South Meath Driving School

The Essential Driver Training (EDT) programme is being reviewed by the Road Safety Authority at present and Driving Instructors have an opportunity to express their views on many aspects of how they rate the format and syllabus. When the programme was introduced just over one year ago (making it compulsory to take 12 driving lessons before applying for a Test) much reservation was expressed by Instructors and their representatives regarding the lack of consultation or approach in the drawing up of EDT. Students who underwent training over the past year will be familiar with the Lessons procedure and especially Lesson 2 which involves cornering, changing lanes, use of slip roads, negotiating roundabouts etc. Such challenge probably wasn’t intended  for the faint-hearted beginner.

The issue of the Sponsor has also presented its own problems. It is argued that having a parent or friend assisting with practice sessions between lessons only caused confusion for a learner and my contention there is that a Sponsor should be introduced only after five or six lessons with an Instructor. In fairness to the RSA, it was a vast leap from a few years back when there was no regulation for training and no defined standard for the Driving Test, so teething problems could be expected.

Students who are now undergoing driving lessons have been left in a twilight zone as regards when they might apply for a Driving Test. Where six or eight of the twelve lessons were completed, a minority have been applying to Ballina and in some cases were given a Test date. Now the official position with the RSA is that such students may apply for a Test, but, they will not be given an appointment date until the Driving Instructor has made a logbook return of the final lesson. Therefore, all lessons must be complete prior to getting a Test date. Of course, too, six months must have elapsed between the date of issue of one’s first Learner Permit and sitting the Test.

Even in gloomy times, there’s always good news. The ‘Go Safe’ traffic camera vans are credited with cutting the hourly speeding detection rate at accident blackspots by a whopping 93%. When the ‘Go Safe’ vans were launched, the detection rate was 14 per hour and now it’s just 1 per hour.

We are responding to the many road safety campaigns that hit the air waves during the year. Ten years ago, the deadliest hours for road fatalities was between 12mn and 4am, Friday to Sunday. However, for the past two years, most fatalities occurred between 3pm and 7pm on Thursdays and Fridays. In 1996, the majority of arrests for drink driving happened between 6pm and 12mn, whereas, of late, most such arrests are between 6.00am and noon, which is apparently related to the previous night’s drinking. So, getting a taxi home from the pub at midnight won’t necessarily save your bacon if there’s an early drive to do the next morning. Keep in mind that it takes two hours per unit of alcohol ( i.e. one glass of beer ) to clear the system.

Ireland now ranks third in the EU in terms of fatal accidents per capita coming in after Sweden and the UK. Last year was the first since records began in 1959 that fatalities were under 200. As of now we are 12 deaths less than last year, so, we are going in the right direction.

There’s no getting away, though, from the fact that the young male driver still poses a serious threat to road safety. About 25% of all road fatalities involve male drivers under 25 years. On the other hand, 20% of pedestrian fatalities involve people over 65. Excessive speed is a factor in more than half of accidents. The use of mobile phones while driving continues apace with over 33,000 convictions last year.

Now that the EDT programme is in full swing, youngsters have the benefit of professional training and, with a good attitude, road deaths and serious injury can be halved again in the next five years.