1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Road Traffic Act 2004.

(2) This Act (other than section 36) comes into operation on such day or days as, by order or orders made by the Minister under this section, may be fixed therefor either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so fixed for different purposes and different provisions.

(3) The Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2003 and this Act (other than Part 6) may be cited together as the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2004 and shall be construed together as one Act.

2.—(1) In this Act— “Act of 1968” means Road Traffic Act 1968;

“Act of 1975” means Local Authorities (Traffic Wardens) Act 1975;

“Act of 1994” means Road Traffic Act 1994;

“Act of 2001” means Local Government Act 2001;

“Act of 2002” means Road Traffic Act 2002;

“administrative area” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2001;

“built up area” means the area of a city, a borough or a town within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001;

“Commissioner” means Commissioner of the Garda Síochána;

“county council” and “city council” have the meanings assigned to them, respectively, in the Act of 2001;

“local road”, “regional road”, “national road” and “motorway” have the meaning assigned to them, respectively, in the Roads Act 1993;

“Minister” means Minister for Transport;

“Principal Act” means Road Traffic Act 1961.

(2) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended,

(b) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended, and

(c) a reference to any enactment is to be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended, adapted or extended by or under any subsequent enactment including this Act.

3.—(1) The Minister may make regulations prescribing any matter or thing which is referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed.

(2) Regulations made under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after they are made and, if a resolution annulling the regulations is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulations are laid before it, the regulations shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

4.—(1) The Minister may make regulations prescribing a speed limit (“ordinary speed limit”) in respect of all public roads, or all public roads with such exceptions as may be specified in the regulations, for any class of mechanically propelled vehicle.

(2) Regulations under this section may prescribe different speed limits for any class of vehicle using particular categories of public roads.

(3) Regulations under this section may make provision for the exemption of a class or classes, including a sub class, of vehicles from a speed limit specified in any such regulations.

5.—(1) There is a speed limit (“built-up area speed limit”) of 50 kilometres per hour in respect of all public roads, other than a motorway in built-up areas for all mechanically propelled vehicles.

(2) The built-up area speed limit does not apply to a road or part of it in a built-up area where a special speed limit or a road works speed limit applies to that road or part.

6.—(1) There is a speed limit (“regional and local roads speed limit”) of 80 kilometres per hour in respect of all regional and local roads, other than such roads in built-up areas, for all mechanically propelled vehicles.

(2) The regional and local roads speed limit does not apply to a non-urban regional and local road or part of it where a special speed limit or a road works speed limit applies to that road or part.

7.—(1) There is a speed limit (“national roads speed limit”) of 100 kilometres per hour in respect of all national roads, other than national roads in built-up areas, for all mechanically propelled vehicles.

(2) The national roads speed limit does not apply to a national road or part of it where a special speed limit or a road works speed limit applies to that road or part.

8.—(1) There is a speed limit (“motorway speed limit”) of 120 kilometres per hour in respect of all motorways for all mechanically propelled vehicles.

(2) The motorway speed limit does not apply in respect of any motorway or part of it where a special speed limit or road works speed limit applies to that motorway or part.

9.—(1) A county council or a city council may make bye-laws (“special speed limit bye-laws”) specifying in respect of any specified public road or specified part of a public road or specified carriageway or lane of a public road within its administrative area the speed limit (“special speed limit”) which shall be the speed limit on that road or those roads for mechanically propelled vehicles.

(2) The special speed limits that may be specified in bye-laws under this section are—

F1[(a) (i) 20 kilometres per hour,

(ii) 30 kilometres per hour, and

(iii) 40 kilometres per hour,

in respect of a road or roads in accordance with guidelines issued by the Minister under this section,]

(b) 50 kilometres per hour, in respect of any road other than a road in a built-up area,

(c) 60 kilometres per hour,

(d) 80 kilometres per hour, in respect of a motorway, a national road or a road in a built-up area,

(e) 100 kilometres per hour, in respect of a motorway, a non-urban regional or local road or a road in a built-up area, and

(f) 120 kilometres per hour, in respect of a dual carriageway that forms part of a national road that is not a motorway in accordance with guidelines issued by the Minister under subsection (9).

