RoadReady.ie Blog

By Treacy Hogan (Irish Independant)

Wednesday September 01 2010

LEARNER drivers will have to do regular on-road "homework" while being supervised in the car by their parents.

They will also have to spend a set period of time driving in the darkness hours, the Irish Independent has learned. This is the high-risk period for fatal crashes involving young male drivers, sometimes with multiple casualties.

The parent will fill in and sign a log book swearing the learner has completed each stage of the training on-road "homework".

The log book will then be brought to the learner driver's officially registered instructor, who will counter-sign it.

Under radical new proposals being unveiled today by the Road Safety Authority (RSA), learner drivers will not be able to take their driving test until they complete a set number of lessons and a set syllabus -- to be known as the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) system.

It means that parents will no longer simply be able to put their children on their car insurance as named drivers and hand over the keys to them.

Learner drivers will still be able to take to the road if they are accompanied by a motorist who is qualified for at least two years. But they will also be required by law to designate a qualified driver as a "driving supervisor" or mentor, who will legally undertake to accompany the learner each time they have to carry out their "homework".

The supervisor will then certify that they have fully completed the syllabus.

It will no longer be possible to get a full driving licence unless the learner has fully completed the log book that has been signed by both the driving instructor and the supervising adult.

If a parent is not available, the learner can alternatively nominate another suitably qualified driver, such as an aunt, an uncle or a neighbour.

The move, a key plank in the Government's Road Safety Strategy, will bring Ireland into line with most other EU countries which do not allow learner drivers to take the driving test until they have undergone rigorous training.

Fraud

While some novice drivers may try to get around the new system by nominating a person who may sign the log book in the absence of any supervision, it is understood that the threat of a fraud prosecution will act as a significant deterrent.

Under the new system, misrepresentation of the learner's log book will be a fraudulent offence punishable by hefty fines and possibly jail.

The changes will only affect new learner-permit holders. Anyone who holds a licence now will not be affected.

The proposals are also expected to include a new restricted driving plate, known as an R-plate, when a person has completed the first phase of their L-plate training. They can then apply to get their full unrestricted licence following a further training period.

The changes come amid mounting concerns over the number of young male drivers aged 17-24 who are involved in fatal crashes in the early hours of the morning, particularly at weekends.

Learners caught clocking up penalty points for a range of offences including speeding, not wearing a seat belt or overtaking dangerously, also face the prospect of having speed limiting devices placed on their cars under new powers being given to judges.

Learner drivers will also be put off the road if they are caught with 20ml of alcohol in their system, effectively a zero-alcohol limit.

The RSA has ruled out the imposition of a night-time curfew on learner drivers and a ban on carrying unqualified drivers as passengers.

- Treacy Hogan

Irish Independent

Road Safety road safety, driving news,

With all the snow around the country at the moment, driving instructors are feeling the pain from clients that dont want to drive or even try in the current conditions. We would advise all instructors, in the instrests of safety, to meet their customers at a busy location within walking distance so that they avoid the icey conditions of local housing estates.

Perhaps near the local shop or just outside of the housing estate on a clear main road just until all the bad weather lets up.

We hope the weather improves soon and driving instructors can get back to normal.

 

Driving News, Road Safety bad weather

Just when we thought that our road deaths were not going to spike we get news of terrible incidents down the country.

Again young drivers and speeding is the primary cause. As seen on prime time this is a worrying trend and only through safety workshops and proper attitude testing can the need for speed be reduced. No one wants to hear of families loosing teenagers to needless carnage on our roads.

Road Read want to offer sincere condolences to those families that have lost family members coming up to christmas.

IF IN DOUBT, SLOW DOWN!

Road Safety reduce speed, road safety

From Breakingnews.ie

 Technology will be installed in every car used by a leaner driver that will cap its power, under plans unveiled today.

Road safety chiefs want to limit the acceleration or capacity of engines being used by inexperienced motorists as part of a crackdown on road deaths.

Noel Brett, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), said that once the right device or technology is found new laws will be brought in to make it mandatory.

“We are searching to find the most appropriate way of limiting the power of a car – that already happens for motorcycles,” he said.

The road safety chief said bringing in restrictions on car engine size for learner drivers alone was too simplistic.

“That wouldn’t work and that would have all sorts of issues for our community,” he insisted, at the launch of the Government’s five-year road safety strategy.

“What we have to find is the mechanism to limit vehicles, mechanically or otherwise, that keeps people as safe as possible without denying them access to [safety] features that are on bigger cars.”

Mr Brett said research is already under way to find the most appropriate way of stopping inexperienced drivers getting behind the wheel of powerful cars.

The technology is also likely to limit anyone else using the same car.

“We will find the most appropriate technology, whether it is engine limiters, engine governors, speed restricters or some other technology to make sure that young and inexperienced drivers don’t have access to the most dangerous vehicles,” he said.

“Learners will be able to drive the family car but the car will have to be restricted.

“Once we have concluded the engineering research to get the best way of doing that we will introduce it by legislation.”

Motorcycles used by learners already have to meet power-to-weight ratios while the speed on large trucks and buses is also capped.


Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/learner-drivers-cars-to-have-speed-restricted-333704.html#ixzz0VE3gWeSG

Road Safety, Driving News learner driving, speed limiting

Ecodriving is easy to learn and it has been shown that written information itself has a substantial impact on driving behaviour, on safety and on fuel consumption without increasing travel time.

There are five basic rules to follow:

• Shift up as soon as possible: shift up between 2.000 and 2.500 revolutions.
• Maintain a steady speed: use the highest gear possible and drive with low engine RPM.
• Anticipate traffic flow: look ahead as far as possible and anticipate to surrounding traffic
• Decelerate smoothly: when you have to slow down or to stop, decelerate smoothly by releasing the accelerator in time, leaving the car in gear.
• Check the tyre pressure frequently: 25% too low tyre pressure increases rolling resistance by 10% and your fuel consumption by 2%.

 

For more information and additional tips on ecodriving please visit the ECODRIVEN European Project website: http://www.ecodrive.org/

Driver CPC, Road Safety, ECO Driving eco driving, driver cpc, road safety