Fourteen years on, the penalty points system has remained effective as a deterrent for road traffic accidents Mr Michael Donnelly, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Beaumont Hospital, and Dr Colum Downey an Orthopaedic Registrar at Tallaght Hospital, but previously SHO Orthopaedic Surgery at Beaumont, recently examined the impact of the penalty points system, first introduced in Ireland in 2002 to incentivise safer