South Meath Driving School

THOUSANDS of learner drivers have been caught driving without L-plates or unaccompanied by a qualified driver.

Almost 14,000 ‘L’ drivers have been summonsed for driving without L-plates or a qualified driver since the new laws were introduced in July 2008.

The Irish Independent has learned that many of these drivers have been hit with minimum fines of €1,000 for dangerous driving, driving unaccompanied or having wasted the “second chance” they were given.

As part of their campaign, gardai have mounted “Operation Permit” to target learners driving unaccompanied to secondary school. It has been credited with leading to a large reduction in this activity.

The head of the Garda Traffic Corps, Assistant Commissioner Kevin Ludlow, said there was a “real purpose” to the clampdown, adding that inexperience and levels of competency directly lead to fatal accidents and serious injuries.

Although statistics on the number of ‘L’ drivers convicted were not available from the courts service, it is understood that it is easier to prosecute the two offences than more hotly contested ones such as drink-driving.

“Either they are driving accompanied or not, and either the accompanied driver is qualified or not,” said Asst Comm Ludlow.

Latest figures from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) show that learner drivers were responsible for nearly one in five fatal crashes in 2008 — the latest period for which such detailed statistics are available. They accounted for 18 out of 103 road deaths attributable to driver error.

Enforcement

“Local gardai would have the discretion to caution individuals known to them and can escalate to one of the options of enforcement should the offender continue to drive unaccompanied,” said Asst Comm Ludlow.

“Driving on motorways and driving between nought to six months (on a learner permit) are certainly a no-no from our perspective.”

A breakdown of the figures show there has been a substantial push in enforcement compared with the period before the introduction of the laws, when Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said gardai would adopt a “common sense approach”.

There were 2,807 drivers charged with driving unaccompanied in the 18-month period to July 2008 — an average of 155 per month. But since the new laws came into force on July 1 2008, 7,128 ‘L’ drivers were charged with driving unaccompanied– an average of 339.

An additional 3,160 drivers were charged with driving without ‘L’ plates in the 18-month period up to July 1 2008 — an average of 175 per month. But this number has more than doubled since: 6,816 learner drivers were charged

The RSA said long waiting times for driving tests were no longer an excuse to break the law as they had dropped to an average of 10 weeks.

Learner drivers accounted for 13pc of all drivers killed on the roads in 2008 — 17 out of 125 driver fatalities. And around 32 learner drivers were injured in serious crashes

The Public Against Road Carnage group want the gardai to prevent learner drivers from driving unaccompanied.

Spokeswoman Susan Gray said she had been contacted by a mother who had lost her daughter in a road crash.

“Her daughter was a learner driver who had no driving lessons, no L-plates and was driving alone. The gardai stopped her twice before she died but didn’t prosecute her for any of these offences,” she said.

Source

The Christmas rush was on last year when a young man phoned me for a few driving lessons. Appointment made, I met him and he advises that his driving test was one week hence, it being his first. Fine, “So you must be well prepared, have you already had some lessons?”, I enquire. “No, I just picked up driving tips from my father and friends for the past two years. I know I wont pass the test this time and I suppose I’m as well admit that the reason I’m doing it at all is to renew my Permit,” he said.

I sat into this youth’s car and after the usual preliminaries, he took off, like a kangaroo, without signalling, let alone checking the ‘blindspot’. “Enough!” I called out. We returned and continued the lesson in my dual controlled car. I enquired if he had driven on his own. “Sometimes”, he replied, “a few times a week, don’t they all do it.”

Some have a natural talent but this young man would not acquire the skills easily. No harm in that, he’s not alone, the harm lies in the Road Safety Authority regulations. Those regulations were drawn up in 2006 after much research and decades of neglect. It was incorporated into the Road Safety Plan to 2012 to substantially cut road deaths – to 252.

Significantly that has already been achieved and must be worked on to further reduce road deaths, like the erection of more speed cameras and a Leaving Certificate programme involving the training of our youth in Road Safety appreciation and driving skills.

But there are other factors which contribute in no small way to that early achievement of the 2012 plan, like the emigration of c.100,000 people in recent times, or the unemployment rate of 13.5% and the reduction of some 12% in tourist numbers visiting Ireland. All that reduces traffic volume on our roads, coupled with motorway/dual carriageway development.

I’ve pointed out before that in a EU country like Portugal where wages are only a ¼ of those in Ireland, (though that may be levelling out!) the holder of the Learner Permit (or equivalent) cannot drive on a public road unless with a driving instructor and must take 32 compulsory driving lessons before sitting a driving test.

The RSA will state that the holder of an (Irish) Learner Permit must legally be accompanied by a qualified driver. That’s balderdash- the great flaw is that the beginner may take a car onto any road while not having acquired the necessary skills to cope with the multiple tasks involved in safe driving. I demand to know what power has a person in the passenger seat to correct/assist a learner driver when even a small problem arises, let alone an emergency. Just imagine that young lad or lass, their heart pumping, and they have to simply overtake a cyclist: wet road, car close behind, approaching bend, continuous white line. A nightmare. What then of an emergency? Does Daddy have one hand on the steering wheel, the other on the handbrake while shouting “ I told you brake, not accelerate, you little bag of soot!”