(3) Before making special speed limit bye-laws a county council or city council shall give notice to—

(a) the council of any borough or town in the administrative county concerned of any provision in the proposed bye-laws relating to roads in their respective administrative areas, and

(b) the Commissioner, and

shall consider any representations made in writing by any such council or the Commissioner where they are received within the period (not being less than one month after the date of service of the notice) specified in the notice.

(4) Whenever a county council or city council having considered any representations under subsection (3), proposes to make bye-laws under this section, the following provisions have effect—

(a) the council shall publish notice of the proposal at least once in at least 2 daily newspapers published in and circulating in the State or the area to which the bye-laws relate,

(b) the notice shall include—

(i) a statement of the purpose for which the bye-laws are to be made,

(ii) an intimation that a copy of draft bye-laws is open for public inspection at the address stated in the notice, and

(iii) an intimation that any person may submit to the council objections to the draft bye-laws at any time during the period of 30 days commencing on the date of the first publication of the notice,

(c) the council shall, during that period of 30 days, keep a copy of the draft bye-laws open for public inspection during ordinary office hours at the address stated in the notice,

(d) any person who objects to the draft bye-laws may submit his or her objection to the council in writing at any time during that period of 30 days and the council shall consider the objections.

(5) In making special speed limit bye-laws under this section a county council or city council may, in the interests of road safety, apply a special speed limit for a specified period or periods during any day or during specified days (such periods and days being indicated in such bye-laws) on a specified road or specified motorway or part of it and such special speed limit shall, notwithstanding any other provision in the said bye-laws relating to any such road or motorway or part of it, be the speed limit for that road for that period or periods only.

(6) Having regard to circumstances that are particular to a specified national road or motorway or any specified part, carriageway or lane of a specified motorway or national road, a county council or city council may, subject to subsection (7), specify in special speed limit bye-laws that a special speed limit applies in respect of that national road or motorway or part, carriageway or lane of it, in lieu of the speed limit that normally applies to the national road or motorway, for any period where the circumstances prevail and are described in the bye-laws.

(7) A county council or city council shall not make bye-laws under this section relating to a national road or a motorway without the prior written consent of the National Roads Authority.

(8) The Minister may make regulations in relation to all or any of the following matters:

(a) the varying of the speed limits standing specified in subsection (2) and that subsection shall have effect in accordance with any such regulations for the time being in force; or

(b) the exemption of a class or classes of mechanically propelled vehicles from a specified speed limit or from all of the speed limits specified or having effect under this section.

(9) The Minister may issue guidelines relating to the making of bye-laws under this section and may amend or cancel any such guidelines. Where any such guidelines are, for the time being in force, a county council or city council shall have regard to them when making any such bye-laws.

(10) The making of special speed limit bye-laws under this section and the making of representations under subsection (3)(a) are reserved functions (within the meaning of the Act of 2001).

(11) Where special speed limit bye-laws apply a special speed limit to a specified public road or specified part of a public road or specified carriageway or lane of a public road, that speed limit does not apply where a road works speed limit order is made in respect of the public road, part, carriageway or lane of it.

(12) A document which purports to be a copy of special speed limit bye-laws, and which has endorsed on it a certificate purporting to be signed by an officer of the county council or city council which made the bye-laws stating that the document is a true copy of the bye-laws and that the bye-laws were in force on a specified day, shall, without proof of the signature of such officer or that he or she was in fact such officer, be evidence, until the contrary is shown, in every court and in all legal proceedings, of the bye-laws and of the fact that they were in force on that date.

