Ireland

Nearly 100 people crashed during driving tests over past two years

The 98 crashes since the beginning of 2023 did not lead to any claims for compensation or legal bills, Road Safety Authority says

Fifty-two people crashed their vehicles while on their driving test route in the first 10 months of this year. Photograph: Thinkstock.
Fifty-two people crashed their vehicles while on their driving test route in the first 10 months of this year. Photograph: Thinkstock.
Ken Foxe
Wed Dec 18 2024 - 16:23

Nearly 100 people have crashed or been involved in a collision during their driving test over the past two years.

In what seems like the most reliable way to fail the test, 52 people had a crash while on their test route in the first 10 months of this year. Of those crashes, nine resulted in personal injuries, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

Last year there were 46 cases where a person was involved in a crash during their driving test. Those crashes led to personal injuries in 14 different cases, the RSA said.

The authority said the 98 crashes since the beginning of 2023 had not led to any claims for compensation or legal bills. In an information note, it said all test candidates had been fully insured and any claims had been managed through their third-party motor insurance. It said even if an RSA staff member was injured it was still dealt with like any normal road crash.

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The RSA added that no costs had been incurred in the repair of cars damaged during tests and this was also the responsibility of the driver.

It said there was a single case over the past two years where a member of staff had been involved in a crash while working. This had resulted in a repair bill of €3,478 but no legal or compensation costs had been incurred by the authority in 2023 or 2024.

A spokesman said: “While the RSA would prefer that there be no collisions during a driving test, or indeed at any other time, unfortunately, it is the case that a collision can occur. Given the overall volume of learner drivers that progress through the driving test annually, the volume of collisions while on test is quite low comparatively.”

He added that a total of 196,886 driving tests had taken place in 2023, of which only 46 had resulted in a crash.