Missus on provisional, can she drive me home from the pub?!?

DublinWriter

The missus is currently on a provisional licence and is a named driver on my policy.

Can she drive me (I've held a full licence 10+ years) while I am under the influence of alcohol?

knoxor

probably depends on how pissed you are I'd say.

If you're slumped out in the front seat asleep she may have a bit of difficulty, but she would be able to argue her way out of it by saying "would you rather me or him drive home" ... I think any Guard would let her go on.

Legally wise I'm not sure, I think the law states that she must be accompanied by a passenger with a full licence ... don't think it actually states that they sould be sober ...

Permabear

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DublinWriter

donegalfella wrote: »

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I don't mean to be pedantic, but where in the Legislation/RTA does it state that? I've looked, but couldn't find anything on the state of the driver sitting with the learner.

CR 7

I remember reading, when they started enforcing the laws, that if the accompanying driver is over the legal limit then it was either that they don't count it as having a licenced driver with them, or the accompanying driver could be prosecuted for drink driving. I know i wouldn't risk doing it anyway. Can't find a source, so you can ignore it if you want.

dudara

donegalfella wrote: »

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Spot on. The accompanying driver is legally required to be in a fit state to drive. I don't know if anyone has been done for this yet.

Stark

the_pm_of_17 wrote: »

I remember reading, when they started enforcing the laws, that if the accompanying driver is over the legal limit then it was either that they don't count it as having a licenced driver with them, or the accompanying driver could be prosecuted for drink driving. I know i wouldn't risk doing it anyway. Can't find a source, so you can ignore it if you want.

I remember seeing proposed in the same document where they proposed R plates and the like but I've never seen it in actual legislation.

CR 7

dudara wrote: »

Spot on. The accompanying driver is legally required to be in a fit state to drive. I don't know if anyone has been done for this yet.

Yeah, they shouldn't just be there to make up numbers. How many accompanying drivers actually do what they're supposed to, and give advice/assist the driver? Outside of lessons i'd say very little.

DublinWriter

dudara wrote: »

Spot on. The accompanying driver is legally required to be in a fit state to drive. I don't know if anyone has been done for this yet.

Again, I ask where in the amended legislation does it state that? (30/10/2007 - S.I. No 719 of 2007 Road Traffic (Licensing of Learning Drivers) Regulations).

I've looked and it ain't there!

dudara

The wording is

must be accompanied by and under the supervision of a qualified person at all times

Under the supervision - hardly the case if you're p*ssed

Qualified - You may hold a licence, but again if you're p*ssed you're hardly qualified to be by the side of a learner driver.

It's interpreting the law - rather than the literal application, but I wouldn't like to be the one to test it.

Stark

Qualified simply means that you hold a valid license. Being in a fit state to drive is a different to being qualified to drive.

dudara

Agreed - I think that the key word here is 'supervised'

Mr Jinx

DublinWriter wrote: »

The missus is currently on a provisional licence and is a named driver on my policy.

Can she drive me (I've held a full licence 10+ years) while I am under the influence of alcohol?

No where in the legislation does it say, the qualified driver has to be in a competent state, it doesnt even say they have to be in the passenger seat, so technically you could be completly hammered and asleep on the back seat. Doesn't make muck sense, but thats the way it is.

autograph

Very good question. I suspect you wouldn't get a definitive answer unless it was argued in court. Hopefully you'll never find yourself in that position.

autograph

Your best course of action is to go easy on the drink until your wife passes her test. In the meantime, you better hope she passes it quickly.

Nasty_Girl

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055176756

The sticky at the top of the page discusses this a bit,

one of the bullet points for accompanying person is that they:
- be in a fit state to drive.

Not sure if this is enforced but it wouldn't make sense for the person who is meant to be supervising the learner to be under the influence

Richie15

Mr Jinx wrote: »

...so technically you could be completly hammered and asleep on the back seat.

Funny thing about interpreting the Irish Law. If you said "technically" about other legal systems, like France, what you'd mean is "that's what the law says so that's how the situation stands" but in Ireland it means "this doesn't make sense so don't mind me."

Pedro K

donegalfella wrote: »

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Sorry.
Don't mean to hijack the thread, but this is something I've got a question about.

Presumably the accompanying driver would need to be in a fit state to drive in case s/he needs to take control of the car for some reason? I'm not sure about that though, it's only a presumption so if someone can clarify that would be great!

My insurance covers driving of other cars, so I would be fine, and I know some insurance companies are now offering an open drive deal on learner policies whereby anyone over a certain age with a full license is insured in the car to assist with supervising. So that situation would be fine too.

However my question is, what if the supervising driver isn't insured to drive the supervisee's car and a situation arises where the supervisor needs to take control of the car? Surely they can't take over without insurance?

Richie15

Pedro K wrote: »

Presumably the accompanying driver would need to be in a fit state to drive in case s/he needs to take control of the car for some reason? I'm not sure about that though, it's only a presumption so if someone can clarify that would be great!

That's what I was told at first but I asked here a few months ago (if I find the link I'll stick it up) and no, the accompanying driver is just there to supervise and tell you when you make a mistake. It would behandy to be insured, in case he needs to take over, but it's not necessary.

Wishbone Ash

Pedro K wrote: »

Surely they can't take over without insurance?

Correct but as Richie says, there is no legal requirement for the accompanied licence holder to be insured to drive the vehicle in question.

Pedro K

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Correct but as Richie says, there is no legal requirement for the accompanied licence holder to be insured to drive the vehicle in question.

Ah right.

Thanks lads!