Full licence driver in car with provisional licence driver

nanoro

Does anyone know of anyone who has been done by the cops for driving on a provisional licence without a full licence driver in the car? If so, what were the consequences?

slade_x

nanoro wrote:

Does anyone know of anyone who has been done by the cops for driving on a provisional licence without a full licence driver in the car? If so, what were the consequences?

I dont know about your area but around here (munster) the gardai wont pull you if you dont make any mistakes

A guard will never know if your on your first, second or third license, they could always risk pulling someone on their second provisional, maybe thats why they dont, or maybe they just dont care

The only thing a person holding a first or third provisional will have to worry about is being in an accident when it shows in the report/statement that there was no Fully licensed driver with you at the time..

As you know the only reason for a provisional is for learning purposes only, the idea was that people could learn from an instructor/ licensed driver and not go off on their merry way when they want to go somewhere. but regardless over the years thats what people have done.. but to answer your question, i have never known of anyone who was even been pulled over for not having a competent driver with them..

The consequences more than likely wouldn't be a fine.. if it was truly enforced then you may have your provisional suspended

If you do intend to drive alone (as pretty much ever provisional driver does) then stay within the law. dont act like a twat and respect the road and its users and you will never have any trouble from the gardai

Funkstard

Generally if you're stopped on a provisional without a licensed driver, the garda will give you a warning and tell you to present your details at your nearest garda station with 10 days or something similar. They usually turn a blind eye because everyone does it and its so widepsread.

As the above poster said, if you're acting the bollocks they might take it further because you're showing you're not capable to be driving by yourself, but if you're a capable, safe driver they should let you off. Its not a given however, there are grey areas with results to crashing and having no licensed driver, and you might just meet an asshole of a garda on a power trip.

I have alot of friends who have been caught driving by themselves on a provisional, and as far as I know no-one has had anything bad happen to them.

kilasser

How does your insurance go if you dont have a full licence holder with you?

slade_x

kilasser wrote:

How does your insurance go if you dont have a full licence holder with you?

An insurance company could legaly walk away from you if you dont keep within the law

Our man in Havana

slade_x wrote:

An insurance company could legaly walk away from you if you dont keep within the law

They can't walk away. They have to cover illegal driving.

JungleBunny

I dont think they do have to cover illegal driving.
When I was on my first rovisional, there was a clause (fine print section) that stated that if I was driving on my own and cuased or was involved in an accident, the insurance company would not be responsible for anything. I would have to pay for everything and that they could, depending on the severity, discontinue my insurance. Even on a second provisional!

The gards dont seem to mind too much, but it's the insurance companies you need to worry about.

Stephen

I think they only have to cover you third party only in such cases.

m_stan

I know someone who was very recently hit by a provisional license driver who had no full license driver in the car with him. It was a serious accident. I won't go into detail in case someone recognises the case.

The accident was 100% the fault of the provisional holder though he is contesting this. Again, no detail - just trust me on this.

Interested to hear whether potentially the provisional license holder would get into grief with either his insurance company or the gardai.

JungleBunny

Depending on the severity of the accident, the gards can disqualify the provisional driver from driving for a few years.
And depending on the insurance company, they take no responsibility for the accident at all and it might have to be paid by the provisional dirver.

Know someone who got a DUI and wrecking another car on a provisional and got his provisional taken away from him. It will be a few years yet till he can get his license.

Hope that everything turns out alright in that case though!

murphaph

The insurance company is legally bound to cover the third party liability of any of it's policyholders no matter what law they were breaking at the time!!!

They can go after their policyholder later in court for the costs but they rarely (if ever?) do. Of course they'll not pay out a penny on a comprehensive policy to damage to the policyholder's person or property where certain laws have been broken.

nanoro

Grand, thanks everyone for the help

The Muppet

nanoro wrote:

Does anyone know of anyone who has been done by the cops for driving on a provisional licence without a full licence driver in the car? If so, what were the consequences?

I saw three cases of provisional drivers being prosecuted for driving unaccompanied in the local paper recently (Swords North Co. Dublin). They were each fined one hundred euro. AFAIK They had not been involved in any accident , they were stopped at checkpoints.

Bamboozled

There were 2 cases in the last month in Mallow, Co Cork that were similar to what the Muppet posted. Fined 100 euro and were stopped at a checkpoint, not involved in an accident.

They are cropping up more and more lately so be careful with your choices.

Our man in Havana

Up Laois way, they tend to tack it on as a filler charge in tax and insurance cases.

Funkstard

m_stan wrote:

I know someone who was very recently hit by a provisional license driver who had no full license driver in the car with him. It was a serious accident. I won't go into detail in case someone recognises the case.

The accident was 100% the fault of the provisional holder though he is contesting this. Again, no detail - just trust me on this.

Interested to hear whether potentially the provisional license holder would get into grief with either his insurance company or the gardai.

Was that the crash on Church Road in Ballybrack last week by any chance?

m_stan

Funkstard wrote:

Was that the crash on Church Road in Ballybrack last week by any chance?

nope