Clamp down on L drivers

anto_or

I just read a post on Ldrivers.ie saying that 14,000 L drivers have been prosecuted for either not displaying "L" plates or for driving unaccompanied. This is only in the last 18 months.:mad:
I think the gardai are starting to take the law seriously, what a bummer for us learners. I will have to start looking over my shoulder again. And the news said the gardai are clamoing down on learner drivers again big time this weekend. Im getting the bus!!! And then am doing the driving test asap.
Be careful out there

Eoin

Moved to "learning to drive" forum.

vectra

About time.

Permabear

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Faith+1

donegalfella wrote: »

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Here Here!:cool:

celticbest

I haven't seen a clampdown personally, I travel the M1 & M50 daily on my way to/ from work & regularly see L Plate drivers on both roads, I have even see Garda cars pass or behind them and not pull them over...

**Timbuk2**

celticbest wrote: »

I haven't seen a clampdown personally, I travel the M1 & M50 daily on my way to/ from work & regularly see L Plate drivers on both roads, I have even see Garda cars pass or behind them and not pull them over...

It's possible that the driver has a full licence, but somebody else that uses the car is a Learner Driver. My mother's car has L-Plates because of me, but she has a full licence but doesn't take down the L-Plates when she drives.

ScouseMouse

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

It's possible that the driver has a full licence, but somebody else that uses the car is a Learner Driver. My mother's car has L-Plates because of me, but she has a full licence but doesn't take down the L-Plates when she drives.

Agreed. I got pulled one day on the N4 and the guards face dropped when I showed him a full licence. It was the wife that was learning to drive.

Third_Echelon

superscouse wrote: »

Agreed. I got pulled one day on the N4 and the guards face dropped when I showed him a full licence. It was the wife that was learning to drive.

i think you are required by law to take them down in that scenario... You shouldn't keep them up if you are driving.

Spiritoftheseventies

superscouse wrote: »

Agreed. I got pulled one day on the N4 and the guards face dropped when I showed him a full licence. It was the wife that was learning to drive.

So you are saying he was out to get you?

Mimikyu

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Alanstrainor

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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Yes i believe this is true. I think where the confusion arises is that in the UK it is a requirement to take down "L" plates when a fully licensed driver is driving the car.

af_thefragile

And so I do take the bus to college.

Won't be doing the test till after my exams are over next month but hopefully this time I should pass. I should have passed last time as well but...

I just go on a drive with my friends occasionally and two of my friends have a full license. Though there's usually always a bit where I drive by myself to pick my friend up from his place or after dropping him and getting to my place... Haven't got stopped yet. Fingers crossed!

celticbest

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Yes i believe this is true. I think where the confusion arises is that in the UK it is a requirement to take down "L" plates when a fully licensed driver is driving the car.

If it's the case that it's only law in the UK and not here for 'L' Plates to be removed when a fully licensed driver is driving the car then it's no wonder that the driving standards in this country are so poor, for handiness sake everyone should just put up 'L' Plates, who would the Guards stop then??....

stellarartois

celticbest wrote: »

If it's the case that it's only law in the UK and not here for 'L' Plates to be removed when a fully licensed driver is driving the car then it's no wonder that the driving standards in this country are so poor, for handiness sake everyone should just put up 'L' Plates, who would the Guards stop then??....

Why would people do this? It would make it much harder for the gardai to police learner drivers.

digme

anto_or wrote: »

I just read a post on Ldrivers.ie saying that 14,000 L drivers have been prosecuted for either not displaying "L" plates or for driving unaccompanied. This is only in the last 18 months.:mad:
I think the gardai are starting to take the law seriously, what a bummer for us learners. I will have to start looking over my shoulder again. And the news said the gardai are clamoing down on learner drivers again big time this weekend. Im getting the bus!!! And then am doing the driving test asap.
Be careful out there

they need to make money someone how.

stellarartois

digme wrote: »

they need to make money someone how.

What do you mean? the garai aren't there to make a profit you know.

greenie

I just think there needs to be consistency...there are still a lot of people being stopped and getting away with it. If there are stories around about people being let off then there are always going to be learners willing to take the chance.

Delites

Some of the comments here are hilarious... like all the people who have full licenses never drove around when they were still on provisionals!

StinkySocs

I got my car April 09 and have been driving for a full year with my learners permit. Up and down the motorway to Galway from Dublin at least once a month and driving round Dublin, I didn't drive with my L plates.

Only got my full licence in April just gone!

Sure if your gonna get done for one thing you might as well go the full hog and get done for it all!!

Jimmy Garlic

StinkySocs wrote: »

I got my car April 09 and have been driving for a full year with my learners permit. Up and down the motorway to Galway from Dublin at least once a month and driving round Dublin, I didn't drive with my L plates.

