Special plates sought for new drivers

Newly-licensed motorists are the cause of numerous accidents, driving like Formula 1 champions out of the driving-test centre, the Dáil was told.

Green Party transport spokesman Eamon Ryan called for restricted certification for motorists who have just passed their test.

He said: "Many accidents involve people who have recently passed their tests. They drive away from the testing centre like Michael Schumacher, and think they are king of the road."

He was speaking during a debate on the Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill.

The Bill provides for the establishment of an authority with statutory responsibility for driver testing. Waiting lists of up to 42 weeks now apply.

Mr Ryan said that under an alternative system to the one proposed in the Bill, newly licensed drivers would be subject to specific rules for their first two years. They would have a P-plate, and if they committed penalty-point offences "especially stringent punishments would apply".

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, who introduced the Bill in October, said the authority was "a crucial step in improving the delivery of the driver-testing service in the face of a continuing and unprecedented high level of demand for the service".

Fine Gael spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell criticised the waiting list for driving tests.

She asked why the Government could not organise "something as fundamental and simple as a driving test".