Minister urged to get tough on provisional licence drivers

MINISTER for Transport Seamus Brennan has been urged to introduce random breath tests, increase speed checks on minor roads and ensure that the country’s 325,000 provisional licensed drivers are made take the test before the summer of 2004.

The Institute of Engineers of Ireland (IEI) is lobbying the minister to take increased measures to cut down on the number of accidents on Irish roads which claim an average of 400 lives annually, lead to thousands of serious injuries and cost the economy an estimated 1bn.

“We believe there are three main areas where significant improvements can be made, namely improving driver behaviour and competence, improving the safety of vehicles and improving the safety of our roads,” an IEI director general Paddy Purcell said.