The new 'Rules of the Road' are reputed to be used in all Driving Tests from May 1st. 2007. This will mean that more/different questions may be asked by the examiners, and a greater number of road signs are available for examiners to draw from in their questioning. It is therefore imperative that all prospective test candidates obtain an study the NEW rules of the road. - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
'At last' a new 'Rules of the Road' booklet has been published. The new booklet is available in the Government Publications Office in Molesworth Street, Dublin. or in good bookshops. Each home in the country is supposed to receive a free copy through the post. (we received ours on August 9th. 2007)
Outsourced driving tests being conducted by SGS in
South Dublin at Deansgrange, Dun Laoghaire, Fonthill, City West and other centres in various
different locations.
I would be VERY interested in any feedback from
any drivers regarding this.
The main provisions of the Act will take effect on Friday, 21st July 2006. These are:
On July 21st. new regulations came into force regarding the use of hand held mobile phones while driving. It is now illegal ( breaking the law) to use a hand held mobile phone whilst driving a vehicle.
Please, for the sake of your own and every one else's safety, comply with the law. It is DANGEROUS to take your hands off the steering wheel and engage in a conversation whilst driving. If you have to use your phone (and for many that is NOT necessary) be safe and:-
I personally hope that the Garda enforce this regulation properly. So often in Ireland we comply with new legislation when it first becomes law, but when we do not see it being enforced we relax and go back to our old ways (like speeding and penalty points)
Click on this link to get the news from the official Government web site
305 people have died on the roads this year up to 24th. October 2006 according to the RSA
8 deaths occurred on the roads this weekend (October 21st 2006) in motor accidents
People are NOT learning this should not keep re-occuring
As of 31st. July 2006 240 people have been killed on Irish roads
How many more deaths do we have to go through 10 more people killed this weekend (up to 17th. July) now 227 in total
It was very disturbing to hear today (11th. June 2006) that a staggering 216 people have been KILLED on Irish roads in 2006 with 5 in one day last Sunday and 4 more since then. The news this morning reported "11 deaths in 40 hours". Deaths and serious accidents are mainly caused by ONE reason, and one alone - DRIVER ERROR. That 'could' be:-
However, let's be VERY clear. Cars cannot drive themselves or cause accidents. It is the 'People who drive them' who cause the accidents.
Everybody needs to 'wise up', SLOW DOWN, keep away from the drink and drugs. We all need to take personal responsibility for the way we drive.
YOU, or a loved one, could be that next fatality
Rathgar test centre appears to be doing training of ????. This may be something to do with the franchising out of tests. This week 17th. July most tests leaving Rathgar have two examiners going out in the car. Be warned.
In a bid to reduce the excessively long waiting time people have to wait for a driving test, it has been agreed to franchise out some 45,000 tests to a private company. More on this when further information is available.
The 'Rules of the Road' is (at last) in the process of being updated. This is long overdue as the current publication is many years out of date. A discussion version of the proposed new booklet is available to view or download on the web, and interested parties are urged to submit suggestions about it. You can see the full document by clicking HERE.
At a meeting on Monday June 19th, minister Martin Cullen announced the publication of a discussion document to commence the process of 'Regulation of Driving Instructors'. This is a long overdue, but VERY welcome move from the minister. Most professional driving instructors have long sought this move, and indeed, under previous ministers of transport set up their own regulatory body - The D.I.R. (Driving Instructors Register) to which a large number of driving instructors are signed up to. These instructors have already undertaken theory and practical tests and are checked on their teaching ability on a regular basis, but it has been on a voluntary basis as previous regimes have never seen fit to regulate the industry.
It is to be hoped that the new proposals are fair and equitable to the many instructors who have done all they can to maintain a high standard with no help whatsoever in the past from the regulatory bodies. We will watch this matter carefully, and hope to be involved in the consultation. It is also hoped that Testers will also be brought into this regime, so that Instructors can know what rules the Testers are working to, that pupils will receive a detailed explanation at the end of their test as to what they did incorrectly, (It is NOT good enough for a Tester merely to tell a candidate to look at the marking sheet to see what they have done incorrectly - an explanation is urgently required!) that forums can be set in place for consultation between Testers and Instructors and hopefully that instructors can sometimes go out on a test to see at first hand what pupils do when on test.
The link to this document is HERE
31 additional penalty point items were brought in on 3rd. April 2006 by Transport minister Martin Cullen. These are for a variety of issues.
However, my personal opinion is that until enforcement of the system is set in place, the 'Irish psyche' is such that 'we will keep doing what we think we can get away with'. In other words nothing will happen until we are forced to change our habits.
Full list and details of the points and related fines can be seen HERE.
Unfortunately, nothing has yet been introduced about using a hand-held mobile phone whist driving. This issue really does need sorting out quickly as it is extremely dangerous