Plan for virtual hazard testing of learner drivers

LEARNER drivers will have to sit virtual hazard tests involving “driving” in bad weather conditions from next year.

The news comes after the nightmare pile-up on Kildare’s motorways in heavy fog on Tuesday, where 40 crashes left at least 30 injured and a young woman dead. But a new initiative is set to test more than 150,000 learner drivers annually on their handling of emergency conditions and adverse weather.

Under the present Driver Theory Test, provisional drivers answer dozens of multiple-choice questions.