Students to pay less for driving test as part of road safety course

A road safety course is being developed in a bid to reduce accidents and fatalities.

Second-level students are set to pay less to sit the driving test and will receive marks towards the driver theory exam as part of a new road safety course.

The course, which is being developed by the Department of Education with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) will be rolled out in schools from next September in a bid to reduce accidents and fatalities.

The measure is part of a range of road safety changes being examined amid a worrying rise in deaths this year.

Up to yesterday morning, 177 people had been killed on the roads so far this year — 28 more people than last year.

Between 2014 and 2022 a total of 56 children died and 852 were seriously injured on Irish roads.

Education Minister Norma Foley has been involved in discussions with the RSA around the new short course which will be taught in transition year.

"I have met with the RSA, with Sam Waide their CEO, and we're currently working on a programme for September 2024, specifically for transition year students, where these students would be very much brought into the heightened awareness of safety on the road, be it cyclists or pedestrians or drivers or whatever the case might be," she said.

Ms Foley told the Irish Examiner  it would be "very positive" to introduce "some kind of incentive for students to be involved in these programmes" and she is currently working on this with the RSA.

Education Minister Norma Foley is pushing the RSA to provide students who complete the course with a voucher to reduce the cost of the driving test. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Some of the options that have been discussed include a certificate for TY students which would be helpful for their CVs.

However, Ms Foley is pushing the RSA to provide students who complete the course with a voucher to reduce the cost of the driving test.

On completion of the course, she also wants to see students awarded a credit or additional marks for the driver theory test, which requires candidates to correctly answer 35 questions out of 40.

We're very actively looking at what could be done to engage students in the first place — that's always the most important thing — and secondly, that it would be a benefit to them ultimately. 

"So that body of work is ongoing at the minute and I really do want to acknowledge the openness of the RSA to be engaged in that space," Ms Foley said.

While the RSA currently runs a module for TY students, the minister said this course requires 34 class lessons, which is "very elongated" and can be difficult to timetable.

Just 75 of the country's 730 secondary schools are delivering it at TY level.

Ms Foley said a shorter, more focused road safety course would provide a practical option for schools and students.

She stressed that schools cannot solve the road safety issue alone but education can play a role in preventing further deaths and serious injury.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has said more average speed cameras are needed across the country to help tackle the escalation in road deaths.