On the one hand policy isn’t decided by the victim of tragedy, on the other hand this seems like a joke from the Soviet Union:
>Figures show that over 27,000 drivers in Ireland have been on a learner permit for between 11 and 20 years.
FFS just get your license lads. It’s not that hard. Do the 12 lessons and book the test. You’ll get a date in a few months.
I was one of those people applying for a test so that I could renew my provisional every few years. Had a provisional from age 16 to 38.
Got the provisional at sixteen, drove scooters for sixish years so never needed the full as insurance was dirt cheap. Lived in decent cities with ok public transport through college and for a while afterwards, never had any sort of transport but kept renewing the licence .
Got my own car in my early thirties, failed the test once and barely drove for the next few years. Never in the car unaccompanied although a car rental place in the states rented me a fucking Mustang on my provisional as my ex left her full licence at home. Ended up passing on my third (and in my opinion worst) attempt at the test.
I should have never been allowed have the provisional so long, stupid system. But we need to teach rules of the road and driving theory in school with the aim of helping people pass their tests as soon as possible.
Roads were less busy then by far so it’s probably not a great idea to do it now but it’s something to think about.
Something has to be done. And “hire more instructors” seems to be impossible for some reason.
Article isn’t really clear, did the last crack down work? Because the “book a test” thing only came in a decade ago to address the issue, and it would be nice to know if it did make an appreciable difference.
Part of the problem back then of course was much more lax enforcement of learner rules, which has changed. Although in general it seems that enforcement of the road rules is pretty weak…
What are they going to do about it? Put another question in the theory test to sell a new edition?
The RSA is A quango not worth a wank
They should prioritize revoking permits based on people committing driving offences while holding one, before they start looking at how long people have had them for. It’s not the same problem it used to be where the provisional licence meant you could drive away anyhow. People need to stop looking at the provisional licence and the learners permit as the same thing.
Feel terrible for this woman but I fail to see how this ‘crack down’ is going to do anything other than generate more money for the RSA and NDLS.
Her husband also sadly passed away in 2004, that was a completely different system.
Just scrap the whole learner permit nonsense and set up driving schools that you can graduate from with a full license.
You already need to do 12 hours of lessons with an instructor so why not formalise it and have the instructor certify learners as competent of not.
>Previously, learner drivers only needed to book a test to renew their learner permit – with road safety groups warning that many drivers were doing so indefinitely.
If you have to always be accompanied then what advantage is there to extending it for so long?
You know one thing that always makes me wonder is how many people are in the queue for a test and are people who have automatic only licenses and need to switch it so they can drive manual?
I wonder how many there are just taking up space in the queue while actual learners are stuck waiting. Because frankly getting certified for a manual could be done by a driving school. Do a few lessons in one, if they think you’re good, they give you the form to get your license amended and keep you out of the pile of other cases.
Just a thought that comes to mind whenever I hear about the massive wait times on driving test queues.
Or… just hear me out… how about you fix the fucking insane backlog and let people live their fucking lives? My partner waited 15 months for her driving test and I’ve been waiting close to a year now.
But the rule has always been that you can only renew a permit a third time if you’ve sat a test. There is nothing new about this.
You can’t have huge exam backlogs and enforce this though.
They need to clear the backlog first, otherwise it’s absolute bullshit to fine people who are waiting on a test.
The 12 driving lessons, before you can apply for a test, is a complete and utter scam.
>Under the new policy learners will have to sit the test before renewing.
How will they practice for the test without a valid learner permit?
17 comments
On the one hand policy isn’t decided by the victim of tragedy, on the other hand this seems like a joke from the Soviet Union:
>Figures show that over 27,000 drivers in Ireland have been on a learner permit for between 11 and 20 years.
FFS just get your license lads. It’s not that hard. Do the 12 lessons and book the test. You’ll get a date in a few months.
I was one of those people applying for a test so that I could renew my provisional every few years. Had a provisional from age 16 to 38.
Got the provisional at sixteen, drove scooters for sixish years so never needed the full as insurance was dirt cheap. Lived in decent cities with ok public transport through college and for a while afterwards, never had any sort of transport but kept renewing the licence .
Got my own car in my early thirties, failed the test once and barely drove for the next few years. Never in the car unaccompanied although a car rental place in the states rented me a fucking Mustang on my provisional as my ex left her full licence at home. Ended up passing on my third (and in my opinion worst) attempt at the test.
I should have never been allowed have the provisional so long, stupid system. But we need to teach rules of the road and driving theory in school with the aim of helping people pass their tests as soon as possible.
In [1979 over 60,000 drivers](https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/national-news/1331769/majority-of-irish-motorists-oppose-reckless-idea-to-introduce-amnesty-for-learner-drivers.html) were given amnesty and assigned licenses.
Roads were less busy then by far so it’s probably not a great idea to do it now but it’s something to think about.
Something has to be done. And “hire more instructors” seems to be impossible for some reason.
Article isn’t really clear, did the last crack down work? Because the “book a test” thing only came in a decade ago to address the issue, and it would be nice to know if it did make an appreciable difference.
Part of the problem back then of course was much more lax enforcement of learner rules, which has changed. Although in general it seems that enforcement of the road rules is pretty weak…
What are they going to do about it? Put another question in the theory test to sell a new edition?
The RSA is A quango not worth a wank
They should prioritize revoking permits based on people committing driving offences while holding one, before they start looking at how long people have had them for. It’s not the same problem it used to be where the provisional licence meant you could drive away anyhow. People need to stop looking at the provisional licence and the learners permit as the same thing.
Feel terrible for this woman but I fail to see how this ‘crack down’ is going to do anything other than generate more money for the RSA and NDLS.
Her husband also sadly passed away in 2004, that was a completely different system.
Just scrap the whole learner permit nonsense and set up driving schools that you can graduate from with a full license.
You already need to do 12 hours of lessons with an instructor so why not formalise it and have the instructor certify learners as competent of not.
>Previously, learner drivers only needed to book a test to renew their learner permit – with road safety groups warning that many drivers were doing so indefinitely.
If you have to always be accompanied then what advantage is there to extending it for so long?
You know one thing that always makes me wonder is how many people are in the queue for a test and are people who have automatic only licenses and need to switch it so they can drive manual?
I wonder how many there are just taking up space in the queue while actual learners are stuck waiting. Because frankly getting certified for a manual could be done by a driving school. Do a few lessons in one, if they think you’re good, they give you the form to get your license amended and keep you out of the pile of other cases.
Just a thought that comes to mind whenever I hear about the massive wait times on driving test queues.
Or… just hear me out… how about you fix the fucking insane backlog and let people live their fucking lives? My partner waited 15 months for her driving test and I’ve been waiting close to a year now.
But the rule has always been that you can only renew a permit a third time if you’ve sat a test. There is nothing new about this.
You can’t have huge exam backlogs and enforce this though.
They need to clear the backlog first, otherwise it’s absolute bullshit to fine people who are waiting on a test.
The 12 driving lessons, before you can apply for a test, is a complete and utter scam.
>Under the new policy learners will have to sit the test before renewing.
How will they practice for the test without a valid learner permit?