Need to pass driver’s test? Go west is best

IF you want to increase your chances of passing your driving test, you should head west.

The highest pass rates are in Donegal, Limerick, Clare and Galway, according to the latest figures from the Road Safety Authority.

And the lowest are in Wexford, Dublin and Kilkenny.

Figures released by the RSA to independent Senator Victor Boyhan for the week ending August 18 showed that 2,863 tests were offered. Of those 1,332 drivers passed, 1,140 failed and 268 didn’t turn up.

Pass rates have dropped from a national average of 54% in 2015 to 52%. However, it varies considerably in different test centres.

Donegal town, in a county that has seen some of the most appalling fatal road accidents in recent years, has a pass rate of 85%.

In Sligo it’s 71%, and it’s 64% in Ennis, Co Clare. Senator Boyhan said the RSA must study this disparity. He suggests the high failure rate in some areas is delaying the 83,000 learner drivers awaiting a test.

He said: ‘During one week in August in Gorey 42 people failed the test while just 20 passed.

‘Also, in three of the major testing centres in Dublin… more people failed than passed.

Driver testers are trained to do tests to a uniform standard as prescribed by RSA procedures.

The RSA said last night: ‘There are many factors that impact on test outcomes… level of preparedness of test candidates, nervousness, whether tuition has been taken, age and the quality

85% pass rate in Donegal town

of such tuition. Of the 83,000 waiting, more than 45,000 do not yet have a test date. The longest wait time was in Skibbereen at 26 weeks. The RSA said: ‘The current waiting time is 11.8 weeks on average.’

Mr Boyhan called on Transport Minister Shane Ross ‘to urgently sanction recruitment of testers.’

Comment – Page 12 neil.michael@dailymail.ie