A motorist who claimed he failed to get a driving licence because the tester was too big and interfered with his driving lost his court appeal yesterday. Mr David John Bradley (42), of Rosewood Green, Clondalkin, Dublin, had taken a civil action to obtain a re-test from the Department of Environment, alleging "unfairness or malice" on the part of the tester.
He told Dublin District Court that the tester, Mr Murphy, was "rather stout" and his leg got in the way while changing gears during the driving examination. This was "intimidating and bad manners", said Mr Bradley, who added he had to wait six minutes at the Rathgar Centre for his test.
He had informed an employee of the Department of the Environment that he was "very nervous" about the test and she had told the tester this although he had decided not to, said Mr Bradley.
State solicitor Ms Mary Cummins said it was not possible to appeal against the result of a driving test, only the manner in which it was conducted. She said Mr Bradley's driving was of a low standard and he had made five mistakes in the oral test. He had lost points for use of accelerator, clutch and gears, positioning at cross junctions, roundabouts and right turns, anticipation, overtaking and vision in traffic.
Judge Mary Collins said Mr Bradley had failed to show any evidence the test was unfairly conducted and refused his appeal.