Irish Road Traffic Law
The New Rules of the Road (2026 Edition) — Every Change That Matters
The RSA has published Revision No. 9 of the Rules of the Road. We put the new book and the previous edition side by side and compared every sentence. Most of the headlines are about e-scooters, but the changes reach into the learner-permit rules, the speed-limit table, child seats and the fixed-charge tables at the back — and if you have been studying from the old book, some of the answers you learned are now wrong.
Which Edition Is Which
The book is dated May 2026, but the law inside it is dated 1 March 2025.
The new book is Revision No. 9, May 2026, published for the RSA by The O’Brien Press and available free as a PDF from the RSA’s Rules of the Road page. Its foreword says the rules “comply with and reflect the Road Traffic Law as at 1 March 2025” (p. 7). The edition we compared it with carried the same sentence with a date of 1 June 2021 — so the two books are almost four years of law apart.
That gap matters more than the revision number suggests. Most of what is “new” in the book is not new law. The fixed-charge increases, the 60 km/h local-road limit and the e-scooter rules were all in force before this edition was printed — the old book simply never caught up with them. If you learned your penalty amounts or your rural speed limit from the previous edition, you learned figures that had already been superseded.
1 Mar 2025
Law reflected in Revision 9
1 Jun 2021
Law reflected in the old edition
+17
Extra pages of content (index now starts at p. 281, not p. 264)
€50
Fixed charge for every one of the 23 new e-scooter offences
How we did this. We extracted the text of both PDFs, aligned them sentence by sentence and read every difference, then separately compared each number in the Appendix 4 penalty tables. Page numbers below are the printed page numbers of Revision 9. Where the site already covered a change, we link to the fuller article.
E-Scooters, E-Bikes and E-Mopeds
The largest addition. Section 17 has a new name and about nine new pages.
Section 17 used to be Rules for cyclists. It is now Rules for cyclists, e-scooter users and L1e-A e-moped riders (p. 197), and the foreword adds a sentence that changes the meaning of the whole book: “Any reference to cyclists throughout the rules applies to cyclists of pedal bicycles and electric bicycles (or e-bikes), as well as electric scooter (or e-scooter) users and L1e-A e-moped riders” (p. 7). Bus-lane rules, cycle-track rules, cycle traffic lights and hand signals have all been re-worded to say so explicitly.
Powered personal transporters (p. 197)
- Defined as a vehicle for one person, up to 25 kg, able to travel between 6 and 25 km/h, with a motor of 500 W or less
- E-scooters are the only type legally allowed on Irish roads
- Electric skateboards, hoverboards and unicycles “are not legal and must not be used on public roads”
A legal e-scooter must (p. 198)
- Have a continuous rated power of 400 W or less and weigh no more than 25 kg including batteries
- Have a maximum design speed of 20 km/h and wheels of at least 200 mm
- Carry front and rear lights, reflectors, front and rear brakes, a bell and a manufacturer’s plate showing power, weight and design speed
- Not have a seat
The rider’s rules (pp. 198–199)
- At least 16 years old; no licence, registration, tax or insurance required
- May use cycle lanes, bus lanes and local, regional and national roads; never footpaths, pedestrianised areas or motorways
- Maximum 20 km/h, or the road’s limit if lower
- No mobile phone, no goods, no passengers, no towing
- Riding under the influence of alcohol or drugs “can result in a court appearance and a fine of up to €2,000”
E-bikes and e-mopeds (pp. 200–201)
- An e-bike is limited to 250 W, must cut out at 25 km/h and must assist pedalling rather than propel on its own. It is used like a bicycle
- Anything above that is an e-moped: registration and motor tax for all of them, a motorcycle helmet, rider aged 16 or over
- L1e-A (25 km/h, up to 1 kW): pedal-assisted models can use cycle and bus lanes with no licence or insurance; throttle models need a category AM licence and insurance and stay out of cycle and bus lanes
- L1e-B (45 km/h, up to 4 kW): treated like a motorbike — AM licence, no cycle or bus lanes, insurance for throttle models
For car drivers the practical change is what you now have to expect in the bus lane and at the kerb. The book’s own text on left turns now reads “watch out for cyclists, e-scooters and mopeds close to the kerb in front of you or coming up on your left” (p. 54), and the cycle-track definition now includes e-bikes, e-scooters and L1e-A e-mopeds (p. 208). A new penalty-point offence covers dangerous overtaking of a cyclist or electric scooter user — see the fines section below. Our guide to passing cyclists safely applies to all of them.
