Driving laws ’panic’

New driving laws would have led to rural isolation

Anton McNulty

THE proposal to introduce driving licencing reforms today (Tuesday) caused panic among provisional drivers in Mayo and the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey TD, has a lot of questions to answer, according to Mayo TD, John O’Mahony.
On Thursday last, Minister Dempsey announced the implementation of new rules for learner drivers, which would have made it illegal for drivers on their second provisional licence to drive if they were not in the company of a qualified driver, who has held a full licence for at least two years. The laws were to be introduced today but have now been deferred until June 30, 2008.
Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony said the announcement had caused panic among provisional drivers in Mayo who would have to find alternative modes of transport, and he claimed it would have led to an increase in rural isolation. Deputy O’Mahony told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday) that he welcomed the deferral of the new laws but questioned why the new rules had not been thought through before the announcement.
“This [deferral until June 30, 2008] should have been part of the strategy in the first place and it is quite amazing that the Government expected thousands of people to find alternative modes of transport to get to work. After the implementation was announced it was confusing listening to reports of it on the news during because nobody was sure when or how it would be implemented.
“If it was to be introduced on Tuesday it would have caused chaos in rural Ireland because we don’t have the transport system they have in urban areas. This is not the first time Minister Dempsey has been involved in situations like this and he has serious explaining to do,” he said.
Noel Gibbons, Road Safety Officer with Mayo County Council, said he hoped the extra time given to provisional drivers would allow them to get driving lessons and would be an incentive to pass their tests. He also said he hoped that when the new laws are introduced they will be adhered too and not ignored like similar laws were in the past.