Government announces crackdown on learner drivers
Learner drivers who flout laws on travelling unsupervised were today warned they face hefty fines in a major road safety crackdown.
Provisional licence holders must have a fully qualified driver of at least two years experience in the car with them from next Tuesday, under the new provisions.
There are presently around 420,000 provisional licence holders in country.
The measures form part of the Government's latest road safety strategy which it vows will prevent 400 deaths over the next five years.
While 126 specific actions were outlined in the plan - all with built in timeframes between now and 2012 - an expected imminent reduction in the drink driving limit has yet to be decided.
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has not yet determined the new blood alcohol level limit.
"We are both - the Government and the RSA - committed to reducing it, but we will make the decision as to what level once that research is completed," he said.
The RSA insisted that the current 80mg drink driving limit will be reduced by half through 2009 as laid out by the strategy.
Under the new graduated learner system every provisional licence driver must be properly supervised and display their L plates at all times or face fines up to €1,000.
That will include drivers on their second provisional licence who are presently excluded from the requirements.
And from after midnight on Monday all new driving applicants will get a Learner permit rather than the old provisional licences, which are to be phased out.
Learner permit holders will have to have held the permit for at least six months before applying for a driving test from December 1.
Gay Byrne, RSA chairman, said the new measures were necessary as inexperience was one of the major causes of road accidents in Ireland.
"It's absolutely statistically true that the 17 to 26-year-old male - and it's a male problem, not a female problem - are among the most dangerous drivers on the road," he said.
"Because young men suffer from a disease which can only be described as '17 to 26' - that is the disease in itself."