Only got my full licence in April just gone!

Sure if your gonna get done for one thing you might as well go the full hog and get done for it all!!

You might as well get hung for a sheep if you are going to get hung for a lamb. Personally I am more annoyed by the money making extortion racket that is the driving test. It has very little to do with driving skill, I have seen apes pass that test that would have trouble driving a nail straight. The L plate drivers that annoy me are the small minority of dangerous headbangers and the robots that potter along like a sedated 85 year old woman, they can't go any faster because they are distracted by all the unnecessary mirror gazing and obsolete techniques demanded by the out of date driving test.

Permabear

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Noffles

Why are people moaning about this, you shouldn't drive alone if you're on a provisional, isn't that the law? Then don't do it, the majority of them are unsure of what they are doing and are an absolute menace on the road... stay off until you've passed!!!-+

mark renton

donegalfella wrote: »

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WTF - there are 2 sides to all arguments donegal, banning people from one side of an argument is ignorant and totally uncalled for in this case

Noffles

john47832 wrote: »

WTF - there are 2 sides to all arguments donegal, banning people from one side of an argument is ignorant and totally uncalled for in this case

Uh oh... watch out, he's in a banning mood... got me in Humanities already...!

Permabear

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Jimmy Garlic

Yes mein fuhrer. Ve vill be more careful in future:rolleyes:. Enjoy your mini power trip saddo.

Permabear

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Noffles

donegalfella wrote: »

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Boo

Alanstrainor

Noffles wrote: »

Boo

How can you not get the picture after all this?
Banned for a month.

greenie

Noffles wrote: »

the majority of them are unsure of what they are doing and are an absolute menace on the road... stay off until you've passed!!!-+

Ridiculous thing to say. Absolute menace? Did you know that most learner drivers are more aware of the constantly updated rules of the road than a lot of experienced drivers? And the main reason people have a problem with learners is because they tend to keep to the limit?

Max Power1

greenie wrote: »

Ridiculous thing to say. Absolute menace? Did you know that most learner drivers are more aware of the constantly updated rules of the road than a lot of experienced drivers? And the main reason people have a problem with learners is because they tend to keep to the limit?

and thats why they are legally entitled to drive unnacompanied right?

Oh no, wait, they are not.As L drivers have not demonstrated a competency and ability to drive (seperate totally to theoretical knowledge of the ROTR)

mark renton

Max Power1 wrote: »

and thats why they are legally entitled to drive unnacompanied right?

Oh no, wait, they are not.As L drivers have not demonstrated a competency and ability to drive (seperate totally to theoretical knowledge of the ROTR)

The point you so blindly missed was that degredation in driving skills by many drivers over the years is completely overlooked - and as rightly pointed out, possession of a full licence does not exempt one from being a moron

Max Power1

john47832 wrote: »

The point you so blindly missed was that degredation in driving skills by many drivers over the years is completely overlooked - and as rightly pointed out, possession of a full licence does not exempt one from being a moron

Oh right. So if, having no licence at all (a learners permit is a permit, not a licence to drive) you consider that person a more competent driver than someone who has passed their test years ago and drives 20k km a year?

FFS:rolleyes:

200motels

anto_or wrote: »

I just read a post on Ldrivers.ie saying that 14,000 L drivers have been prosecuted for either not displaying "L" plates or for driving unaccompanied. This is only in the last 18 months.:mad:
I think the gardai are starting to take the law seriously, what a bummer for us learners. I will have to start looking over my shoulder again. And the news said the gardai are clamoing down on learner drivers again big time this weekend. Im getting the bus!!! And then am doing the driving test asap.
Be careful out there

Learner drivers should abide by the rules and you'll have no problems, I got my full licence in the UK and when I was learning I dare not go out in the car on my own as to do so would have seen my licence withdrawn, which should be the case over here.

greenie

Max Power1 wrote: »

and thats why they are legally entitled to drive unnacompanied right?

Oh no, wait, they are not.As L drivers have not demonstrated a competency and ability to drive (seperate totally to theoretical knowledge of the ROTR)

Obviously a Learner driver is not fully qualified to drive hence the title 'Learner'. They are learning, doing things by the book which tests the patience of some experienced drivers who do not always do things by the book. Experienced drivers rarely keep to the limit so a Learner doing 50km will look like they're doing 30km. Many experienced drivers do not indicate every single time they are supposed to. I've mentioned this before but a lot, I mean a lot of experienced drivers get into the wrong lane for going straight at traffic lights..extremely dangerous when you end up having two cars going ino one lane. You may not class these as serious faults but they are in fact illegal.
L drivers may not have demonstrated competency but that in no way makes them bad drivers. If you are training for a job position does that mean you are bad and lack the ability to perform at said position until you complete training? If an L driver is incompetent today but passes his test tomorrow does he become competent? Because his driving is still the same isn't it?
This is not a 'who is more skilled?' discussion..obviously experienced drivers are but some people need to stop treating L drivers like they're stupid. And honking at them and scaring them on the road is just the worst thing people can do.

