IRISHCYCLE.COM
73% jump in on-the-spot fines for people cycling in 2025; running red lights remains main offence
More people cycling were given on-the-spot fines for offences last year than in any year since the previous high in 2018. The fines, or Fixed Charge Notices, were introduced in 2015. Before then, the only way to enforce even minor infractions was for Gardai to bring the claimed offences to the District Courts.Overall, 73% more on-the-spot fines were given to people cycling for traffic offences in 2025 compared to the previous year. The nearly 1,200 fines issued bring the enforcement level broadly in line with 2022.The basic fine for cycling offences is 40. If a fine is unpaid within 26 days, the amount increases to 60, and if it remains unpaid within 56 days, the person will be summoned to a District Court, where they could be liable for a court fine of up to 2,000. The fine system operates in the same way as motoring fines and allows people to avoid a criminal record by paying the fines.So far this year, a larger-than-normal number of fines also seems to have been issued, with Q1 2026 data showing that the number of fines handed out by the end of March was already around half that of 2023 and 2024. People cycling past red lights was the most common offence recorded by Gardai every year, including last year, and this year to date. This is so much so that it outnumbers the combined total of other offences, representing nearly 60% of offences detected in the five years since 2021.Gardai provided a breakdown of the Fixed Charge Notices issued for cycling-related offences between 01/01/2021 and 31/03/2026 as shown in this table: (* = The offence descriptions above include both individual traffic offences and combinations of traffic offences.)The next most frequently detected offence was no front or rear lights, accounting for 25% of all offences. Gardai said that the remainder of the offences, including cycling without reasonable consideration and proceeding into a pedestrian area, were combined as they represent small numbers in different years. Data for 2025 taken from the system before the data provided this week and published in a parliamentary answer published earlier this month shows that 142 people were fined for Cycling Without Reasonable Consideration, 116 were issued with fines for Enter/Stop/Park in Tram Lane/Tram Only Street, and 46 for Proceed into Pedestrianised Street/Area.Gardai said that all information provided is based upon operational data from the FCPS system, as available on 22/04/2026, and is liable to change. Some offences listed as a single offence may many involve a combination of offences. The difference between the data provided to this website and that in the parliamentary answer is explained by the time difference and fines being processed.
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