Drivers in County Westmeath are the worst in the country, according to a new analysis of penalty points handed out by gardaí.

The Lakelands county has the highest proportion of drivers with 10 or more penalty points according to a report in the Irish Daily Mirror, with a rate of 508 per 100,000.

Offaly and Sligo are next on the list, at 464 and 451 per 100,000 respectively.

Meanwhile, County Cavan had the highest rates of drink driving, with 16 offences per 100,000 population.

The highest rate of mobile phone offences was recorded in Galway, while the most speeding offences were in Kilkenny.

The Road Safety Authority's (RSA's) Brian Farrell told the Mirror that “road-user behaviour doesn’t change overnight and we haven’t solved the drink-driving problem on our roads by any means... One in 10 drivers still admit to drink-driving and the penalty points statistics are showing it is still a problem out there.”