What's the point of having legislation that isn't enforced?

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Marsupial

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Today's Irish Times informs us that

More than 5,310 learner drivers have been disqualified by the courts since 2023 but just 4 per cent, or 211, have surrendered their licences, new figures show.

The disclosure follows data released last month that showed 92 per cent of the 22,712 licensed drivers disqualified by the courts in the past five years failed to surrender their permits. Just one licensed motorist was prosecuted for failing to do so in the same time period. Parc road safety campaign group chair Susan Gray said the statistics show that the systems is a “shambles”.
Click to expand...

Politicians will point to the fact that they have passsed a law to address the problem, but, as I ask above, is there really much point to having legislation on the Statute Books that isn't enforced? What (if anything) is the punishment for not surrendering one's licence - I note that only a single prosecution has been taken for an offence that has been committed by over 25,000 drivers in the past couple of years? With such low compliance and enforcement rates, maybe the requirement should simply be done away with?

For this right winger, a simple solution would be to double the period of disqualification if the licence isn't surrendered within (say) 6 weeks of the
disqualification being imposed. Furthermore, no appeal should be accepted unless the licence has been surrendered.

Food for thought - or merely a pointless rant?
 
Surrendering the physical licence is irrelevant. If the Gardai stop you and check your licence, they can use one of the apps on their phone to check the validity of the licence.

This story keeps coming up and it's the same nonsense about drivers not surrendering licences to have points "recorded". Points are no longer marked on the physical licence, it's recorded digitally and the Gardai can check that via an app as well.

It's also why insurance disks will be phased out over the next few years and Gardai no longer need to visibly check.
 
Licences have uses beyond operating mechanically propelled vehicles on public roads. They are an acceptable form of photo ID. Failure to surrender them means they can be used for such purposes even where the courts have ordered their surrender. Enforce the laws and inconvenience the erstwhile holders or strike the laws from the statute books.
 
Marsupial said:
For this right winger, a simple solution would be to double the period of disqualification if the licence isn't surrendered within (say) 6 weeks of the
disqualification being imposed. Furthermore, no appeal should be accepted unless the licence has been surrendered.
Click to expand...
Since learner permits have an expiry of up to 2 years would it not be simpler to declare the licence in valid and have an online record of such? And make that available to insurers so they can invalidate insurance policies also. There should be no need to "surrender your license" in paper. This is not 1975
 
We don't enforce speed limits and the solution is lower speed limits which also won't be enforced. When it comes to roads policing the law is an ass. The same can be said of so many other areas of legislation.
 
Conor Skehan made a similar point about e.g. infrastructure.

Every blockage met with a subsidy, every shortage with a scheme. It is easier to announce a new fund than to fix an old system.

The Vat cut for new apartments tells a similar story. The latest surrender to the builders’ lobby may help a few developments scrape over the line, but if the real blockages lie in planning, utility connections or inflated land costs, a tax tweak is a distraction. Those are things a smarter state could fix directly — the pipes and permissions that make building possible.

Instead of counting new schemes, count the time it takes to get things done. Transparency is the simplest form of reform.

A truly pro-enterprise Ireland would measure success not by how many schemes it launches each October, but by how few are needed. The State should build the road, keep it smooth and trust its people to drive.

www.independent.ie

Conor Skehan: Ireland is on the road to French-style paralysis — here’s how to change direction

Budget week is when Ireland tells itself a story about enterprise. The familiar plot returned last week — more supports, more schemes, more “pro-business” tweaks. Ministers insist this is about helping enterprise, but too often it looks like the State is trying to be the enterprise.
www.independent.ie www.independent.ie
 
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