An Independent Senator has suggested that drivers guilty of certain road offences should have their cars seized and crushed, and be forced to watch.
Gerard Craughwell made the suggestion at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, which is examining proposals under the Road Traffic Measures Bill 2023.
He said: "I'm suggesting to you that if someone is caught driving over a particular speed, is caught under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or uninsured, the vehicle should be taken from them and crushed, it should be sent to the local scrapyard and destroyed, because if you don’t have a vehicle you can’t drive...I believe we should be far less tolerant.
"You crush one or two cars in a village or a town and I guarantee you people will start to become an awful lot more compliant with the rules of the road."
He later added "they do it in some places."
Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers said he’d like to see the evidence from countries where this is done.
Minister Chambers said: "There's a cohort of people that are completely reckless, that have a total disregard for fellow citizens and society around them and they should face greater consequences, but I'm not sure [about] what you've suggested."
Mr Chambers appeared before the Committee to answer questions on the Bill and aspects of road safety.
He said fatalities and serious accidents have increased in three out of the last four years, adding; "as the Committee will be aware, 2023 has been a particularly dark year on our roads so far.
"As of Monday morning, there were 155 fatalities on our roads this year. That is an increase in fatalities of 37%, or 31%, compared to this time last year."
The Bill contains a number of changes to improve road safety, including reforming penalty points and speed limits.
Mr Chambers said that at the moment a change in legislation is required where penalty points are varied.
The new Bill "proposes moving the setting of penalty levels into secondary legislation via amendments to the Road Traffic Act 2002.
"To ensure the continued role of the Houses of Oireachtas in any penalty point change, this Bill proposes that resolutions from both Houses would be required for any change in penalty points regulations to take effect."
While many Committee members were supportive of the Bill, they were concerned with the idea of forcing the changes through without full scrutiny.
Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny cited the adage of proceed at haste, repent at leisure.
Another proposal in the Bill that’s been previously aired is the introduction of higher penalty points on bank holiday weekends.
Deputy Kenny said the Oireachtas has a responsibility to develop sensible laws, "If we come up with laws that people think are ridiculous, they won't abide by them."
Mr Kenny asked how it could be less of an offence to speed on a Tuesday than on a Saturday.
On the setting of a default lower baseline speed limit, Mr Kenny said there should be some discretion.
He said Local Authorities, and An Garda Siochána should have the scope to be able to adjust speed limits appropriately on the same stretch of road, if it was a 20km road, for example.
The Bill will amend the default speed limits for national secondary roads, local roads, and urban roads, including built up areas.
Mr Chambers said: "While these new defaults will be safer, Local Authorities will retain the ability to set speed limits for roads through the review process."
Cathal Crowe said a homogeneous approach simply wouldn't work, saying Local Authorities would need a huge amount of discretion as some roads have speed limits that are too high, while some are too low.
Senator Timmy Dooley said legislators had to be careful that "we don’t become so much overburdened with law, that we just annoy [the public]."
He suggested it would be a good idea to return to the labelling of accident blackspots, as has been done in the past.
Mr Dooley said: "The right thing to do is to allow you to move on this quickly, we have a responsibility in this House to react to the statistics."
"There’s a trend at the moment that needs to be ...addressed and you’re taking the appropriate action" he told his party colleague.
Green Party TD Brian Leddin raised concerns about the increase in sales of heavier vehicles here, saying the issue arose previously at the Climate Committee.
"These vehicles are safer for the people in them, but are creating a hostile and dangerous environment for the people around them," he said.
Mr Chambers said the slower speed limits would help in this regard, and that the Government was trying to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles more generally.
