22 learner drivers a day summonsed for breaking laws

MORE than 16,000 L-plate motorists have been caught driving without supervision or not displaying L-plates since new laws were rolled out in mid-2008.

Road safety chiefs have appealed to parents to stop inexperienced drivers getting behind the wheel on their own as figures released to the Irish Examiner show 16,132 summonses have been issued since the rule change on July 1, 2008.

Since then, all learner drivers, including those on a second provisional licence, can no longer drive unaccompanied. Despite concerns about isolated drivers in rural Ireland, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey introduced the controversial measure.