RSA critical of provisional licence numbers
Wednesday, 23 August 2006 22:14
The Chief Executive Officer of the Road Safety Authority, Noel Brett, has said it is unacceptable that there are 430,000 people driving on provisional licences in Ireland.
Speaking to RTÉ News, he said the authority will take over responsibility for driving tests from the Department of Transport in September and is committed to reducing the backlog of tests.
Mr Brett also said the Government was working on legislation that would reform the system of driving on provisional licences.
He said the goal was to introduce new learner permits and to ensure that any restrictions are enforced in detail.
Meanwhile the union representing driving examiners, IMPACT, has rejected claims that a high level of tests are being cancelled because of sick leave by its members.
The union said 8,000 tests were cancelled this year because candidates either did not show up or arrived in cars that were not roadworthy.
IMPACT also claimed that testers conducted 25,000 extra driving tests in the first half of 2006 in an effort to reduce waiting times.
- News At One: Noel Brett, Road Safety Authority, outlines the improvements needed in the driving test system
- News At One: Fran McNulty speaks to drivers and testers in Churchtown in Dublin
- Morning Ireland: Pat The Cope Gallagher, Minister of State for Transport, says that driving tests at weekends and outsourced driving testers will clear the driving test backlog in 18-24 months
- Morning Ireland: Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael Transport Spokeswoman, gives her view on the figures showing one in six drivers is on a provisional licence and how the test backlog can be cleared
- Morning Ireland: Treacy Hogan, Environment Correspondent, Irish Independent, discusses the new figures to be published today showing that 135,000 people are waiting to sit a driving test
- Nine News: Govt launches campaign on school bus seatbelts
- Nine News: Kate Egan reports that the head of the RSA says new legislation is on the way to reform the system
- Six One News: Kate Egan reports on the failure rate amongst provisional drivers
- One News: Kate Egan reports on new statistics from the Departments of Environment and Transport on the number of drivers on provisional licences and failure rates in driving tests
