The Road Safety Authority (RSA) received more than 180 complaints a month last year including gripes from drivers who were told their cars weren’t safe to drive, that they were “over cautious” on the road, and from one person who couldn’t hear instructions properly with the window down.
The RSA said there had been 2,205 complaints made in 2022, with a particularly high number in August when 297 were logged by the authority.
One driver claimed they were the victim of “partial and very racist” treatment by a tester and that they had been pre-judged because of their ethnicity.
They wrote: “Considering the amount of time and money spent in the process, we expect a fair conduct and not being pushed to move fast or quickly because the tester was in a hurry to complete the test.”
One unfortunate driver suffered a puncture on their way to their test and changed to their spare tyre en route.
However, they were told by an examiner that the test could not go ahead with the spare having a maximum speed of only 80kph.
They wrote: “The car is road worthy and the tyre is legal. I have now had to reapply for another test costing €85 which I think is very unfair.”
Another was told their car was unsafe with “worn and smooth” tyres, even though the same vehicle had passed the NCT exam just two weeks previously.
Apart from [the examiner] not doing the test, [they were] extremely rude and I did not deserve to be treated in such a manner.
An email said: “Apart from [the examiner] not doing the test, [they were] extremely rude and I did not deserve to be treated in such a manner.
“I waited two and a half months for this test and took on extra lessons. I had a lesson an hour before my test and my instructor did a safety check on my car and said everything was perfectly fine.”
One driver said they had been marked down because they were being too “cautious” on the road.
They had also made a wrong turn because they had the windows down and misheard instructions, part of Covid-19 safety policies.
They said: “I don’t mean to be rude or anything of that sort, but I do feel like there was three or four marks given that are unfair and just marked way too harshly; I do hope that I can be helped or retested if possible.”
They weren’t the only one who were told they had been “over cautious” with one candidate saying they had been driving very carefully because the weather was so cold.
“The temperature didn’t get above zero all day and there could have been black ice and I would have lost control,” they wrote, “[but] the tester wanted me to speed up to make green lights etc. I feel like I was doing the right thing and so feel I was unfairly tested.”
One person said they were after missing out on a part-time job because they had failed, claiming the tester “was looking for marks to fail me”.
“It’s an absolute joke in this day and age to have to spend €85 various times to be treated like this,” they said.
“I also now have to endure the wait time of up to six months for my next test which will prevent me from starting a new part time job I had secured.”
An RSA statement said: “To note, a little over 180,000 driving tests were booked in for 2022 and a total of 2205 complaints (1.22%) were received in the same period.
“The RSA takes complaints from members of the public very seriously and each complaint received relating to a driving test is fully assessed before a reply issues to [the] complainant.”
