S.I. No. 178/2014 - Road Traffic Act 2006 (Restriction on Use of Mobile Phones) Regulations 2014.
Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in | ||
“Iris Oifigiúil” of 18th April, 2014. | ||
I, LEO VARADKAR, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 (4)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 2006 (No. 23 of 2006), hereby make the following regulations: | ||
1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic Act 2006 (Restriction on Use of Mobile Phones) Regulations 2014. | ||
(2) These Regulations come into operation on 1 May 2014. | ||
2. These Regulations do not apply to a person to whom section 3 (1) of the Road Traffic Act 2006 (No. 23 of 2006) applies. | ||
3. In these Regulations— | ||
“read a text message” includes access or open a text message (other than by voice-activation) so that it can be read; | ||
“send a text message” includes compose and type a text message, but does not include anything done without touching the mobile phone; | ||
“SMS” and “MMS” have the meanings assigned to them by Regulation 2(1) of the European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Framework) Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 333 of 2011 ); | ||
“text message” includes an SMS, an MMS message and an email. | ||
4. A person shall not while driving a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place— | ||
(a) send a text message, or | ||
(b) read a text message, | ||
from a mobile phone. | ||
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Given under my Official Seal, | ||
11 April 2014. | ||
LEO VARADKAR, | ||
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. | ||
EXPLANATORY NOTE | ||
(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.) | ||
These Regulations make it an offence to send or read a text from a mobile phone while driving a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place. |