L-plates & several car users

breadmonkey

What is the law regarding displaying L-plates if you are actually a fully licensed driver? My mother and I, who both have full licenses, drive the same car as my younger brother who's learning to drive at the moment. The L-plates are always on the car for the sake of convenience so I would be on the motorway etc. with the plates up. Is this ok or is it just a grey area?

Wishbone Ash

breadmonkey wrote:

What is the law regarding displaying L-plates if you are actually a fully licensed driver? My mother and I, who both have full licenses, drive the same car as my younger brother who's learning to drive at the moment. The L-plates are always on the car for the sake of convenience so I would be on the motorway etc. with the plates up. Is this ok or is it just a grey area?

There doesn't appear to be any legislation here requiring a fully licenced driver to remove L plates. I've never been able to find any but I'm open to correction. It is illegal in the UK though.

(You could use the magnetic plates).

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

I remember being told it was as bad as a provisional licence driver driving without L plates, as you are basically mis-informing the other road users and the Garda.

Henry Ford III

Fully licensed drivers should remove them each time they drive.

Stark

Should. It's not a legal requirement in the ROI though.

You can get peel-off or magnetic plates that you can easily take down and put up depending on who's driving.

Posy

Yeah, just keep the plates in the glove-box or somewhere and put them on at the appropriate times. It's just a matter of courtesy to take them down so other drivers know the driver is qualified.

mullin

why not just cover them with tape when your brother is not driving??

btw - the law in the UK is the same as here....they should be removed (or covered)

WindSock

I couldnt see them doing any harm there though. In the unlikely situation that you get pulled up for using them on the motorway, surely you could just show your licence?

Wishbone Ash

mullin wrote:

btw - the law in the UK is the same as here....they should be removed (or covered)

I would appreciate it if you could identify that piece of legislation - I've never managed to find it in any of the Statute Instruments.

Karyn wrote:

take them down so other drivers know the driver is qualified

I don't really see what difference it would make to know that another driver has passed a test! Would it make you drive differently?

It would however, be much more benificial to know that another driver hasn't passed a test.

mullin

Vehicles. Any vehicle driven by a learner MUST display red L plates. In Wales, either red D plates, red L plates, or both, can be used. Plates MUST conform to legal specifications and MUST be clearly visible to others from in front of the vehicle and from behind. Plates should be removed or covered when not being driven by a learner (except on driving school vehicles).
Law MV(DL)R reg 16 & sched 4


From here: http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/28.htm
at the bottom of section 3

this is obviously for the UK, I was bowing to better knowledge of previous posters with regards to the Irish side of things

Posy

Wishbone Ash wrote:

It would however, be much more benificial to know that another driver hasn't passed a test.

Exactly, but how do you know that if loads of qualified drivers are going about with L's up? It kind of defeats the purpose of Learner plates.

Alun

Karyn wrote:

Exactly, but how do you know that if loads of qualified drivers are going about with L's up? It kind of defeats the purpose of Learner plates.

Exactly. In Ireland the fact that a car is displaying 'L' plates means literally nothing. It could be anything from a fully qualified driver who can't be arsed to take them down, through someone on their zillionth provisional who can't be arsed to take a test, right through to an absolute beginner who's taking their first tentative steps out on the road, and everything in-between. In other words, it's value as an indicator of anything at all has been totally de-valued.

wingnut

I remember reading before that in NI learners were restricted to 50MPH. So if you were a fully licenced driver and had L plates you could be fined for doing 60 MPH in a 60MPH zone. They went on the L plate rather than the fact you had a licence or not.