Crackdown on Prov License Drivers - Will it stick?

I don't know what the stats for L-driver accident and fatalities is in Ireland but surely if L-drivers cause at least some of these deaths or indeed die themselves in accidents, forcing them to have a passenger in the car with them could mean the death of another person - i.e two could die or be injuried instead of one! - we are forcing more people to be in cars then there would ordinarily be - more people, more injuries. Having a fully qualified driver in the car would do absolutely nothing to prevent an accident - for example what if you have one of these 'lucky bag' licence holders who got one in the 80's without doing a test - I personally know 2 such people and one of them is an absolutely terrible driver by their own admission and would surely fail the test if forced to do it -what good would this person be?.

I feel sorry for these learner drivers and I think it's so easy for the qualified drivers to be smug about it all - they forget that they too were once learner drivers!
 
truthseeker said:
well at the time they didnt need them :)

Judging by some responses here people seem to think that they have no alternatives, Im simply pointing out that they do.
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neither did some of us until yesterday!
I'm sure my neighbours will be delighted when I turn up on their doorsteps begging for lifts :rolleyes:
 
Mel said:
neither did some of us until yesterday!
I'm sure my neighbours will be delighted when I turn up on their doorsteps begging for lifts :rolleyes:
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Im not saying it was a lovely easy solution. But it was a solution nonetheless.
 
"
truthseeker said:
briancbyrne - I assume you mean you need to drive to get to work (judging by what you say about public transport).

Theres always a bicycle.

Thouands of workers get to work everyday in ways other than driving themselves.

There is always a choice, but you may not like the alternatives, such as public transport or via bicycle. You could always get a job thats easier to get to? "


There is not always a choice, and you cannot say that if you don't know the situation. People have mortgages etc to pay, they cannot just quit their jobs and hope they'll get one nearer.
What if someone has to travel 50 miles for work everyday, you think a bicycle is the solution?? What if someone is a tradesperson and has to carry tools to different jobs everyday? There is not always an alternative. I agree that something needs to be done about the system, but they should phase it in. The drivingtest.ie website is down all day today. Looks like everyone is applying at the one time, so where they had the waiting lists down to 10 weeks, it will probably now go back to the 50 weeks it was not too long ago.
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truthseeker said:
Judging by some responses here people seem to think that they have no alternatives, Im simply pointing out that they do.
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Those who live in densely populated areas with public transport and in close proximity to their places of work have plenty of alternatives.

Those living in sparsely populated rural areas have few if any alternatives.

Currently circa 40% of our population live in rural areas. We have one of the most geographically disperse populations in the EU.

I have little sympathy for people who live in Booterstown and now have to take a bus/cycle to UCD instead of driving their car (as heard in an interview with Valerie Cox on Pat Kenny this morning).
 
jodub said:
What if someone has to travel 50 miles for work everyday, you think a bicycle is the solution??
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No - and I never suggested that it was. If I had to travel 50 miles everyday and I couldnt use my car anymore Id get a little moped.
 
And then would you put a little trailer on that moped and put all your tools in it??:eek:
 
so would I be right in saying that everyone on this thread who thinks, 'poor driver' or the like think it is their right to drive just because they can afford the car and the people who are making valid points understand that this development is a step in the right direction. For once I applaud the change as it does show some sort of intention on the govt part. Let's hope the TV is filled with figures of people getting caught from now one and really give us a good message that they are actually implementing, rather than blowing air.
 
sinbadsailor said:
so would I be right in saying that everyone on this thread who thinks, 'poor driver' or the like think it is their right to drive just because they can afford the car and the people who are making valid points understand that this development is a step in the right direction.
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by the looks of things - you certainly would be right :)
 
Really? then your obviously thinking of smaller tools than i am!!

I totally agree that they have to make changes, but i cannot understand that people cannot see a problem with the short notice of these changes. It is totally unfair.

And its all very well when you have your licence which i have, it doesn't affect you, but you have to think about the huge impact that this is going to have on a lot of peoples lives if it is enforced.
 
truthseeker said:
by the looks of things - you certainly would be right :)
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So only the posters who agree with you are making valid points?? - this isn't just a step in the right direction - it's a whole mile in the right direction, that's the point it's too much too soon with too little notice. Everybody agrees with making the roads safer for all users but practicality has to come into it - people have to work and in a lot of cases these are important jobs such as nursing, caring, teaching etc - those on the high horse with their full licence will be the first ones giving out when the teachers, nurses and the like don't show up for work!

This should be phased in with good notice given to all drivers - over a weekend is not good enough
 
truthseeker said:
Im not saying it was a lovely easy solution. But it was a solution nonetheless.
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It was a solution for a limited time because you were injured; nobody LIKES being lumped with a lump of a passenger no matter how polite they may have been about it.

I do agree that the system as it stands is a shambles, and I don't disagree that needs to be changed, but as someone already made teh point, not this way!

People make decisions based on the information available to them at the time; to pull the rug on people like this is just plain unfair. I suspect it's just a tactic though, a means to changing the culture of driving in this country. I don't see 40,000 people being put off the road next week.
 
ney001 said:
Is there storage space to drop your kids to childminder because childminder can't come to your house anymore because she's a learner driver as well:rolleyes:
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In my opinion you shouldn't be carrying a precious load like that unless you've proved that you are a competent driver.

In any other country in the world these rules are standard, I think the problem here is that they look draconian when compared with what was in place previously.
In 2 years time we'll look back and say that this was a brave move. We could let this drag on for another 2 years to make sure we didn't put people out, but how many lives would be lost in the meantime?
 
jodub said:
I totally agree that they have to make changes, but i cannot understand that people cannot see a problem with the short notice of these changes. It is totally unfair.
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If you read previous posts on the thread you will see that I do disagree with how it is being implemented.
 
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