The book also adds a two-page explainer of the different types of cycle facility — standard, mandatory, stepped, mixed traffic, protected, contra-flow, two-way and greenway (pp. 209–210) — and a new rule for pedestrianised streets: cyclists and e-scooter users may only go down one if there is a cycle track (p. 73).
Speed Limits
One line in the table changed, and the sign that goes with it.
| Type of road | Old edition | Revision 9 (p. 117) |
|---|---|---|
| Motorway (M) | 120 km/h | 120 km/h |
| National roads (N) | 100 km/h | 100 km/h |
| Regional roads (R) | 80 km/h, listed together as “non-national roads (regional and local)” | 80 km/h |
| Local roads (L) | 60 km/h | |
| Built-up areas | 50 km/h | 50 km/h |
| Special limits in built-up areas | 30 km/h | 30 km/h |
Two knock-on changes. The numberless rural sign — the white circle with black diagonal stripes — is now described as “the alternative design for the 60kmh speed limit sign” that may be provided on a local road (p. 118 and p. 232). The old book captioned that same sign 80 km/h. And the row of specimen signs now includes a 20 km/h plate alongside 30, 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 and 120. The change itself took effect on 7 February 2025 — the full story is in our speed limits guide.
A new reminder box states plainly that speed limits apply to all road users, “This includes bicycles, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-mopeds, motorbikes and other motor vehicles” (p. 114). The vehicle-specific table (buses 65 km/h with standing passengers, goods vehicles over 3,500 kg at 80/90 km/h, anything towing at 80 km/h) is unchanged (p. 121).
Fixed Charges and Penalty Points
Appendix 4 finally shows the amounts that have applied since October 2022.
The old edition’s penalty table was headed “with effect from December 2014”. The fixed charges for the most common offences were raised in October 2022; the edition we compared still printed the old amounts, and Revision 9 prints the higher ones. Nothing in this table is new law — but if the old book was your reference, every figure below will surprise you. For every offence that appears in both editions, the penalty points are unchanged.
| Offence | Old book (paid in 28 days / next 28) | Revision 9 | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speeding | €80 / €120 | €160 / €240 | 3 (5 on conviction) |
| Holding a mobile phone while driving | €60 / €90 | €120 / €180 | 3 (5) |
| Driver of a car or goods vehicle not wearing a safety belt | €60 / €90 | €120 / €180 | 3 (5) |
| Passenger under 17 not restrained (driver liable) | €60 / €90 | €120 / €180 | 3 (5) |
| Learner driving unaccompanied | €80 / €120 | €160 / €240 | 2 (4) |
| Failure to display L plate or N plate | €60 / €90 | €120 / €180 | 2 (4) |
| Failure to leave appropriate distance from the vehicle in front | €80 / €120 | €160 / €240 | 3 (5) |
| Failure to stop for a school warden sign | €80 / €120 | €160 / €240 | 2 (5) |
| Speed limitation device missing or non-compliant | €60 / €90 | €120 / €180 | 3 (5) |
Unchanged in the table: failing to obey traffic lights, stop and yield signs, crossing a continuous white line and dangerous overtaking all stay at €80 / €120 with 3 points; no NCT stays at €60 / €90 with 3 points; defective tyres at €80 / €120 with 2 points; and a bus driver not wearing a safety belt stays at €60 / €90. How the points system itself works — thresholds, the 36-month clock, the novice limit — is in our penalty points guide.
