Know Your Rights

Question How do I find out if I have penalty points on my driving licence? Answer Penalty points are not physically recorded on your licence. They are recorded on your driving licence record, which is held on the National Vehicle and Driver File operated by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. If you have committed a driving offence that incurs penalty points you will get a written notice from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) telling you that penalty points are being added to your driving licence. This notice will include your name, address, date, time and location of the driving offence concerned and confirmation of the fact that you either paid the fixed charge for the offence or were convicted in the court of such an offence. The notice will also contain the date on which the notice was issued to you. This is important as the points will only be added to your licence 28 days after this date. Penalty points have a three-year lifespan. That means they will remain on your current driving licence for a period of three years from the start date (effective date). Any period where your licence is out of date won't count as part of the three years. If you accumulate 12 points and are disqualified for a period of six months, the points which led to the disqualification are removed at the end of the six months. To find out how many penalty points are on your driving licence record, contact the Road Safety Authority at 1890 41 61 41 and quote your driving licence number. All penalty points added to your driving licence are also recorded on the Garda Pulse computer system so the Gardaí know how many penalty points you have on your driving licence. Further information is available from the Citizens Information Centre below: Know Your Rights has been compiled by Westmeath Citizens Information Service which provides a free and confidential service to the public. Tel: 0761 07 6610 Address: Athlone CIC St Mary's Square, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Information is also available online at citizensinformation.ie and from the Citizens Information Phone Service 0761 07 4000.