10.—(1) The F2[chief executive of a local authority] may, where he or she considers it is in the interests of road safety, on a road or motorway or part of a road or motorway where road works are being carried out in the administrative area of the county or city council for which he or she is the manager, by order (“road works speed limit order”) apply to the road or motorway or part of it a special limit (“road works speed limit”) being a speed limit of not less than 30 kilometres per hour, as the speed limit on the road or motorway for mechanically propelled vehicles, in lieu of the speed limit provided or having effect under this Act in respect of the road or motorway or part of it.

(2) A road works speed limit order is in force for the duration of the road works, subject to no such order having effect for a period of more than 12 months from the date of its making.

(3) A road works speed limit order shall not be made in respect of a national road or a motorway, without the prior written consent of the National Roads Authority.

(4) Before making a road works speed limit order the F2[chief executive] concerned shall notify the Commissioner in writing of his or her intention to make the order.

(5) The F2[chief executive] shall consider any representations made in writing by the Commissioner received by the manager within one month of the notification.

(6) When a road works speed limit order is made the F2[chief executive] concerned shall publish a notice in one or more newspapers circulating in the county or city council to which the order relates indicating the location where the order will have effect, the period for which it will have effect and the speed limit being applied through the order. The F2[chief executive] shall have regard to any representations that are made to him or her in relation to the road works speed limit order.

(7) A F2[chief executive] may at any time within the period specified in subsection (2) revoke or amend a road works speed limit order made by him or her.

(8) A document which purports to be a copy of a road works speed limit order which has endorsed on it a certificate purporting to be signed by the F2[chief executive] making the order or an officer of the local authority concerned designated by the F2[chief executive] stating that the document is a true copy of the order and that the order was in force on a specified day, shall, without proof of the signature of such F2[chief executive] or officer or that he or she was in fact such F2[chief executive] or officer, be evidence, until the contrary is shown, in every court and in all legal proceedings, of the order and of the fact that it was in force on that date.

11.—The following section is substituted for section 47 of the Principal Act:

“47.—(1) A person shall not drive a mechanically propelled vehicle at a speed exceeding the speed limit—

(a) that applies in respect of that vehicle, or

(b) that applies to the road on which the vehicle is being driven where that speed limit is lower than that applying to that vehicle.

(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

(3) In this section “speed limit” means a limit which is—

(a) an ordinary speed limit,

(b) the built-up area speed limit,

(c) the regional and local roads speed limit,

(d) the national roads speed limit,

(e) the motorway speed limit,

(f) a special speed limit, or

(g) a road works speed limit.”.

12.—(1) On the commencement of section 9, bye-laws made under section 46 (inserted by section 33 of the Act of 1994) of the Principal Act continue in force and are deemed to be bye-laws for the purposes of that section 9 and are to be read as applying—

(a) a speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour, in lieu of the built-up area speed limit of 30 miles per hour,

(b) a speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour, in lieu of the special speed limit of 40 miles per hour, and

(c) a speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour, in lieu of the special speed limit of 50 miles per hour,

and have effect in any county or city to which they apply until such time as bye-laws are made in respect of such county or city under that section.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), traffic signs provided for in regulations made under section 95 (as amended by section 37 of the Act of 1994) of the Principal Act depicting the speed limits referred to in subsection (1) as applying in lieu of the former speed limits applying prior to the commencement of section 9, shall be provided as soon as may be after that date at the locations where the said former speed limits applied as provided for in bye-laws made under section 46 (inserted by section 33 of the Act of 1994) of the Principal Act.

(3) A traffic sign provided for the purpose of indicating a speed limit applying prior to the commencement of section 9 shall on or after that day be regarded as indicating the new speed limit applying in lieu of the former speed limit until a traffic sign is provided for in accordance with subsection (2).

13.— F3[…]

14.—Sections 44, 44A (inserted by section 24 of the Act of 1968), 44B (inserted by section 31 of the Act of 1994), 45 (as amended by section 32 of the Act of 1994) and 46 (inserted by section 33 of the Act of 1994) of the Principal Act are repealed.