It may be of help for the learner to be accompanied by a qualified driver, but there are many who chance going it alone. The seasoned driver may be trusted, but what of the rookie? He’s tantamount to a child with a loaded shotgun.

I’m informed that compulsory lessons are imminent, that it will be 12 or 15 that’ll be required. The sooner the better for all. Last year there was talk, too, of the Graduated Driving Licence being introduced in 2010, but there’s no sign of it yet which is a pity as the research has been done and it will only cost a little more for administration purposes.

And so my Christmas student of ’09 underwent two driving lessons with me. A further 8 or 10 would be required but he played the system and won! Well, did he? He succeeded in getting in and out of the gates of the test centre and returning in jig time because the tester survives on a 6^th sense. He received a blue certificate of incompetency as expected but drove home, alone. Now, he could get a licence for another year. That is not beating the system, rather it’s the system letting us down. What’s another year with a wink and a nod, for good auld Ireland didn’t go away!

Road markings give information and warnings. Their advantage is that they can be seen when other signs are hidden from view and they can give a continuing message as a driver progresses. The earliest road markings were the simple continuous (or broken) white line on the centre of the road but now with much upgraded roads, dual carriageways and motorways, road markings have developed into a world of their own. The hatched area markings has become a very prominent feature of late and appear not to be understood by many motorists: or might it be a case of they simply ignoring them altogether? Hatch Markings indicate a dangerous area where it is necessary to separate the streams of traffic completely, such as at a sharp bend or where traffic is turning right and requires protection. Such areas are painted with white chevrons or diagonal white stripes.

Where the boundary line is solid do not enter except in an emergency. Where the boundary line is broken you should not drive on the markings, but, if it is safe to do so, one may enter such hatched area when turning right so that traffic intending to go straight ahead is not unduly delayed.

Locally, a good example of those markings is on the approach roads from Navan and the bypass from the Boyne to the traffic lights at Navangate. It is at those locations that flagrant disregard for safety can be regularly observed. For example, a driver approaching those traffic lights from the Navan direction indicates to turn right in the Athboy direction, but correctly stays in the single lane and left of the hatched area in the centre of the road: but just as he ‘ rounds’ the paintwork and into the turning lane, a looder trundles down through the whole hatched area as he (or indeed, she) is also turning right, narrowly missing the driver in front. That is nothing short of dangerous driving. Sadly it is happening by the hour with impunity. Traffic Corps members might take note and either educate or prosecute offenders. I see the likes of that driving as a call for the need of everyone taking compulsory driving lessons every three or four years, even with a full licence. Afterall, us driving instructors have a stringent instruction test every two years with a RSA examiner; Gay Byrne, start reading ‘Focus!’

The Yellow Box Junction is another distinctive road marking consisting of a pattern of criss-cross yellow lines. The simple rule states that you must not enter the box unless you can clear it without stopping. The exception is that you can enter the box and stop in it if you are turning right. The RSA ‘ Rules of the Road’ book states so but, I think, falls a little short on that rule as it is silent on the fact that a driver exiting from a minor road and turning left can also enter the yellow box and stop in it. Of course the reason one doesn’t enter the box unless it can be cleared when going straight on is that traffic crossing from left or right can proceed; and of course it’s a lot simpler and cheaper to paint a junction yellow than to erect sets of traffic lights.

Incidentally, us folk on Marcie’s Road are still waiting for a yellow box at the exit onto the bypass. During the last Local Elections a few firm handshakers promised that the junction would be looked at urgently – they’re still looking and I am waiting for them to come back when the next election approaches.

Cats Eyes are a prominent feature on most roads and are to be found on the centre or edge. They are especially helpful in fog or reduced visibility in that they reflect light to guide the motorist. The cat’s eye consists of four reflect lenses, two facing fore and two aft. It was invented by Percy Shaw in the 1930s.

The centre white line was first applied in the USA in 1911 in an effort to curb the high number of crashes especially on narrower roads despite the small number of cars then in use. In 1971 they switched to a yellow centre line.

There’s a vast array of other recognisable road markings, like rumble strips to slow traffic approaching a dangerous bend; hard shoulder defining the left edge of a traffic lane; cycle lanes with solid or broken white lines; zigzag lines indicating the approach to a pedestrian crossing; bus lanes have a solid white line on their outer limit.

Many motorists do not heed those road markings. If you are a seasoned driver with the benefit of a full driving licence, you may not be up to date with the vast array of recent road signs, road markings, motorway regulations etc. An idea is to purchase the RSA Rules of the Road book or read it on the internet. No, it isn’t going back to school: it makes interesting reading. I do harp on about it, but, the cost of losing your no claims bonus is damaging to the health, perhaps all for the lack of just a little knowledge. It pays dividends. Take heed.