New road safety legislation is set to allow the sharing of information on road collisions and end the need for paper motor tax discs.
It comes as the government approved the formal drafting for both the Roads Bill 2024 and the National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2024.
The Roads Bill 2024 will enable local authorities to request, receive, and process data on road crashes from both the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and An Garda Síochána.
The government said that this data will enable local authorities to target areas where collisions are more prone to occur with investment and infrastructure.
The legislation will support the delivery of the government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 which aims to reduce road fatalities by 50% this decade and achieving Vision Zero—no deaths or serious injuries on our roads—by 2050.
Tax discs
The Cabinet has also approved the drafting of the National Vehicle and Driver File Bill 2024, which will abolish the requirement for drivers to display a paper motor tax disc on a vehicle windscreen.
Gardaí already have immediate digital access to motor tax information through the National Vehicle and Driver File (NVDF).
The NVDF is the central register of vehicles and drivers, maintained by the Department of Transport.
The legislation will also strengthen General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for access to vehicle and driver data and remove end date of declarations of non-use of a motor vehicle.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that the allowing local authorities to access collision data “is an important tool in reducing the terrible trend of rising road fatalities” in recent years.
“This data will enable the local authorities to target areas where collisions are continuing to occur with investment.
“This builds on the important work we are already undertaking in response to accidents on our roads.
“The NVDF Bill will provide for a more robust and data-secure legislative basis underpinning the national vehicle driver file, modernising the motor tax system and getting rid of the need for paper discs on our windscreens, in line with most other European countries,” the minister said.