15.—F4[…]

16.—Section 2 of the Act of 2002 is amended—

(a) in subsection (5), by inserting “or a person appointed under section 103 of the Principal Act” after “Garda Síochána” and “Commissioner”, and

(b) in subsection (6), by substituting for paragraph (a) the following:

“(a) Where a person is convicted of a penalty point offence, the Minister shall be notified of the conviction by the Courts Service—

(i) in case an appeal is brought against the conviction and it is determined against the person, as soon as may be after such determination, and

(ii) in case an appeal is not brought against the conviction, as soon as may be after the expiration of the ordinary time for bringing such an appeal.”.

17.—Section 7 of the Act of 2002 is amended by substituting for subsection (4) the following:

“(4) Where an order is made under subsection (3), the Minister shall be notified by the Courts Service.”.

18.—F5[…]

19.—F6[…]

20.—F7[…]

21.—The following section is substituted for section 22 of the Act of 2002:

“22.—(1) A person who it is alleged has committed an offence or has been charged with the commission of an offence under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2004 other than—

(a) section 84 (inserted by section 15 of the Act of 2002), section 85 (inserted by section 16 of the Act of 2002) or section 101 of the Principal Act, or

(b) section 35 (in so far as it relates to the parking of vehicles) or section 36 of the Act of 1994,

and is due to appear before a court to answer the accusation or charge, shall on the first date he or she is due to appear before the court or on a subsequent date at the discretion of the presiding judge, produce to the Court his or her driving licence and the Court shall record whether or not the licence has been produced.

(2) A person who fails to produce his or her licence to the court in accordance with the requirements of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence.

(3) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (2)—

(a) a certified copy of a court order in relation to an offence referred to in subsection (1), or

(b) any other form of notification certifying that the driving licence was not produced to the court as provided for in the Rules of Court,

is admissible as evidence of those facts.”.

22.—The First Schedule to the Act of 2002 is amended—

(a) in Part 1, by inserting—

(i) in column (3) at reference number 9 after “Careless driving” the following:

“where the offence involves the use of a mechanically propelled vehicle”,

and

(ii) after the matter at reference number 16 the following:

“

”

and

(b) in Part 4, by substituting for the matter contained in column (3) at reference number 16 the following:

“Failure to comply with certain mandatory signs”.

23.—Section 3 (inserted by section 12 of the Act of 2002) of the Act of 1975 is amended—

(a) in subsection (3), by substituting for paragraph (b) the following:

“(b) the registered owner of the vehicle—

(i) being an individual was not driving or otherwise using the vehicle, or

(ii) being a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons was not capable of driving or otherwise using the vehicle,

at the time of the commission of the alleged offence to which the notice relates,”,

(b) by inserting after subsection (5) the following:

“(5A) (a) A notice under this section in the prescribed form may contain details of the manner of payment of a fixed charge.

(b) Notwithstanding the requirements of subsections (6), (7) and (8) of this section requiring that the payment of a fixed charge be accompanied by the notice served or affixed, as the case may be, the notice in the prescribed forms may contain details of the manner of payment of the fixed charge or without the payment being accompanied by the notice.”,

(c) in subsection (7), by substituting for paragraph (h) the following:

“(h) subject to paragraph (f) of this subsection, failure to comply with the said subsection (4) is an offence upon summary conviction of which the registered owner is liable to a fine not exceeding €1,000.”,

(d) by inserting after subsection (7) the following:

“(7A) The payment of a fixed charge shall not be accepted after the expiration of the period of 56 days beginning on the date of the notice concerned that was served or affixed under subsection (2) or served under subsection (4) of this section, as the case may be.”,

and

(e) by substituting for subsection (9) the following:

“(9) In a prosecution for a fixed charge offence it shall be presumed until the contrary is shown that—

(a) the relevant notice under this section has been served or caused to be served, and

(b) that a payment pursuant to the relevant notice under this section, accompanied by the notice, duly completed (unless the notice provides for payment without the notice accompanying the payment) has not been made.”.

