Minister Varadkar announces learner permit and qualified driver permit changes.

http://www.independent.ie/life/motor...-30410936.html



I have to say, I am utterly shocked and outraged at this decision. I finally decided this year to get my provisional licence after the birth of my first child toward the end of last year. Currently on a provisional licence and going back to college in September, I was looking forward to being able to drive where I needed to go, and being able to drive my son around when needed. Now, I can do neither without having a qualified driver in the car with me for two years now, and I'll have to plaster a big N on the back of my car for the sake of it too, as if this is going to cut down on road deaths?

I don't see any logic to this decision, and I have to say, it'll only serve to drive more young people out of the country altogether.

It's moronic, for no other reason than those plates are a red flag to a bull when it comes to the disgraceful behavior of other motorists. People see them and logic goes out the window, its just another learner you need to get around as fast as possible lest they delay you (my favourite incident being when I was overtaken on the wrong side (bus lane) by a guy speeding (I was at the speed limit), who didn't even indicate, its amazing how that stuff stopped when the "L" disappeared).

I passed before this nonsense came in, but I flat out decided if they had I wouldn't use them. I was tired of being treated like a problem on the road by other motorists (and the government).

If they want to solve road deaths they could tackle speeding more. Irish people, and not just young Irish people, have this incredibly blase attitude towards breaking the limits anywhere. The amount of points given out monthly for it is insane. More cameras, vans, fines and punishments that stick (that is, ones that don't vanish after a few years) would do it

Yes I agree. While I think the N plate for 2 years isn't a bad idea, requiring the driver to be accompanied with a fully qualified driver all the time for the 2 years after passing is totally ridiculous. It just shows that they don't have confidence in their own driving test and people are made pay for this shambles of a test in the first place. Instead they should totally revamp the driving test to include motorway driving and each driver must accumulate a specific number of driving hours or mileage before sitting a more comprehensive test.

For fear someone would like to drive a motorbike too! All about the money I suspect!

I'm pretty sure the Indo article is badly written (shock, horror) and N drivers won't need to be accompanied.

I don't object to the idea in principle, but I'd argue that the current rules for L drivers aren't enforced, so what's the point? Enforce what you have, then start adding new rules.

Decided to investigate further and contacted the RSA about it. It was indeed a very poorly written article by the Indo. N drivers won't have to be accompanied.