No progress on licence restrictions

NEW DRIVING licence restrictions to reduce the high rate of fatalities and serious collisions among inexperienced drivers have been delayed, the Department of Transport has said.

A graduated driving licence regime that would impose restrictions on motorists driving for the first two years after passing their test was a central component of the Road Safety Strategy 2007 to 2012.

The measure was designed to reduce deaths among one of the most high-risk groups of road users: young male drivers aged between 17 and 24.

When the strategy was published last year, it set a deadline of the end of September 2008 for the introduction of legislation to provide for the system.

However, this has not yet been introduced. A spokeswoman for the Department of Transport said work on the legislation was ongoing, but was unable to provide a reason for the delay or the date it would come before the Cabinet.

Fergus O'Dowd, Fine Gael's transport spokesman, said the failure to introduce the legislation showed a "worrying level of slippage with regard to road safety". He said a number of significant deadlines had already been missed within in the first year of the strategy.

Tommy Broughan, Labour spokesman on transport, said "missing road safety deadlines was deplorable".

"We had a plan of action, which clearly defined actions and targets, and the Government is not meeting its commitments." He suggested one reason for the delay was that the department may have believed it was possible to provide for the changes by regulation. "As it turns out, they will need legislation," he said.

The safety strategy outlined 17 proposals for restricted driving licences. A small number that relate to motorists already on a learner permit, such as the requirement to be accompanied by a person with a full driving licence for at least two years, have been introduced.

However, the department has to decide on whether or not to introduce restrictive recommendations for fully licenced drivers who have just passed their test.

The measures recommended by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) for consideration include disqualification on foot of fewer penalty points; limiting inexperienced drivers to small-engined cars and a lower blood alcohol limit.

The move was sought by the RSA because it believes inexperience, rather than whether a driver is on a full licence or a learner permit licence, is the main reason young male drivers are being killed and injured disproportionately.