Rows that were not in the old book
- Dangerous overtaking of a cyclist or electric scooter user — €120 / €180, 3 points (5 on conviction)
- Driver permitting a child over 3 years of age to travel without an appropriate child restraint — €120 / €180, 3 points (5). The old table had the under-3 row and the rear-facing-seat-on-an-airbag row, but no over-3 row
- Not wearing safety belt or appropriate child restraint in specified category of vehicle — €120 / €180, 3 points (5)
- Cycling: a new €40 charge for failing to obey cycle traffic lights, and the cyclist’s school-warden offence rises from €40 to €80
- A whole new Table 4: 23 e-scooter offences, every one of them €50 — from riding on a footway and carrying a passenger to holding a phone and exceeding the speed limit
New text on driving bans (p. 187)
- “The time you spend banned from driving or without a licence does not count towards the 36-month penalty point period. The end date for the penalty points or disqualification period will be extended to cover the time lost.”
- Points received while banned or unlicensed have their own 36-month period extended too
- If those new points trigger another disqualification, the six-month ban is also extended
Learner Drivers
Two changes in Section 2, and a great deal that is word-for-word the same.
L plates now have a specification (p. 30)
The old book’s general rule said only that learners “must display ‘L’ plates while they are driving” — front-and-back placement was mentioned only in the driving-test vehicle checklist. Revision 9 says they must be displayed on both the front and rear of the vehicle, and “should feature a red ‘L’ on a white background, with the letter measuring at least 15cm in height and a border of at least 2cm”. The penalty is “a fixed charge fine and up to 4 penalty points”; Appendix 4 puts the charge at €120 (p. 265). A plate that has faded to pink, or one stuck inside a tinted rear window, is not obviously compliant.
Driving unaccompanied (p. 29 and p. 186)
The book states the penalty in prose twice, and both places now read €160 and two points if paid within 28 days, €240 and two points in the next 28 days, and €240 with four points on conviction. Add to that the pound charge for the car, which doubled on 14 August 2026 and falls on the owner. Who may legally sit beside a learner is unchanged — see our accompanying-driver guide.
What did not change for learners. Sections 1 to 3 — licence categories and minimum ages, the learner permit, the six-month rule, EDT’s 12 one-hour sessions, the sponsor, motorcycle IBT, and every paragraph on the driving test itself — are identical apart from the two items above and the page numbers in cross-references. The stopping-distance tables and the two-second rule are unchanged too. If you were preparing for the test with the old book, the test has not moved; only the penalties and the L-plate wording have.
Elsewhere in the book, two additions matter to anyone on a learner permit who rides a scooter or e-bike to lessons: speed limits now expressly apply to e-bikes and e-scooters (p. 114), and an e-scooter rider must “follow the same rules of the road that apply to cyclists” and “must not use a mobile phone” (p. 198).
Child Car Seats
The legal rules on p. 46 were rewritten and the chart on p. 47 replaced; the checklist on p. 48 is carried over with edits.
The old edition explained the rules by weight bands and cited “ECE Regulation 44.03, 44.04 or Regulation 129”. The new pages are built around R129 / i-Size, and the E-mark requirement now reads simply “United Nations Standard ECE Regulation 129” (p. 48). The thresholds are the same — every child under 150 cm in height or 36 kg in weight must use a child restraint suited to their height and weight in a car or goods vehicle, other than a taxi — though the new sentence says “or” where the old one said “under 150 centimetres tall and less than 36 kilograms”.
