Revealed - the number of penalty points notices picked up by motorists in Kilkenny!

Kilkenny motorists clocked up more than 2,700 penalty point notices for speeding in one year, with male drivers receiving almost twice as many points as women.

According to the latest CSO figures, speeding accounts for three-quarters of all penalty point notices issued in Ireland, with male drivers outweighing their female counterparts for offences.

In a county breakdown, the CSO’s figures for 2021 showed that Kilkenny had 2,710 penalty point notices for speeding in 2021.

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Of that tally 1,711 penalties were issued to male drivers, with 999 going to females.

Of the five counties in the South-East, Tipperary had the most offences, with points issued to 6,629 drivers, followed by Wexford with 5,778. Carlow had the lowest with 2,271.

Kilkenny’s male drivers also outnumbered their female counterparts when it came to driving without a seatbelt. The CSO figures from the same year showed that 70 notices were issued to Kilkenny drivers of passenger vehicles for a failure to wear their seat belt - 57 for men, 13 for women. Again, Wexford (142) and Tipperary (89) had the highest figures for the South-East.

The statistics were released as part of a survey on driving habits. The survey, which was conducted by Peopl Insurance, showed dangerous overtaking was the most disliked driving habit among people in Ireland, with 27% citing this behaviour as the most inconsiderate action behind the wheel. It was closely followed by a failure to use indicators and driving too fast. The survey also found that 98% of respondents always wear their seatbelts while driving.

The research found that Ireland’s top five most disliked driving habits are dangerous overtaking, not using an indicator, driving too fast, driving too slow and not letting other drivers out.

“Dangerous overtaking and driving too fast are two of the most vexing driving habits in Ireland according to our survey,” said Paul Walsh, CEO of Peopl Insurance. “If you’ve ever driven on Ireland’s regional and local roads, you’ve likely witnessed how quickly an accident could occur due to impatient drivers attempting to overtake other motorists on narrow roads with limited visibility. With this in mind, it is worrying that the latest CSO figures show that speeding accounts for three-quarters of penalty point notices issued in Ireland - and men appear to be the biggest culprits.”

The survey also showed that older respondents appear to be more sensitive to dangerous overtaking on the road - 32% of those aged 55 and over cited this as the most annoying driving habit, while twice as many people in the 25 to 34 age group (23%) as in the group aged 35 to 44 (11%) were annoyed by motorists who drive slowly.

Compliant

The youngest (aged 18 to 24) and oldest (age 55 plus) age groups are the most compliant with the rule to belt up, with these age categories saying they wore their seatbelt ‘100% of the time’. By contrast, those aged between 35 and 44 are the most likely to slip up on the seatbelt rule as a higher proportion of this category said they wore their seatbelt ‘most of the time’.