Learner driver clampdown ‘meaningless’ without driving test reform – McEntee

10,000 more joined test backlog in 12 months

Fine Gael Road Safety Spokesman Shane McEntee TD has said Government proposals for tough restrictions on learner drivers, although welcome, would be pointless unless the driving test backlog is first cleared.

Deputy McEntee said the Government was unlikely to make any major inroads into the driving test backlog before the next election, with recent figures showing the waiting list increased by 10,000 in the year to May.

“Transport Minister Martin Cullen has got things the wrong way around. Tough new proposals for learner drivers are necessary and long overdue, but there is little or no point cracking down on provisional licence holders until the massive driving test backlog has been cleared.

“Minister Cullen is making the same mistake as his predecessor, Seamus Brennan, who caused the driving test backlog in the first place by announcing a clampdown on provisional licence holders, but didn’t provide any additional resources for the driving test service.

“In May 2005 the Minister promised to slash the waiting time to ten weeks by the end of 2006. But in the following 12 months the waiting list actually increased by more than 12,000, from 124,250 in May 2005 to 134,700 in May 2006.

“The Minister has now revised his target to 12 weeks, but this will be impossible before the end of the year. Even the measures brought in to tackle the backlog will have little impact in the near future. The outsourcing driving tests to the private sector aims to take 40,000 tests off the backlog, but with 140,000 currently waiting for a test it will make little difference. And the measures to increase productivity among State driving testers are still optional. I was made aware last week by a member of the public of a situation where only half of the testers normally supposed to be operating from that centre were present and available for work.

“It is now clear that the driving test backlog will still be in place when the Government goes to the polls next year. Meanwhile, the death toll on the roads continues to climb. The best the Minister can hope for at this stage is that the driving test backlog will remain steady at 140,000, instead of climbing further.”