What the new text adds
- “Since 1 September 2024, child seats approved to Regulation R44 can no longer be sold by retailers, marketplaces and e-commerce in the EU”
- R129 seats “have undergone more rigorous testing and provide improved head and neck protection” than R44 seats
- “There is no law against children sitting in the front seat, as long as they are using the right child restraint” — but a rear-facing seat in front of an active airbag remains illegal, with “at least 3 penalty points”
- Children “should always travel in the back of the car”; taxi and bus drivers are exempt from supplying seats
Where to buy and where to ask
- The book now recommends buying from a retailer signed up to the RSA Code of Practice for child restraints
- The RSA Check It Fits service is given a phone number, 096 25000, as well as rsa.ie/checkitfits
- The old reference to a “booklet and DVD” is now just a booklet
The old book’s weight-band chart (0–13 kg, 9–18 kg and so on) is replaced by a height-based chart running from 40 to 150 cm, headed “Measure your child’s height and weight to help determine the best type of seat for them” (p. 47) — consistent with R129 choosing seats by height. Our child car seat guide already follows the i-Size approach.
Smaller Changes Drivers Will Actually Meet
Scattered through Sections 4 to 20. None is dramatic; several are testable.
| Topic | What Revision 9 says | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Bus lanes | There are now three types, not two: with-flow, contra-flow and continuous bus lanes, which run right up to the lights or stop sign. Buses in them have priority and left-turning traffic in the next lane gets its own signal. Taxis, bicycles, e-scooters and L1e-A e-mopeds may use some bus lanes. | pp. 84–85 |
| Flashing amber arrow | “A flashing amber arrow may sometimes be used in place of a green light, which indicates you must yield to conflicting traffic and pedestrians. You must only proceed if it is safe to do so.” | p. 109 |
| Toucan crossings | Newly described: a wider light-controlled crossing with green signals for both pedestrians and cyclists, no zebra stripes, sometimes with sensors that adjust the timing. | p. 219 |
| Zebra crossings | The old book said a zebra crossing “is marked by yellow flashing beacons”. The new one says the stripes define it and beacons are only sometimes present. | p. 217 |
| Disabled parking bays | New sentence: “If you are not the holder of a disabled parking permit, you cannot park in a disabled parking bay, even with a permit displayed, unless it’s for the permit holder’s convenience.” | p. 143 |
| Parking signs | A third parking sign is added: parking restricted within a specified area for a particular period (“Restriction on Parking – Specified Events”). New symbols for EV charging, bus parking, cycle parking and Park & Ride. | pp. 141–142 |
| Driver assistance | “Drivers should ensure they are familiar with the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in their vehicles in order to use the features safely and effectively.” | p. 40 |
| Motorway breakdown | The roadside phone now connects you to the Motorway Operations Control Centre (MOCC), not the Gardaí. If you use a mobile, take note of the label on a nearby emergency phone (MXXA/B YYY) or a nearby Location Reference Indicator or Marking. New line: “Remove your vehicle from the motorway as soon as possible.” Motorway services symbols gain EV charging. | pp. 156–157 |
| Roadside drug test | New sentence after the saliva-test paragraph: “You must wait at the location while the sample is tested.” | p. 169 |
| “Incident”, not “accident” | Section 14 is renamed Correct behaviour at the scene of an incident and the word is replaced almost throughout (one “accident” survives on p. 179). The duties themselves are unchanged — see what to do after a collision. | pp. 179–183 |
| Horses | A new page of advice on passing horses: most collisions involve the horse being struck from behind; slow down, be prepared to stop, pass wide and slowly, don’t use your horn or lights in a way that might startle the horse, and — for HGV drivers — be aware that air brakes can startle it. | p. 227 |
| Tunnel signs | Four new variable-message pictograms: lane(s) ahead closed, tunnel height restriction (4.65 m shown), risk of overturning, tunnel closure. | p. 167 |
| Motorcyclists | The “Sam Browne” belt disappears from the text and the glossary; the advice is now simply a “reflective belt”. | p. 196 |
New Signs in Sections 21 to 25
If you are learning signs from flashcards made from the old book, these are missing.
