L Driver Confusion To End?

While new legislation has just been introduced which is supposed to clear up anomalies over it being illegal for the Republic’s 420,000 learners to drive alone, it has emerged that already, cases against thousands of learners charged with driving without a full licence have had the cases thrown out of court.

Judges have been confused because the previous legislation did not spell out the penalties and as a result have struck out the charges in more than 5,000 cases because the earlier law covering driving without a L-plate or without a full-licence holder being present, failed to tell judges what fine to impose for flouting the law.

As a result, there has been a substantial fall-off in the number of prosecutions taken, with 25% less so far this year, compared with 2006.

Of all the drivers with provisional licences who are not allowed on the road unaccompanied, just under 7,000 have been prosecuted in the last two years.

But, under the 1999 regulations, there were no penalties for provisional drivers found driving without L-plates or driving unaccompanied.

Last year, it emerged that judges in Cork and Laois threw out cases amid concerns about the penalties that could be imposed, and the figures show that the practice is widespread across the country.

The Courts Service statistics show that, in 2006, almost 4,500 people were charged with not having a full licence, but two-thirds of cases were struck out, because gardai never served the summons or the judge made no order.

However, if people if people flout the new law just imposed, they have been told they face fines of €1,000 or jail terms of up to three years on a second offence.

Their insurance will be also invalidated if they crash, road safety chiefs warned.

Gardai have insisted they would implement the drastic new measures which will put an end to provisional licence holders, on their second licence, being allowed to drive without being accompanied by a fully qualified driver.

It replaces the provisional licence with a learner permit - but crucially, all current licence holders will have to abide by the new restrictions.

(BMcC)