Sir, – Your article on fatal road accidents involving learner permit holders needs to be put in perspective (“More than 80 per cent of learner drivers involved in fatal crashes since 2016 were driving unaccompanied”, News, December 3rd).
According to your article, 58 people died in accidents involving unaccompanied learner permit holders, over eight years, from 2016 to 2023.
In that same period of eight years, according to RSA figures, a total of 1,235 fatalities occurred in road accidents.
That equates to a fatality accident rate of just under 5 per cent involved unaccompanied learner permit holders, meaning 95 per cent of fatalities, or 19 times more fatalities, did not involve unaccompanied learner permit holders.
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There is a narrative currently, which gives the impression that sitting a test will somehow miraculously turn learner permit holders into better drivers, that learner permit holders are causing masses of accidents and that by passing a test, these masses of accidents, not actually involving them, will stop.
This is very far from the truth.
Better and safer drivers will only result from better training and education in road condition awareness and risk awareness and mitigation.
Currently, Irish driving training essentially consists of a few mandatory driving lessons to basically teach learner permit holders how to get the car moving.
A far more comprehensive classroom based training programme is required to teach learner permit drivers about driving safely, about their responsibilities to others, about assessing traffic and weather and road conditions, and modifying their driving accordingly, and the psychology of driving safely; examining road accidents, why they occurred and how they could have been prevented would be beneficial.
Better training prior to sitting a driving test will give learner permit holders more confidence to actually sit the driving test they have applied for and just as importantly, help to make them better, more thoughtful and safer drivers, regardless of whether they sit a test or not.
Of course learners should sit a driving test, but when 95 per cent of fatalities don’t involve unaccompanied learner permit holders, there should be less shock about unaccompanied drivers, but rather more about how, despite 100 years of independence, our Government and the Road Safety Authority has not put a better driver training and education programme in place.
I do wonder also, how many businesses might have to close, if unaccompanied learner permit holders couldn’t get to work, especially in the rural areas with no public transport worth a damn. – Yours, etc,
DAVID DORAN,
Bagenalstown,
Co Carlow.