24.—Section 36 of the Principal Act is amended by substituting for subsection (8) (inserted by section 8(b) of the Act of 2002) the following:

“(8) The Courts Service shall inform the Minister of an order made—

(a) under subsection (3) or (4) of this section,

(b) suspending or postponing an order under either of those subsections, or

(c) under section 29 of this Act removing a consequential or ancillary disqualification.”.

25.—Section 9 of the Act of 2002 is amended by—

(a) substituting for subsection (8) the following:

“(8) When the appropriate judge makes or refuses to make an order under subsection (2), the Courts Service shall notify the Minister and the Minister shall cause the central authority of the State of the offence to be notified thereof.”,

and

(b) in subsection (9), substituting for paragraph (a) the following:

“(a) the Courts Service shall—

(i) notify the Minister of the disqualification as soon as may be, and

(ii) comply with any request of the Minister for further details or information relating to the person, the offence, the disqualification or otherwise required for the purpose of the Convention,”.

26.—(1) Section 35(2) of the Act of 1994 is amended by inserting after paragraph (s) the following:

“(t) the issue of permits at a prescribed charge by a local authority, or any other body authorised by the Minister to issue such permits, for the purpose of—

(i) exempting permit holders from restrictions or prohibitions on parking applied under this section,

(ii) allowing for the parking of vehicles by permit holders at specified locations, or

(iii) exempting permit holders from the application of prohibitions and restrictions to specified traffic from entering or using specified roads, and

separate charges may be prescribed in respect of different permits.”.

(2) The following subsection is inserted after subsection (6) of section 35 of the Act of 1994:

“(7) A permit issued under regulations made under subsection (2)(t) may be inspected, at all reasonable times, by a member of the Garda Síochána or (other than in respect of a permit issued under regulations made under subsection (2)(t)(iii)) a traffic warden.

(8) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails or refuses to permit the inspection of a permit referred to in subsection (7) is guilty of an offence.”.

27.—F8[…]

28.—F9[…]

29.—Section 84 (inserted by section 15 of the Act of 2002) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting in subsection (11) for the definition of “local authority” the following:

“‘local authority’ means a county council, a city council or a town council (within the meaning of the Local Government Act 2001) other than the council of a town mentioned in Part 2 of Schedule 6 to that Act;”.

30.—(1) A person shall not supply a mechanically propelled vehicle—

(a) to a person who is under the age of 16 years, or

(b) other than a mechanically propelled vehicle in respect of which a person who has attained the age of 16 years is entitled to hold a driving licence to drive, to a person who is under the age of 17 years.

F10[(2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.]

(3) In this section “supply”, includes supply by way of sale, hire, loan, gift, or other means of making the vehicle available to a person.

31.—(1) A road authority may, with the consent of the Commissioner or at his or her request, provide and maintain on public roads in their charge any equipment or structure which the authority consider desirable for the detection of offences under the Road Traffic Acts 1961 to 2004.

(2) Section 42 of the Act of 1994 is repealed.

32.—Section 3(1) of the Principal Act is amended by substituting for the definition of “registered owner” the following:

“‘registered owner’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 1992 (S.I. No. 385 of 1992) (as amended by the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (S.I. No. 213 of 2004)), but, if those regulations should be revoked, it shall have the meaning assigned to it by such regulations corresponding to those regulations as may for the time being be in force;”.

33.—F11[…]

34.—The Principal Act is amended by substituting for section 56 the following:

“56.—(1) A person (in this subsection referred to as the user) shall not use in a public place a mechanically propelled vehicle unless—

(a) either a vehicle insurer or an exempted person would be liable for injury caused by the negligent use of the vehicle, by him or her at that time, or

(b) there is in force at that time an approved policy of insurance whereby the user or some other person who would be liable for injury caused by the negligent use of the vehicle at that time by the user, is insured against all sums, subject to subsection (2) of this section, without limit, which the user or his or her personal representative or such other person or his or her personal representative becomes liable to pay to any person (exclusive of the excepted persons) by way of damages or costs on account of injury to person or property caused by the negligent use of the vehicle at that time by the user.

