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What's the Impact of Graduated Drivers License's for Northern Ireland


The proposed Graduated Driver Licensing  scheme for Northern Ireland

Stricter rules for learner and newly qualified drivers will btroduced, eight years after legislation was passed providing a framework for the new licensing scheme.


Learner drivers will have to spend six months training, keep a log book and those who have passed their test could spend two years with restricted plates.


The aim of the Graduated Driver Licensing scheme is to cut the number of people killed or seriously injured in crashes where younger people were found to be responsible. The timeline for the introduction of the new rules has still not been established. This reasoning and the target of Road Safety is admirable but there is much more to this aspect of the reason that an overall set of statistics. We understand that those statistics state that between 2018 and 2022, drivers aged 17-23 were deemed responsible for 22% of all fatal or serious injury collisions despite making up eight percent of licence holders. However, what that does not take into consideration is the geography of where those accidents occurred and if tarring every young driver in Northern Ireland with the same brush will effectively reduce those accident fatality numbers. In total, 159 people were killed or seriously injured over the period (4 years) where a vehicle driver aged 17 to 23 was to blame, according to figures from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).


The new scheme will remove the 45mph upper limit for learner and newly qualified drivers and also allow for learning and driving on motorways. Fundamentally though, how will allowing people in that 17-23 year old bracket to increase their speed in certain areas and add motorway driving into the mix make for a reduced number of fatalities. Surely logic would dictate the opposite?


Plans for the new rules for learner and newly qualified drivers have been years in the making following the passing of the 2016 Road Traffic Act that provides the statutory framework for the introduction of the Graduated Drivers License.


A consultation period ended in early 2018 while the scheme was initially set to be introduced for drivers in 2020. The Infrastructure Minister for Northern Ireland made reference that following extensive consultation, a suite of subordinate legislation is being developed to take forward the Graduated Drivers License proposals.


Under the scheme, there will be a mandatory minimum learning period of six months, the removal of the 45 mph speed restriction and allow for some motorway training. A point that Driving Instructors with experience can argue for and against in certain circumstances. Personally I have passed pupils in less than 7 lessons but on the flip side have had pupils that have taken years. How does this proposed legislation cater for a natural, talented driver? How does it factor in for those taking a driving test after a driving ban also?


A programme for training and learner logbook will be introduced as will passenger restrictions on new drivers along with the increase in the restricted plate period from its current one year to an unspecified time but possibly two years in line with previous recommendations. But how will that restriction be managed, what will it manage from the drivers perspective and how will it be enforced under road safety legislation? All questions that need answers.


Under initial plans, it was proposed to introduce a limit on young passengers being carried by drivers under the age of 24 for the first six months after they pass their test.


Only one person aged 14 to 20 will be allowed on board between 11pm and 6am, unless they are immediate family members or an experienced driver aged at least 21 is also a front-seat passenger, the original Graduated Drivers License scheme proposed.


It is proposed that the cornerstone of any improvement in driving standards is the learning process and the mandatory minimum learning period, the programme of training and the use of a logbook are aimed at changing the current mind-set when considering or learning how to drive according to the Department for Infrastructure but what is the evidence that backs this up to allow us all to get onboard and get road safety and standards to the top of everyone's agenda when they are behind the wheel.

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