No decision on when driving tests will resume, says RSA

No decision has been made on whether driving tests can resume on June 29th, the Road Safety Authority (RSA) has confirmed.

On June 6th Minister for Transport Shane Ross said he did "see the possibility of truck, bus and motorcycle testing resuming in Phase 3" of the lifting of coronavirus restrictions on June 29th.

However the RSA said on Friday that it would be next week before a decision was taken on the resumption of any tests, aside from “urgent driving tests” for driving emergency vehicles, or medical professionals and “critical supply chain HGV drivers”.

While these drivers have been facilitated in “exceptional circumstances” all other tests have been suspended since March 13th.

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More than 56,000 learner drivers are now waiting on tests. Of these 36,511 have completed their mandatory pre-test driving lessons with an instructor while another 19,817 had not taken all their lessons before the Covid-19 restrictions were introduced.

While test waiting times had reduced to below six weeks at the start of March, it is likely that applicants will be waiting significantly longer for a test once the service resumes. In 2018 learners were waiting up to six months for a test when the waiting list reached almost 83,000.

Mr Ross earlier this month said there were “issues to overcome to recommence car driving tests”.

These included maintaining social distancing “as a car driving test means close contact in an enclosed space between the driver tester and the learner driver for periods in excess of 15 minutes”’ he said.

“I can assure learner drivers that officials in my Department and the RSA are looking at all available options to get car driving tests started again as soon as possible,” he said.