OVER 14,000 ‘L’ PLATE DRIVERS ACROSS LOUTH
There are 14,058 drivers from Louth who remain on ‘ learner’ permits, according to new figures from the Road Safety Authority (RSA).
A recent analysis of the market by insuremycars.ie showed that many motorists are spending hundreds of euro extra each year on driving test no-shows, new permits and extra insurance. Many drivers aged 30plus are on their 5th, 6th, 7th or even 10th learner driver permit.
The company called on the Government to address learner permit ‘ lifers”, who they believe may be clogging up the system and costing themselves, and the taxpayer, significant sums of money each year.
Deirdre McCarthy, www.insuremycars.ie explains, ‘ The figures on multiple learner permits are pretty staggering. There are approximately 14,058 motorists in Louth on learner permits, how many of these are on permit no. 3 or greater? We believe these numbers need to be tackled for a variety of reasons.’
She added: ‘Aside from the safety aspect of passing your driving test, there are also several financial benefits in doing so. Recent reports have highlighted the lengthy delays driving test wait times across the country with some people waiting up to 25 weeks to sit their test. Something needs to be done to address this backlog and we believe that if people were restricted in the number of times they could be granted a learner permit, it would lessen the number of driving test applications as people move from a learner permit to a full licence.’
The online brokers are advocating changes to the system to limit the number of learner permits that motorists can carry, to ensure that learner permit holders are required to actually take, rather than simply apply for, the test before getting another permit.