Regulatory (Section 21)
- Maximum speed limit 20 km/h (new to the book) and 40 km/h (new to this list; the old edition showed it only among the special limits on its p. 116)
- The numberless local-road sign, now captioned 60 km/h (the old edition captioned it 80)
- No pedal cycles or electric scooters
- Pedestrians, pedal cycles and electric scooters only (was “pedestrians and bicycles only”)
- Contra-flow cycle track
- Continuous bus lane and no left turn from bus lane (Section 6)
Warning and information (Sections 22–24)
- Compact junction and jaunting cars warning signs
- Pedestrian/Cycle Crossing
- Roadworks: cyclists keep right and temporary pedestrian crossing; a site access text plate replaces the old “site access on left/right” pair
- Average speed zone (p. 120) and Reduce speed now (traffic calming, p. 83)
- Two-stage right turn for cyclists, and shared track for pedal cycles, electric scooters and pedestrians (p. 211)
- Motorway: advanced service area sign showing which services are coming up
Appendix 2, the list of laws the book is based on, grows by roughly a hundred instruments. The additions that drive the changes above are the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023, the Road Traffic Act 2024, the Road Traffic (Electric Scooters) Regulations 2024, the Road Traffic (Use of Powered Personal Transporters) Regulations 2024 and the Road Traffic (Signs) (Speed limits) Regulations 2024 (pp. 250–262).
What Did Not Change
Worth stating, because a new edition invites the assumption that everything moved.
Identical apart from page numbers
- Licence categories, minimum ages and the conditions attached to them
- The driving test: applying, what is assessed, the six-month rule, representative vehicles
- Stopping distances (still the TRL 2012 tables) and the two-second rule
- Roundabouts, yellow boxes, overtaking, reversing, U-turns — and the junctions text, except that e-scooters and e-mopeds are added to four sentences about who to watch for
- Drink-driving limits and penalties, driver fatigue, road rage
- Motorway rules, apart from the breakdown procedure and the new signs listed above
- Vehicle-specific speed limits for buses, trucks and trailers
What this means if you are learning now
- Download Revision 9 from rsa.ie and stop using any copy that says “1 June 2021” in the foreword
- Re-learn four things: the 60 km/h local road, the current fixed charges, the e-scooter rules, and the L-plate spec (front and rear, red L at least 15 cm high with a 2 cm border)
- Everything you learned about the test itself still stands
- The RSA says the book is updated periodically online and that it includes a comment wherever a further change in the law is already known (pp. 7 and 10) — so check the PDF date, not just the cover
Correct as at 11 September 2026. This article describes what the book says; where the law has moved on since 1 March 2025 (for example the vehicle-detention charges in August 2026), the book will not reflect it and we have linked to the instrument instead.
Learn the current rules, not the 2021 ones
Every lesson we teach follows the current Rules of the Road and the current marking guidelines. If you learned from an older book, a lesson or two will show you exactly where you are out of date.
Driving lessons in Lucan · Tallaght · Clondalkin · Adamstown · Celbridge · Maynooth · Leixlip · all areas
Primary Sources
- 📘 Rules of the Road, Revision No. 9, May 2026 — Road Safety Authority / The O’Brien Press; law as at 1 March 2025. All page references above are to this edition
- 📘 Rules of the Road, previous edition — Road Safety Authority; law as at 1 June 2021. Used for the side-by-side comparison
- ⚖️ Road Traffic (Electric Scooters) Regulations 2024 and the Road Traffic (Use of Powered Personal Transporters) Regulations 2024 — both listed in Appendix 2 of Revision 9 (p. 262) among the laws the book is based on
- ⚖️ Road Traffic Act 2024 and S.I. No. 618/2024 — Road Traffic (Signs) (Speed limits) Regulations 2024 — the 60 km/h default on local roads, in operation from 7 February 2025
- ⚖️ S.I. No. 526/2022 — Road Traffic Act 2010 (Part 3) (Fixed Charge Offences) Regulations 2022 — the fixed-charge increases, in operation from 27 October 2022 (since replaced by the 2024 Regulations listed in Appendix 2)