- 40,000 More Irish Drivers Picked Up Penalty Points This Year
- Speeding Now Accounts for Two-Thirds of All Penalty Point Offences
- “As Penalty Points Rise, So Does the Cost to Drivers”
The half a million motorists in Ireland with 3+ penalty points on their licence could be paying an additional penalty of hundreds of euro in the form of higher motor insurance premiums. A fact that many motorists simply don’t realise.
This is according to car insurance provider OUTsurance, who report that driving behaviour like speeding and using a mobile phone is not only dangerous, but also has knock-on implications on driver’s pockets – often in the form of higher insurance premiums for those motorists that have points on their licence.
OUTsurance say that analysis of official data (See Sources below) for the first half of 2026 shows that in Ireland, 387,028 drivers hold exactly 3 points, representing the vast majority of all penalised drivers. Just over 1,000 are on 12 points which is the mandatory threshold for disqualification and just over 900 are on 11 points, just one offence from being put off the road.
Ian Kennedy, Chief Marketing Officer of OUTsurance advised, “The number of penalty points dished out to Irish drivers is up almost 8% – or 40,000 drivers – over the last year. Speeding penalty point offences, for example, are up from 428,508 last June to 441,602 in June 2026, which is an increase of 3%. Arguably the rise isn’t huge – but you would hope that the number of people speeding on Irish roads would be going down and not up.
What we’re trying to do is draw attention to the need for greater care on Irish roads. The dangers of speeding and mobile phone use are huge, but there are occasions that motorists can lose sight of that once they’re behind the wheel. If they know there’s an added cost involved too – on top of the penalty point fine – in the form of higher premiums, then maybe that will act as one more deterrent and another reason to think twice before breaking the rules.
Insurers look at a whole range of factors when they’re working out your premium, and penalty points are up there as a significant consideration. And it’s not just how many points you’ve got but the type of offence and what kind of licence you hold matter too. As a general rule of thumb, the more points on your licence, the more you’re likely to pay”.
OUTsurance say the data is stark, with nearly 75% of all penalty point offences on Irish roads attributed to just two behaviours: speeding and mobile phone use and within that, speeding remains the overwhelming driver of penalty point awards, dwarfing every other safety category.
Mr. Kennedy observed, “The gap between speeding and all other offences is major. Speeding accounts for around 65% of all active notices, which is more than six times the number for the next most prevalent offence, mobile phone use.
It’s interesting that while over half a million drivers have points, most of them just have 3 – which is usually equal to one offence. So for the vast majority of drivers, rather than being a case of continually breaking the rules, they may have had just one lapse in judgement”.
Mr. Kennedy continued, “Following years of improvement, we’re now seeing road fatalities rise again, and that’s something we can’t ignore. There were 185 people killed on Irish roads in 2025, up from 171 in 2024, which is an 8% increase, and the highest annual total in several years. And according to the most recent figures up to the end of August 128 people have died on our roads already this year.
The road safety campaigns and Garda enforcement efforts are still making a difference, but the recent figures show there’s more to be done. If there’s another way to get people to sit up and take notice we believe it’s worth looking at, and raising awareness of the added cost of penalty points might be a smaller measure, but if it makes 1 person change their driving behaviour then it’s worth it”.