeks after notice of the intended disposal has been given in the prescribed manner, whichever is the longer.

• (4) A person who obstructs or impedes, or assists another person to obstruct or impede, a member of the Garda Síochána in the performance of his duties under this section shall be guilty of an offence.

• (5) No action shall lie in respect of anything done in good faith and without negligence in the course of the detention, removal, storage, release or disposal of a vehicle under this section.

42. Power of road authority to provide and maintain certain equipment, etc. on public roads.

42.—F61[…]

43. Amendment of section 103 of Principal Act.

43.—Section 103 of the Principal Act is hereby amended—

• (a) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b) of subsection (2):

• “(b) that such person may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to a member of the Garda Síochána or an authorised person at a specified Garda Síochána station or at another specified place a payment of a prescribed amount accompanied by the notice,”;

• (b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b) of subsection (3):

• “(b) that a person liable to be prosecuted for the offence may, during the period of 21 days beginning on the date of the notice, make to a member of the Garda Síochána or an authorised person at a specified Garda Síochána station or at another specified place a payment of a prescribed amount accompanied by the notice,”;

• (c) by the substitution of the following paragraphs for paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4):

• “(a) a person to whom the notice applies may, during the period specified in the notice, make to a member of the Garda Síochána or an authorised person at the Garda Síochána station or other place specified in the notice the payment specified in the notice accompanied by the notice,

• (b) the member or the authorised person may receive the payment, issue a receipt therefor and retain it for disposal in accordance with this Act and no payment so received shall in any circumstances be recoverable by the person who made it,”; and

• (d) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (8) (inserted by section 64 of the Act of 1968):

• “(8) In this section ‘authorised person’ means a person appointed by the Minister for Justice to be an authorised person for the purposes of this section.”.

44. Amendment of section 105 of Principal Act.

44.—Section 105 of the Principal Act is hereby amended in paragraph (b) by the insertion after “a watch or electronic or other apparatus” of “(including photographic apparatus)”.

45. Amendment of section 106 of Principal Act.

45.—Section 106 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following new subsection:

• “(3A) A member of the Garda Síochána may arrest without warrant a person who in the member’s opinion is committing or has committed an offence under subsection (3) of this section where the contravention involves or, as may be appropriate, involved non-compliance with paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) of this section, injury was caused to person, a mechanically propelled vehicle was involved in the occurrence of the injury and the first-mentioned person is, or as may be appropriate, was in the member’s opinion the driver of the vehicle concerned.”.

46. Amendment of section 107 of Principal Act.

46.—Section 107 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (4) of the following new subsection:

• “(4A)

  • (a) A requirement under subsection (4) of this section may be made of a person either personally or in a notice in writing served upon him by registered post.

  • (b) Notwithstanding the said subsection (4), where a requirement under that subsection is made of a person in a notice served upon him by registered post the person shall not be guilty of an offence unless he fails to comply with the requirement within the time (being not less than 14 days from the date on which the notice was posted) specified in the notice.”.

47. Amendment of section 9 of Principal Act.

47.—Section 9 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

• “(1) Save as is otherwise expressly provided by this Act, all fees and other sums received under this Act or regulations thereunder by the Commissioner or any other member of the Garda Síochána or by an authorised person (within the meaning of section 103 of this Act) shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance directs.”.

48. Summary proceedings.

48.—(1) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, and subject to subsection (2), summary proceedings for an offence under section 64 or 115 of the Principal Act may be instituted—

• (a) at any time within 6 months from the date on which the offence was committed, or

• (b) at any time within 3 months from the date on which evidence sufficient, in the opinion of the person by whom the proceedings are instituted, to justify proceedings comes to such person’s knowledge,

whichever is the later.

• (2) Summary proceedings mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall not be instituted later than 3 years from the date on which the offence was committed.

• (3) For the purposes of this section, a certificate signed by the person instituting the proceedings or on his behalf by a person authorised by him to sign such a certificate on his behalf stating the date on which evidence described in subsection (1)(b) of this section came to the knowledge of the first mentioned person shall, until the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence in any proceedings under section 64 or 115 of the Principal Act of the facts stated therein, without proof of any signature on it or that the signatory was the proper person to sign it, and shall, until the contrary is shown, be sufficient evidence of compliance by the first mentioned person with the requirements imposed on him by or under this section.

49. 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) F62[…]

• (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).

Footnotes