Thousands of speeding fines quashed over camera error

Almost 2,000 motorists in the Republic of Ireland are to have speeding fines and penalty points quashed.

The decision has been taken because the speeding was detected by an uncertified speed camera.

Some 1,871 drivers were caught speeding on the N17 in County Mayo on the west coast of Ireland between 20 December 2024 and 12 February 2025.

They were all issued with fixed charge notices.

The speeding was detected by a static speed safety camera system, and it is standard procedure for all cameras used for speeding detection to have valid calibration certificates issued by the GoSafe camera provider.

Gardaí (Irish police) have explained that in conjunction with GoSafe they discovered that the camera, located near the town of Claremorris, was fully functional and accurately identifying offences, but it was not certified.

This discovery was made on 12 February and the decision to quash fines and points was announced on Friday.

Some of the motorists who were caught speeding on the busy road have already paid fines and they will now be refunded.

A full breakdown of the figures shows that 800 notices were paid and penalty points applied while a further 123 fines were paid but the error was identified before these drivers were given penalty points.

Garda Ch Supt Jane Humphries said "this error is very much regretted".

However, she added: "The level of speeding breaches issued since the camera went operational on December 20, 2024 demonstrates the continued need for all motorists using this road to slow down."

A spokesperson for the camera provider said: "At GoSafe, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety. During a routine quality assurance check, we identified that the calibration certificate for radar components in a static speed camera on the N17 in Mayo had expired."

"To prevent a recurrence, we have implemented enhanced safeguards within our quality assurance process," the spokesperson added.

Motorists impacted by error are now being notified by gardaí.

The speed safety camera system went live on 20 December 2024.

It was not operational between 1 January 2025 and 17 January 2025 as it had been vandalised.

This means that all the 1,871 speeding notices were issued over a period of 39 operational days.

The N17 became part of Irish folklore after an Irish band, The Saw Doctors, released a song of the same name around 1990.

It was a nostalgic Irish emigration song at the height of mass emigration from the country and the band subsequently became hugely popular in Ireland and among Irish communities in the UK and US as well as in other parts of the world.