A test case with implications for more than 2,000 drivers who were allegedly speeding in an average speed zone will be heard by the High Court this week.
The case concerns the legal adequacy of a fixed charge notice (FCN) issued to Edel O’Brien, Springhill Avenue, Deansgrange, Blackrock, Co Dublin, who is alleged to have driven at 131km/h on the M7 motorway at Birdhill (west), in an average speeding zone where a 120km/h limit applies.
A core issue is whether the absence of the word “average” from FCNs, when issued for alleged speeding in an average speed zone, makes them so defective that a conviction cannot be registered on foot of them.
About 900 other cases have been adjourned, and 1,500 summonses for alleged speeding in an average speed zone have yet to issue, pending the outcome of the High Court’s decision on legal issues referred by District Court Judge Miriam Walsh arising from Ms O’Brien’s case.
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Average speed cameras record vehicles at two distinct points a set distance apart, allowing for speed to be calculated over a longer distance than a single static camera.
In Ms O’Brien’s case, she was served with a FCN alleging she was driving at 131km/h on the M7 Ballinahinch, (westbound) Birdhill, on September 7th 2022.
Ms O’Brien contacted the Garda Processing Office querying the content of the FCN. She said she was then told, for the first time, the allegation related to a recorded average speed over a 9km distance on the M7 westbound ending at Birdhill.
When she did not pay the notice, she was summonsed to appear before Nenagh District Court in March 2024.
In setting out legal issues to be determined by the High Court, Judge Walsh said Ms O’Brien, representing herself, had pleaded guilty and accepted she had been speeding in excess of the 120km/h limit but she raised an issue that the FCN did not refer to the word “average” with reference to the speed of 131km/h alleged.
Ms O’Brien argued the FCN materially misstated the particulars of the actual speeding allegation.
The judge initially entered, but later vacated, a conviction against Ms O’Brien and suggested she get legal advice.
The High Court will be asked to decide on issues in the case on Thursday.
