Driving tests - Cullen’s vow is simply not enough

Transport Minister Martin Cullen was very confident yesterday when he announced that the backlog in driving tests would not just be reduced to eight weeks next year, but would eventually be eliminated.

This will be achieved by the provision of a mere €10 million in the Budget Estimates which will ensure that the backlog in securing a driving test will be eliminated.

This begs the question why such a comparatively small sum was not provided before now to eliminate the problem.

The overall funding for his department amounts to €2.8 billion and what has been provided to drastically reduce the test waiting list is, literally, a drop in the ocean.

When it is considered that 430,000 people are on our roads on provisional licences, Mr Cullen’s boast that the average delay of 62 weeks had been cut down to 28 weeks this year, and this would be further reduced to eight weeks during 2007, and eventually be eliminated, seems ambitious.

So far, the entire question of road safety in this country is intolerable.

Mr Cullen’s assertion that the reduction in driver testing would be followed by a “revolution” of the driving licence system in which drivers would be better qualified, more responsible and better trained, while desirable, should perhaps be taken with a sceptical grain of salt.

Currently, there are 138,000 people waiting for a driving test, and the waiting period can vary in different parts of the country.

David Brett, chief executive of the Road Safety Authority, summed up the ludicrous situation when he said a person can fail a test, be deemed incompetent to drive, and just drive away from the testing centre.

It is scandalous that there are so many unqualified drivers on our roads, and, unfortunately, Mr Cullen’s promise that the problem will be seriously curtailed next year and eventually disappear does not conjure up confidence that such a utopian situation will transpire.

He wanted to cut the waiting list this year to six weeks, through outsourcing testers, but this did not happen.

Instead, the waiting time is considerably more than four times that target.

If, as we have said, a mere €10m could solve the problem, it is surprising that the problem has not been eradicated a long time ago.

That amount of money is paltry to address a situation that has prevailed for too long, with its obvious implications as a factor in road safety.

Before this weekend is over, it is an unfortunate fact that the number killed on our roads will more than likely pass the present toll of 322.