More people being caught using phones while driving each year
More people are being caught using their phone while driving, with almost 60,000 offences landing fines and penalty points over the last three years.
Amid another bank holiday clampdown on drivers flouting road safety laws, new figures from the department of justice show that from 2022 to 2024, a total of 59,603 people were caught by gardaí driving while on the phone.
The data also suggests the problem is worsening, with 21,888 people caught last year compared to 19,106 in 2023, and 18,609 in 2022.
For the first three months of this year, 6,073 people were caught using their phones while driving, meaning 2025 is on course to be the worst year yet.
Senior gardaí have warned that drivers are increasingly being caught watching Netflix on their phones as well as having online work meetings and social media interactions.
Road safety advocates are calling for strict new policies whereby if a motorist is caught on the phone twice they are disqualified from driving.
Fianna Fáil TD Padraig O'Sullivan, who received the data via parliamentary question, said he is concerned about the 'steady increase' in people driving with their phones out, but said the figures for 2025 show there could be a further increase if the trend continues.
I see it every day as I drive the roads of my own constituency and the motorway to Leinster House. The prevalence and acceptance of these habits when behind the wheel is extremely concerning.
Mr O'Sullivan believes the increase in individual's using phones while driving is 'largely attributable' to the increase in the number of accidents seen across the country in recent years.
The department of justice has also detailed road policing activity during the recent Easter bank holiday weekend, when 225 fines were issued to individuals caught driving while using their phones.
'If that level of Garda operations was done every weekend, the possible number of offences would be enormous,' Mr O'Sullivan said.
The Fianna Fáil TD said the Easter garda operation is typically one of the more significant enforcement periods, but that the figures again show that the "casual use of the mobile phone while driving has become the norm for so many people'.
Irish Road Victims Association vice president Leo Lieghio, was highly critical of the Government for not doing more to penalise drivers who flout laws around distracted driving.
He said the figures on phone use were 'disgraceful' and that the association has long called for stricter penalties for driving while using a mobile phone.
We have been screaming for a long, long time. We want double penalty points brought in.
He said increasing fines would not impact on whether or not someone uses their phone while driving, but that doubling penalty points from three to six would be a real deterrent.
'The only thing that's going to work is double penalty points. If you're caught once, you get six penalty points, that's your chance.
'If you're caught again, you're off the road and you've only yourself to blame.'
Mr Lieghio said it is likely there are many more people using their phones who are not caught, but that Gardaí are doing their best to tackle the issue.
'People are not listening so they have to be made to listen. How many more people have to die, suffer life-altering injuries, for the Government and the courts to start treating this as a crime?' Mr Lieghio asked.
In response to Mr O'Sullivan's question, Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said that roads policing capacity has increased since 2024, alongside measures to increase compliance.
This includes further deployment of unmarked Garda vehicles, as well as the installation of more static road safety cameras.
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