Crackdown on Prov License Drivers - Will it stick?

To affect over 400k learner drivers to save only 400 in a five year period - that seems very little.

to the small amount of guards on our road looking out for drink driving & speeding who cant even do that right are now been taken away from that to look out for learner drivers on the roads alone.

having an experience driver in the car is not going to make you a good driver. Listening to someone in the car saying dont do this dont do that. Ever heard of dont take lessons from family or friends.

i'm going to get my dad to drive his car to my house, sit in it while i drive to work, make him sit 8 1/2 hours in the car until i finish & i drive back home so he can collect his car & drive home, all this plus getting him to take his time away from his job.

If there not trying to run us off the roads completely, can they help in the solution as to how we can still drive & have experienced drivers in the car at all times.
 
truthseeker said:
Why? There are always alternative methods for getting to work.
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Not true - what if you're job is a community based job where you need to drive (yourself) around the community? Not every job fits neatly into a 9-5 office type job where a bus or colleague can get you there and back.
 
Nairb said:
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?
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How wonderful so what happens when a mother to a new born baby or indeed a couple of children is at home 24/7 cannot even drive to the local shop to get nappies if she needs to, what does she do in case of emergency? There are so many grey areas here, don't assume that just because you haven't done your test you're a bad driver. Like I said what about the older drivers with their free licences - do you think they would pass a test if they had to sit one now! -
 
Ceist Beag said:
Not true - what if you're job is a community based job where you need to drive (yourself) around the community? Not every job fits neatly into a 9-5 office type job where a bus or colleague can get you there and back.
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Why anyone in their right mind have accepted a job such as this if they werent a fully licensed driver in the first place baffles me.
 
ney001 said:
How wonderful so what happens when a mother to a new born baby or indeed a couple of children is at home 24/7 cannot even drive to the local shop to get nappies if she needs to, what does she do in case of emergency? There are so many grey areas here, don't assume that just because you haven't done your test you're a bad driver. Like I said what about the older drivers with their free licenses - do you think they would pass a test if they had to sit one now! -
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Ney001, I never said that all provisional license holders are bad drivers but there has to be some way of differentiating between people are learning and those who are qualified. You can't for example let an apprentice electrician wire your house, it has to be certified by a qualified electrician - That doesn't mean that certain apprentices couldn't do the job, they're just not qualified to do it.

In relation to your example about the mother with the small kids, lots of people don't have cars at all - what do they do in that situation? Just because you have a car doesn't give you the right to drive it.
 
truthseeker said:
Why anyone in their right mind have accepted a job such as this if they werent a fully licensed driver in the first place baffles me.
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Maybe the job didn't come with free crystal ball and they didn't know that on the 30th Oct they would be breaking the law by driving on their own - even though up to this point they were on a second provisional and it wasn't an issue??
 
Just because you have a car doesn't give you the right to drive it.
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Why not, if you've paid for the car, paid for tax, insurance & petrol. Why doesnt it give you the right to drive it? (taking into account that lessons have been taking & theory test passed etc)
 
ney001 said:
Maybe the job didn't come with free crystal ball and they didn't know that on the 30th Oct they would be breaking the law by driving on their own - even though up to this point they were on a second provisional and it wasn't an issue??
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Surely the insurance costs alone would put someone off accepting such a position without a full licence?

Very remiss of an employer to accept a provisionally licensed driver for such a position also.
 
I have fully comp & wondering if i should cancel the insurance as if i have a fully insured experienced driver in the car with me.
 
Nairb said:
Ney001, I never said that all provisional license holders are bad drivers but there has to be some way of differentiating between people are learning and those who are qualified. You can't for example let an apprentice electrician wire your house, it has to be certified by a qualified electrician - That doesn't mean that certain apprentices couldn't do the job, they're just not qualified to do it.

In relation to your example about the mother with the small kids, lots of people don't have cars at all - what do they do in that situation? Just because you have a car doesn't give you the right to drive it.
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Well I would guess that if someone didn't have a car then this wouldn't affect them in the slightest because they wouldn't have come to depend on their ability to drive to the local shops - what they don't have they won't miss. This affects those who have been up to now using their car to get around on a daily basis. My point is - it's not black and white! - I don't think you can compare apprentice electricians to Learner drivers!
 
Mely said:
Why not, if you've paid for the car, paid for tax, insurance & petrol. Why doesnt it give you the right to drive it? (taking into account that lessons have been taking & theory test passed etc)
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If you haven't passed the exam you're not qualified. Simple as. It's a lethal weapon so surely there has to be some restriction on who can use it!
 
I must admit that I would be amazed to see this law enforced in any meaningful way. The Gardai are simply too busy to be stopping every car to check if the driver has a full license or not.
We are great at making laws for this and that without thinking them through.

Do we have a way to get through the backlog of people awaiting driving tests?
Are we going to take Gardai off the streets so they have the resources to check licenses? Personally I'd prefer have them on the streets.

I would also prefer to see thoughtful and achievable legislation enacted rather than half-assed ill conceived efforts which serve only to make a mockery of the law.

I am all for better qualified drivers on our roads - God knows there are enough rubbish drivers out there. I can't come in to work without passing a crash at least once a week. But reports and legislation are useless unless backed up by properly resourced action.
 
Mely said:
I have fully comp & wondering if i should cancel the insurance as if i have a fully insured experienced driver in the car with me.
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Good point - I wonder will the insurance companies come forth and offer major discounts to Learner drivers now that they have experienced driver with them at all times. No more quotes of €5000 plus for learner drivers :rolleyes:
 
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