sflemings

Just wondering have many learner drivers, both accompanied and unaccompanied (illegally) been asked for their licence at any checkpoint?
I've my full licence for over 10 years at this stage and have come across many a checkpoint. Never been asked for my licence.

bmw535d

i agree with john here,there are many learners on the road that are more compitant to drive than some 60+ year olds that were handed out a licence without ever doing a test because of a huge back log in the 70's
.likewise there are alot of learners out there that are still wondering what pedal does what. im 17, ive been driving since i was 7 on back roads. one thing i can be sure of is when im driving im only concentrating on driving,nothing else unlike (mum with 10 kids in the back) therefor i may have less experience than a fully licenced driver but am i more of a risk than someone driving twentie years?, that thinks so little of driving now they forget they are doing it and are simply having a good look around them or discussing what will the get for dinner tonight?

there is an age group of mainly female drivers around 60+ out there that have very little controll over there car and if they see anyone young that has complete controll,faster reactions, better sight, better hearing doing anything over 40mph there on the radio giving out stink about how these"young fellas" are going to kill us all, if it came to it we should all have to repeat out driving test at 60 years of age then 70 then 75 then 80 and after 80 i dont think you should be allowed to drive at all. some will say thats agesim and discrimination but you could argue the same for a 16 year who undoubtably has better vision/hearing overall abiltiy to adapt to sudden change than and 80 year old thats "feard" of their life on the road when they see someone doing 50 mph.

i think learners shold only be fined for not having an accompanied driver if they crash or cause a crash this would let the more expericenced learner(if there is a such thing) a chance and it would sort out all the idiots on their first day out head first think later show off that i can drive kinda 17 year olds in thier mums yaris

Max Power1

200motels wrote: »

Learner drivers should abide by the rules and you'll have no problems, I got my full licence in the UK and when I was learning I dare not go out in the car on my own as to do so would have seen my licence withdrawn, which should be the case over here.

+1

Ireland must be the only country that people still drive on a learner permit. Most EU countries rigidly enforce the law in this matter. Ireland still seems to have a laxadaisical attitude.

bmw535d

sflemings wrote: »

Just wondering have many learner drivers, both accompanied and unaccompanied (illegally) been asked for their licence at any checkpoint?
I've my full licence for over 10 years at this stage and have come across many a checkpoint. Never been asked for my licence.

yes i was driving about 3 weeks and went through a checkpoint accompanied.so glad everything was right.the gaurd didnt even ask for insurance or look for a rear L plate which wasnt there:pac:

Permabear

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djimi

In an ideal world driving unaccompanied on a provisional license would mean losing your license and not being able to reapply for 12 months, along with a fine. The guards need to tighten up big time on learner drivers.

To think that you can basically take a written multiple choice test then jump in behind the wheel of a car having never driven before and drive home knowing you more than likely wont get caught is a sickening thought to anyone who uses the roads...

bmw535d

yes a 60 year old would normally be safer than an 18 year but there are over 10,000 fully licenced drivers in ireland that have never done a test,i live near one and she has been driving the same car for about 10 years and still puts on the wipers instead the the indicators. does she sound safe on the road?
there are more dents on the car than a teenagers face

also if you read my post again i said there are many learners not all learners,granted this may be a low figure compared to good 60+ year old drivers

JP Liz V1

The Gardai inforce this majorly for 1 bank holiday weekend each year and then nothing

ardmacha

Whether or not there exist other bad drivers is not an excuse to break the law. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Hopefully the law will clamp down on all motoring lawbreakers.

Permabear

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greenie

djimi wrote: »

The guards need to tighten up big time on learner drivers.

They really do with everybody.

mark renton

ardmacha wrote: »

Whether or not there exist other bad drivers is not an excuse to break the law. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Hopefully the law will clamp down on all motoring lawbreakers.

If any man has to get into his car in the morning (with a provisional licence) and drives to an underpaid job where he has to work harder than usual, then takes all that money and pays off a never ending mortgage and feeds his hungry kids, with little hope of things getting better for a long time in the future - then appears in court and is fined 1000 euro and the rest, then I personally will gladly take up arms for such a cause

Eoin

What "cause" - why are you bringing financial circumstances into it? It's quite simply a case of driving without a license.

mark renton

eoin wrote: »

What "cause" - why are you bringing financial circumstances into it? It's quite simply a case of driving without a license.

Maybe because this is reality, instaed of a pink cloud of political correctness that people on here seem to be lounging in

Permabear

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