Long-term learner drivers face licence crackdown

THE Road Safety Authority is planning to crack down on the 55,000plus long-term learner drivers who use learning permits without ever passing their driving test.

More than 55,000 drivers throughout the country have obtained between three and ten learner permits, according to The Sunday Business Post.

This means that many have been driving on their learner permits for more than a decade and one learner driver has had 23 permits.

Learner permits last for two years, and holders can then apply for another two-year permit. Subsequently, learner drivers must prove they have applied to take a driving test, before applying for a subsequent learner permit, which lasts for one year.

The RSA is planning on crackdown on learner drivers who do not display their ‘L’ plates, as is legally required, to coincide with a new law that will allow for the seizure of cars operated by unaccompanied learner drivers.

The new law, passed by the Dáil and Seanad just before the summer break, would also reduce the number of long-term learner drivers who have so far avoided taking their driving test.

‘They now risk being left by the side of the road and their vehicle detained by gardaí,’ RSA spokesman Brian Farrell told the Sunday Business Post.

He said the RSA plans to liaise with the gardaí and the Policing Authority to ensure the new law regarding the seizure of cars belonging to unaccompanied drivers, which is due to come in at the end of the year, is fully enforced.

For those whose cars are seized by gardaí a charge for removal and storage will be put in place.

‘We are always looking at ways to encourage learner drivers to come forward for their test voluntarily but there has been a culture in this country by some to ignore the law in this area,’ Mr Farrell said.