People who have been driving on learner licences for years need to ask themselves if driving is really for them, according to a driving instructor.
It comes as Government plans a crackdown to prevent unlimited learner licence renewals.
Last month Junior Transport Minister Jack Chambers said tackling the issue of people driving for years on learner licences is a “road safety priority” for his department.
He said he planned to change the permit renewal system to “prevent unlimited renewals” – but noted that any changes would include a “lead-in time” to allow learner drivers to comply with the new rules.
Minister Chambers said the plan would not proceed until the current driver testing backlog was resolved – and insisted he was working towards increasing driver testing capacity to reduce the backlog.
A learner driver adding 'L' plates to his parents car. Image: True Images / Alamy Stock PhotoBolger School of Motoring owner Brenda Bolger told Newstalk Breakfast a lot of those on learner permits are older than some people think.
"For your first two learner permits there are for two years each, so that's four years," she said.
"So if you've been on your learner permit for a long time in essence you're talking about 12 years.
"So the age profile of this person is a minimum of someone heading into their 30s at this stage.
"It's not the younger generations which is where the mind would instantly go to when it goes to something about driving behaviour".
'Lack of preparation'
Ms Bolger said the issue does need to be addressed.
"If you're driving on a provisional licence for 10 to 12 years, is driving for you?" she said.
"Are you failing the test? Are you not turning up for the test? It needs to be explored in greater detail.
She said she sees a lot of lack of preparation for people who are failing the test.
"'I'm a very busy person, I'll take two driving lessons and I'll go in and I'll try the test' - that's not how it works," she said.
"That's failing to prepare, you're obviously sitting yourself up for failure.
"It's an investment in a skill that you're going to apply every day for the rest of your life."
Ms Bolger said everyone needs to go through the same test.
"Driving is a privilege not a right and you have to share the road with other people," she said.
"Everybody else is going through that process, you have to go through the same process".
'Absence of enforcement'
Ms Bolger said said an absence of Gardaí on the roads is also unhelpful.
"We don't have the police presence on the road, we just don't, and it's very visible," she said.
"I should not use the word 'visible' because there's an absence of visibility but it's very apparent that there's an absence of visibility of enforcement out there.
"If there is a sense of punishment for incorrect behaviour it does, at times, act as a motivator to behave correctly.
"But if we're not monitored, if we're not assessed, we're just going to break the rules," she added.
Recent figures show some 30,000 drivers have been driving on Irish roads for years without passing their driving test.
