£100 fine & 3 penalty points for careless driving in Northern Ireland

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in Northern Ireland is responsible for road safety. Last October, the DfI published their draft Road Safety Strategy to 2030. The strategy contains a stronger focus on making the roads in Northern Ireland safer for all users.

It has now revealed that there has been an increase in deaths due to careless driving. New statistics have revealed that just over 57 per cent of people killed or seriously injured on NI roads in 2021 were as a result of careless driving.

To emphasise their drive to enhance road safety measures the DfI recently introduced a new fixed penalty notice of £100 and three penalty points to target the high instances of careless driving.

The Department has highlighted a steady increase in the number of careless driving deaths each year and has called on road users to ‘redouble efforts to travel with due care and attention’.

The Dept for Infrastructure statement said: “The evidence shows that more than 95 per cent of road traffic collisions, where someone is killed or seriously injured, is due to human error such as a choice to speed, drink or drug driving or driving carelessly or while distracted.

“People driving or riding carelessly is the cause behind the majority of deaths and serious injuries on our roads here.

It continued: “Most collisions are avoidable. Careless driving is made up of many behaviours including inattention or distraction, wrong course position and driving too close amongst others and is the biggest cause of deaths and serious injuries.”