Response/Non-response to RSA measures by the politicians

[David Cochrane]

Two press releases have come in today - one from Labour's Tommy Broughan and one from a Fine Gael councillors - not from a member of the parliamentary party - why not? anyone?

STATEMENT BY TOMMY BROUGHAN TD

Labour Party Spokesperson on Transport
Friday, 26 October 2007

RESTRICTION ON PROVISIONAL DRIVERS SHOULD BE DEFERRED


While there is a general acknowledgement that the move by the RSA and the Minister for Transport to end the anomaly which allowed holders of second provisional licenses to drive unaccompanied is correct, Labour would argue that the measure should be phased in, rather than introduced in one fell swoop.

The manner in which the Govt is planning to introduce this measure has put people in an impossible situation, where in some instances, people’s very jobs could be at risk and where many people will be forced into taking a chance by driving uninsured.

There is absolutely no question that only fully qualified drivers should be allowed behind the wheel unaccompanied, but the introduction of this measure, with just four days notice, over a bank holiday weekend, will make it nearly impossible for many people to make arrangements to get to work next week.

There is a question as to how fair it is to ban provisional license holders from driving unaccompanied when waiting times for driving tests are still in and around five months.

Clearly no new provisional driver, ie, holders of the new learner permit, should be allowed to drive alone, but there is an argument that others, especially those who are on a waiting list for a driving test, should be permitted to drive under the old regime.

The Minister needs to make further efforts to reduce the waiting times for tests, and to eliminate the backlog. When that has been achieved - and that could be done in a matter of three months or so - then the proposed restriction on holders of second provisional licenses could be introduced.

In the absence of such provision, we now face a situation where people will have no option next Tuesday but to get behind the wheel, and insofar as they are in breach of the law, will not be covered by their insurance policies.

It is now essential that Minister Dempsey act on this immediately so that the negative impact on people's lives can be minimised.

Chauffeur-driven FF Ministers detached from reality facing learner drivers – O’Muiri

43-week wait for driving tests in Raheny

Fine Gael Dublin City Councillor Naoise O’Muiri has said that proposed changes to the law affecting provisional licence-holders are unfair in light of the waiting lists for driving tests and called on the Government to postpone any such action until the test backlog was cleared.

“The Road Safety Authority yesterday announced that there will be rigid enforcement of a condition that all drivers with provisional licenses must to be accompanied while driving from Monday next.

“The Road Safety Authority has not provided any proof of an actual link between unaccompanied learner-drivers and deaths on our roads. Government Ministers, sitting comfortably in their chauffeur-driven state cars, are blind to the fact that young learner drivers are now kept waiting for up to a year for driving tests. In my own constituency of Dublin North Central, the current average waiting time in Raheny is
43 weeks.

“I am calling on the Minister to only implement provisional driving licence reform when the driving test backlog is completely cleared. I also suggest the Minister give up his chaufffeur-driven state car for exactly 43 weeks from Monday at midnight so that he might gain a deeper sympathy with the learner-drivers he is victimising.”

[Auditor #9]

In the absence of such provision, we now face a situation where people will have no option next Tuesday but to get behind the wheel, and insofar as they are in breach of the law, will not be covered by their insurance policies.

It is now essential that Minister Dempsey act on this immediately so that the negative impact on people's lives can be minimised.

That bit about being in breach of the law does it for me. I'm on my second provisional and as far as I was concerned I still had another year to do my test. Next Tuesday I will be breaking the law.

Me and 119,999 others.

[Rocky]

Shane McEntee, FG's spokesperson on road safety has released the following press releases today on this issue.

Dempsey making an ass of the law, and of himself - McEntee

Noel Dempsey's latest statement on provisional driving licences has made an ass of himself and of the law, Fine Gael Road Safety Spokesman Shane McEntee TD has said.

"Instead of deferring the introduction of the new law until the driving test system is capable of handling it, he has created a situation where he is in practice encouraging drivers to break the law. He has put the Gardaí in an impossible position with his nudge-nudge wink-wink approach.

"Provisional licence drivers now have the worst of all possible worlds - a law which requires them to have a qualified driver beside them and a nod and a wink from a Minister that they will probably be OK without one.

"The Minister's chaotic handling of this issue will also undermine the impact and integrity of the Road Safety Strategy which is so necessary to save lives on our roads.

"More importantly, after ten years in office, the Government has failed to produce effective reforms of the driving licence regime. Fine Gael put out a comprehensive set of proposals for reform of the driving licence regime five years ago. If they had adopted these proposals at the time the Government would not be facing these problems.

"He should now withdraw the order and implement the reforms only when the driving test backlog has been dealt with.

"This is the latest in a sequence of botched jobs by Minister Dempsey. He mishandled the loss of the Shannon slots, was forced into a U-turn by Fine Gael on compulsory breath testing at the scene of an accident, and is now making an ass of himself and of the law."

Implement provisional driving licence reform only when backlog removed - McEntee

'the implementation of any such licensing reforms is dependent on the current unacceptable driver testing backlog being cleared' - Martin Cullen June 2006
Fine Gael Road Safety Spokesman Shane McEntee TD has called on the Government to implement provisional driving licence reforms only when the driving test backlog has been removed, as Martin Cullen argued when he was Transport Minister. Deputy McEntee said the Government had had ten years to implement an overhaul of the driving licence regime but is now telling 400,000 provisional licence holders they have just four days to comply with the new regulations.

"Noel Dempsey's proposals to reform the provisional driving licence regime are unworkable and unreasonable because they give drivers no time to make alternative arrangements, let alone take a driving test. Successive Transport Ministers pledged that the provisional licence system would only be reformed when the waiting time for driving tests was brought down to four weeks. In 2006 former Transport Minister Martin Cullen said:

'the implementation of any such licensing reforms is dependent on the current unacceptable driver testing backlog being cleared'.

"Not only is Noel Dempsey ignoring the advice of his predecessors, he is also punishing provisional drivers for the Government's own failure to address the problem over the last ten years. Next week more than 100,000 second provisional licence holders will effectively be put off the road unless they can find an experienced driver to accompany them. This more stringent enforcement of unaccompanied driving will also affect the 300,000 provisional licence holders on first, third or higher licences.

"These new measures must only be introduced when the driving test backlog has been removed. Otherwise thousands of people will not be able to go to work or college, whether they live in cities or rural areas. The driving test system is in danger of collapsing under the weight of new applications arising from these new measures. The driving test website has already crashed, giving a taste of what's in store. The waiting list currently stands at four months and is now going to go through the roof, making it even harder for learner drivers to take a test. In Raheny and Birr the waiting list is already nine months.

"Meanwhile, the Gardaí will be hard-pressed to deal with Minister Dempsey's new proposal, as the Force is already stretched to the limit by enforcing existing measures. I want to know why Noel Dempsey is trying to reform the provisional licence system in four days while refusing to bring in tougher alcohol limits for another two years. Had the Government brought in Fine Gael's proposals for better driver training at an earlier stage we would now not be facing this situation."