No fewer than 189 people had their licences revoked last year, following the introduction of a penalty point system that extended regulations to all drivers.

164 people had their licence suspended following the penalty point system introduced in 2017, the Transport Ministry said.

Nineteen of the 189 drivers had their licence revoked for the second time.

A total of 78 licences were also revoked during 2018 but to date their driving licence was not returned to Transport Malta, the spokesman added.

“In such instances, if the licence holder does not return their driving licence after three letters or reminders, then Transport Malta informs the police to intervene and the driving licence in question will be collected by the police and returned to Transport Malta,” he said.

The penalty point system, introduced in December 2017, saw regulations, previously only applied to new drivers, being extended to everyone. 

The licence in question will be collected by the police and returned to Transport Malta

Under the new system, drivers lose their licence for two months if they accumulate 12 penalty points over a 12-month period.

Understanding the driving penalty points system

The system was “not very popular with motorists,” Transport Minister Ian Borg conceded, adding however, that it had proven to be effective. If their licence is revoked twice in three years, drivers must sit a fresh driving test before regaining the licence.

A third revocation in five years means the driver can only sit for the test after a year of not driving, with the suspension rising to two years for those whose licence is revoked four times in a seven-year span.

Authorities are also looking to clamp down on parking offences, with a legal notice being introduced allowing photo and video evidence to be explicitly cited in the law.

Although photo and video evidence has been used against parking offenders in the past, its admissibility was a legal grey area.