COURT THREAT OVER TRUCKERS M50 DEMO; Hauliers will clog system in fines protest.

Byline: BY EOIN REYNOLDS

TRUCKERS were yesterday threatened with court if they "boycott" M50 toll charges when the hated barriers are finally lifted next week.

The angry drivers' move threatens to wreck the Government's introduction of barrier-free tolling by creating a massive backlog of unpaid fines.

The Irish Road Hauliers' Association represents 15,000 truck drivers, some of whom use the tolls more than 100 times a year.

The organisation believes the backlog will create a bureaucratic nightmare that will allow truckers get away with their refusal to cough up.

But the National Roads Authority warned they will land in court if they refuse to pay the EUR5.10 truck fee for using the M50. With thousands of trucks using the motorway every day, the IRHA reckons their "civil disobedience" to cost several million euro.

The association's executive is expected to formally adopt the plan at a meeting on Wednesday.

IRHA chief Jimmy Quinn said the action was prompted by anger over the new system.

Truckers want tolls to be abolished for licenced HGVs. He added: "About 10 years ago a study by transport experts Delcan said the M50 should be toll-free for trucks.

"Instead we are paying EUR5.10 every time we use it and because we are not allowed to use other routes we have no alternative.

"It is costing bigger hauliers up to EUR50,000 every year. This toll is effectively an export charge on containers." He added Ireland is more dependent on road haulage than most other countries but the Government had failed to recognise the industry's importance.

And Mr Quinn said when NTR ran the tolls, registered hauliers were given a 15 per cent discount which has been scrapped by the NRA.

He added hauliers are confident the NRA won't be able to keep up with the thousands of fines it would be issuing to truck drivers every day.

This, he said, would force the authority to talk to hauliers about the soaring costs of keeping truck on Irish roads.

Hauliers have claimed the fuel crisis and economic recession has left many operators on the brink of going out of business.

But an NRA spokeswoman said: "We would ask for full compliance with the new tolling system.

"The money generated will benefit all road users, including hauliers and the NRA has an obligation to seek recovery of unpaid tolls.

"The charges increase substantially as the process continues and goes on into the court system.

"It can also effect credit rating."

NORTHBOUND traffic on the M50 was brought to a standstill yesterday after two lorrys and a car collided.

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CHAOS M50 yesterday