Figures released to the IRHA under FOI by the Road Safety Authority show that there were 842,260 learner drivers nationally on our roads at the end of March. By comparison, at the end of 2019, there were 233,025 learner drivers on our roads. At the end of March this year, there were 26,624 learner drivers in Wexford alone
The Irish Road Haulage Association has called the explosion in the number of learners drivers on our roads a road safety crisis and said it is a direct result of the mismanagement of our driving test regime by the Road Safety Authority of Ireland.
The Irish Road Haulage Association President, Ger Hyland, has described it as a scandal and has called for a root and branch review of the Road Safety Authority and their operation of the Irish driving test system.
These figures coincide with recently released figures by the Gardaí which show a dramatic increase in some counties in the numbers of learner drivers caught driving unaccompanied. See table below.
The IRHA says that an inadequate and backlogged testing regime is forcing young learner drivers out on our roads without a full license or a supervising driver. The IRHA is concerned for the safety of their drivers who are coming across inexperienced drivers on a daily basis on Irish roads.
New figures provided by Gardaí show dramatic increases in the number of learner drivers taking a chance and getting caught driving unaccompanied. In counties like Donegal, there was a 95% year on year increase in the number of unaccompanied drivers caught by Gardaí between 2023 and 2024. In the Sligo/Leitrim Garda division, the percentage increase was 83%.
According to the IRHA, young drivers, in particular in rural Ireland, need their car to get to work, to college and significant delays in the driver testing system are forcing young learner drivers to make difficult choices.
IRHA President Ger Hyland emphasised that his association is in no way condoning young learner drivers driving without a fully licensed driver. He pointed to the fact that more unaccompanied learner drivers on our roads presents a clear and present danger to both our member’s drivers and the wider public.
According to Hyland, this is having a knock on impact on housing because “young apprentice trades people cannot get to work independently, on families because their children cannot drive to college and on business because learner drivers cannot get to work and are waiting over 6 months or longer for a driving test”
The Irish Road Haulage Association President Ger Hyland has called for a radical overhaul of our driving test system to include testing for motorway driving skills, night time driving and safe overtaking on secondary roads. He has branded our testing system a laughing stock and compared it to a pilot being taught how to fly a plane without ever leaving the runway.
“The current 40 minute driving test allows for an approximate driving time of between 15 and 20 minutes, often in heavy urban slow moving traffic. This would be a great test of one’s ability to sit in a traffic jam, but if we are honestly testing driving skills and driver preparedness, the test as it stands is a shambolic exercise in raising funds for the RSA. The increases in the numbers of learner drivers caught driving unaccompanied is only the ones Gardaí are catching and we feel this is just the tip of the iceberg”
The Irish Road Haulage Association have called for driver education to be a part of the school curriculum and have suggested that each student would be vigorously tested in their ability to drive before they leave secondary school.
