Fresh calls have been made for a driver education programme to be introduced in schools across Clare.
New research has found 13,000 motorists in this county currently have penalty points on their licences.
Official Department of Transport figures show 13,149 motorists in Clare have been penalised at least once over the course of the last three years.
Of those, 12,312 have three or more points, prompting warnings that they’ll face higher insurance premiums as a result.
Meanwhile, 17 drivers have been put off the road in Clare so far this year after reaching the 12-point threshold for licence disqualification.
Chris Curran, from the Chris Curran Coaching Driving School in Ennis, says drivers aren’t taking enough responsibility behind the wheel.
Nationwide, there’s been an 8% increase in the number of motorists receiving penalty points over the past 12 months.
Speeding is the most common offence resulting in penalty points, accounting for almost 65 percent of all offences so far this year.
Superintendent in the Clare/Tipperary Garda Division, Eddie Golden, says young people need to be educated about the dangers of speeding from an early age.
Listen to the full interview here:
