Question 1

What happens if I ignore a fixed charge notice?

Accepted Answer

The amount rises. The Road Traffic Act 2010 gives a first payment period at the amount printed on the notice, then a second period at a higher amount. If neither is paid a summons may follow, and a further, higher amount applies up to shortly before the court date. Ignoring it does not make it lapse.

Question 2

Does paying a fixed charge notice mean I have been convicted?

Accepted Answer

No. Payment ends the matter without a prosecution — the Act says a prosecution will not be instituted during a payment period, and not at all if payment is made in accordance with the notice. But if the offence is a penalty point offence, points are still endorsed on your record for paying.

Question 3

Why do I see two different penalty point numbers for the same offence?

Accepted Answer

Because there are two. The First Schedule to the Road Traffic Act 2002 sets one number for paying the fixed charge and a different, higher number for being convicted of the same offence. Some offences carry no fixed-charge figure at all, which means there is no fixed-charge route for them.

Question 4

Is the disqualification threshold different for learner drivers?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and this is the single most commonly mis-stated fact in this market. A learner or novice driver is disqualified at a lower point total than a full licence holder. Both disqualifications last the same length of time.

Question 5

Is there a tolerance before a speeding fine is issued in Ireland?

Accepted Answer

Not in the statute book. Irish legislation admits speed readings from cameras and radar equipment without prescribing any deduction, margin or tolerance, and it defers the question to no regulation. That is a deliberate finding rather than a gap in our research: the Oireachtas did write an express margin-of-error power for breath alcohol, so it plainly knows how to write one, and it wrote none for speed. Any specific figure you have seen quoted is not from the statute book.

Question 6

Does the speeding fine go up the faster I was going?

Accepted Answer

No. The Irish fixed charge for exceeding a speed limit is a single flat amount regardless of the excess. Speed can matter for whether you are prosecuted rather than given a notice, and for what a court does — but it does not change the fixed charge itself.

Common questions