(2) The insurance required by this section may be subject to the following limitations and the following exception or any of them—

(a) it may in so far as it relates to—

(i) injury to a person, be limited to such sum as the Minister specifies in regulations,

(ii) injury to property, be limited to the sum of €200,000,

in respect of injury caused by any one act of negligence or any one series of acts of negligence collectively constituting one event,

(b) there may be excepted from the liability covered thereby any liability (in excess of the common law or the statutory liability applicable to the case) undertaken by the insured or the principal debtor by special contract.

(2A) (a) A draft of every regulation proposed to be made under subsection (2)(a)(i) of this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulation shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

(b) Section 5(2) of this Act does not apply to a regulation made under subsection (2)(a)(i) of this section.

(3) An approved policy of insurance referred to in subsection (1)(b) of this section extends to damages or costs on account of injury to persons or property incurred by the negligent use of a mechanically propelled vehicle by the user in any of the designated territories to the extent required by the law relating to compulsory insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of mechanically propelled vehicles of the territory where the damages or costs may be incurred, or to the extent required by this Part, whichever is the greater.

(4) Where a person contravenes subsection (1) of this section, he or she and, if he or she is not the owner of the vehicle, such owner are each guilty of an offence and are liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both.

(5) Where, in a prosecution for an offence under this section, it is shown that, a demand having been made under section 69 of this Act—

(a) the person on whom the demand was made refused or failed to produce a certificate of insurance or certificate of exemption then and there, or

(b) such person, having duly produced such certificate consequent upon the demand, refused or failed to permit the member of the Garda Síochána to whom such certificate was produced to read and examine it,

it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown by the defendant, that the vehicle was being used in contravention of this section.

(6) Where a person charged with an offence under this section is the owner of the vehicle, it is a defence to the charge for the person to show that the vehicle was being used without his or her consent and either that he or she had taken all reasonable precautions to prevent its being used or that it was being used by his or her employee acting in contravention of his or her instructions.

(7) Where a person charged with an offence under this section was an employee of the owner of the vehicle, it is a defence to the charge for the person to show that he or she was using the vehicle in compliance with the express instructions of the owner.

(8) In this Part ‘designated territories’ means the European territories of the Member States of the European Communities (other than the State) and Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

(9) In this Part a reference to the territory in which a vehicle is normally based is a reference to—

(a) the territory of the state of which the vehicle bears a registration plate,

(b) in a case where registration is not required for a type of mechanically propelled vehicle, but the vehicle bears an insurance plate or a distinguishing sign analogous to the registration plate, the territory of the state in which the plate or sign is issued, or

(c) in a case where a registration plate, an insurance plate or a distinguishing sign is not required for a mechanically propelled vehicle, the territory of the state in which the person who has custody of the vehicle is permanently resident.

(10) In this Part—

‘mechanically propelled vehicle’ includes a semi-trailer or trailer (whether coupled or uncoupled to a mechanically propelled vehicle) used in a public place;

‘semi-trailer’ means the drawn component of an articulated vehicle or a vehicle constructed or adapted for use as such drawn component;

‘trailer’ means a vehicle attached to a mechanically propelled vehicle (or to another vehicle attached to a mechanically propelled vehicle) or a vehicle constructed or adapted for the purpose of being drawn by a mechanically propelled vehicle.

(11) Nothing in this Part shall be read as extending compulsory motor insurance cover to any person in or on a semi-trailer or trailer when used in a public place.”.

35.—Part 1 of the Table to section 23 of the Act of 2002 is amended by the deletion of the matter in columns (2) and (3) at reference number 18.

36.— F12[…]