How bad driving habits cost Irish motorists hundreds every year
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Almost half a million drivers across the country are paying hundreds more than they need to on car insurance cover because they have three or more penalty points on their licence.
If you have three points, you’re likely to increase your premium by 10%. Ten penalty points, meanwhile, could double it compared to a driver who is penalty-point-free.
This is according to a new cost comparison analysis by Peopl Insurance.
The insurer is now urging Irish drivers to clean up their driving habits and play their part in making Irish roads safer, and ultimately save themselves hundreds of euro.
With road fatalities now almost 20% higher than they were this time last year, Paul Walsh of Peopl Insurance is concerned road safety messages are simply not hitting home. He’s hoping greater awareness of the financial implications of penalty points on a licence could deter people from bad driving behaviour.
“One phone call while driving could end up costing you 10% more in motor insurance,” he says. “More than half a million people have penalty points on their licence… and this comes against the backdrop of a deterioration in driving behaviour over the last three years.”
Insurance companies typically raise premiums for drivers with three or more penalty points, though this limit can differ between providers.
Mr Walsh says drivers do not realise how easily they can accrue three points. The top penalty point offences include speeding, holding a mobile phone while driving, failure to obey traffic lights, driving without reasonable consideration and driving as an unaccompanied learner driver or without a valid NCT.
“Most of these offences carry three penalty points, with the only exceptions being driving without reasonable consideration or driving as an unaccompanied driver, where the number of penalty points incurred is two.
"Even minor offences like not displaying an ‘L’ or ‘N’ plate as a learner or novice driver can earn you two points, with just one more needed to reach the critical three points.”
Peopl Insurance’s cost comparison demonstrates just how much you can knock off your insurance premium if you can keep penalty points off your license.
“Ten penalty points could see you pay twice as much for insurance as a driver who has stayed penalty-point free,” Mr Walsh says.
The other point is, of course, that keeping a clean license not only lowers insurance costs but also helps drivers avoid hefty fines. If you’re caught using a mobile phone while driving, you’ll pay €120. Speeding carries a fine of €160. Even something as seemingly innocuous as failing to display ‘L’ or ‘N’ plates if you’re a learner driver leaves you open to a fine of €120.
Nor is it simply a matter of more expensive insurance. When you’ve got enough points on your license, some insurers will not quote you at all.
“Drivers who gather 12 points in three years face automatic disqualification from driving . You will struggle to get an insurer to cover you if you have been disqualified from driving or have a driving conviction" Mr Walsh says.
"Some Irish insurers may refuse to quote drivers that have been disqualified in the last seven years, while some insurers may not quote for drivers with a disqualification unless they are a current or previous customer.”
More importantly of course, many people simply do not realise just how fatal a slip-up in their driving behaviour could be. Drivers using a mobile phone are four times more likely to be involved in a collision — yet recent figures show there has been an increase in the numbers of people using their mobile phones while driving.
According to the RSA’s Mobile Device Usage Observational Survey 2023, which was released earlier in the summer, 9% of motorists were observed using a mobile device, compared to 6% in the 2022 survey.
The study was conducted at 145 sites countrywide in September and October 2023. It involved trained personnel standing at the roadside and observing the rate of handheld mobile device usage among drivers of passenger cars, goods vehicles, buses and coaches as they passed.
The highest rate of handheld mobile device usage was seen by drivers of light goods vehicles at 13%, with rates ranging from between 6% and 8% among drivers of other vehicle types.
Of the drivers observed using a handheld mobile device, 59% were using the device in hand and 41% were using the device at their ear. Overall, males were more likely to be observed using a handheld mobile device than females.
Following the publication of the survey, Minister of State at the Department of Transport James Lawless publicly appealed to drivers to put away their phones.
He said: “There are too many people being killed and seriously injured and we must prevent any more families from going through this trauma. All of us have a responsibility and can play a part to stop this upward trend in road crashes.”
“Distracted driving due to handheld mobile device usage is one of the dangerous behaviours that leads to road traffic collisions. This is highlighted by data from the World Health Organization, which indicates that drivers using a mobile phone are four times more likely to be involved in a collision.
"There has also been a deterioration in driving behaviours over the past three years since covid. As well as speeding, distracted driving and drink driving, there is the significant problem of drug driving, something the RSA, the gardaí and the Medical Bureau of Road Safety are very concerned about.”
Paul Walsh says every driver has a responsibility to play their part in stopping the upward trend in road crashes.
“We must prevent any more families from going through the trauma and heartache of losing a loved one, or having a loved one seriously injured.”