Driving in the country - This is an idea worth developing

DESPITE many and varied challenges the late Sylvester Barrett’s 1979 driving licence amnesty remains in the all-time top five of Irish solutions to Irish problems.

At the time driving test centres were swamped with applicants, waiting lists were horrendous so the then environment minister decreed, like a gouty emperor freeing slaves, that anyone on a second or subsequent provisional driving licence need not bother doing a test but could have a full licence anyway.

The innovation did wonders for the statistics on driving test delays but little for the credibility of our road safety programmes.