Panel of 100 driving testers set up to meet expected surge in demand

Seventy driving testers are to be hired quickly by the Road Safety Authority to cope with an expected surge in applications from young drivers once legislation clamping down on unaccompanied learners is introduced.

The proposed legislation, which includes an amendment to the Road Traffic Bill known as the "Clancy" amendment, means motorists who lend their car to an unaccompanied learner drive will face prosecution. The new law will also apply to car owners who give their vehicles to a person without a licence. The amendment is due to be considered in the Oireachtas again this week.

The proposals were dubbed the “Clancy amendment” – in recognition of a campaign by Cork man Noel Clancy. Mr Clancy lost his wife and daughter in a crash caused by an unaccompanied learner driver.

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has said it plans to offer fixed-term contracts to at least 67 people out of a panel of 100 qualified driving testers to meet what could result in an additional 118,947 driving applications when the legislation is passed.

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Another 29,000 people are expected to fail and need to resit the test based on the number of adults who hold repeat driving permits, which would result in more than 148,000 additional driving tests, according to the RSA.

RSA director Moyagh Murdock says there is a "culture of complacency" around learner drivers in Ireland repeatedly renewing their permits and regularly driving unaccompanied without any intention of sitting the test. She says the average owner of repeat permits is 35 years or older, and has already held four to five previous permits.

Compulsory lessons

Many of these drivers hold permits from before 2011 when a law was introduced stipulating that learner drivers had to undergo 12 hours of compulsory lessons with an approved driving instructor before taking their test. However, as the law is not retrospective any person who held a permit before 2011 is not required to take the lessons.

Now, with the expected introduction of the Clancy amendment, the RSA expects there to be a rush on applications, including from people who may have never taken a formal driving lesson in their life.

"If people don't go for lessons they develop bad habits," Ms Murdock told The Irish Times. "They may have developed self-confidence and believe they don't need training. But we would expect between 21,000-29,000 of these to actually fail the test."

There are currently more than 245,000 learner drivers across the State with an average waiting time of 11.9 weeks for tests, down from 14.5 weeks in January. However, the surge in driving test applications could place massive pressure on the testing system, resulting in a waiting period of up to 68 weeks.

Free up spots

Ms Murdock said the RSA was contacting “high risk” applicants who have repeatedly failed to show up for tests to free up spots for other learner drivers and reduce waiting times.

She also said the appointment of 67 new driving testers would help “tackle the upsurge in demand for a driving test”, adding that the new testers would be made available to smaller centres in need of additional support. The panel will be available to begin work as soon as the legislation is passed, she said.

Bernard Harbour from Fóras trade union, which represents driving testers, said discussions between the union and the RSA were at an “advanced stage” regarding the employment of additional testers.

He said the creation of a panel of people, including recently retired driving testers, was a “reasonable response” to the expected surge in demand.

“The amount of productivity you can get out of the existing cohort of staff is limited, and it can only be increased through overtime and during the summer when it’s light in the evenings. We sought that measures be put in place so that rather than hiring people that might not be needed in the future a panel of testers would be available.”