DRIVING SCHOOLS around the country are experiencing a last-minute rush for lessons as provisional licence-holders try to beat the change in legislation to be introduced tomorrow.
From July 1st, drivers on a second provisional licence will no longer be allowed to drive unaccompanied. Some 92,000 drivers are expected to be affected by the legislation and will be forced to find a fully qualified driver to travel with or face a fine of €1,000.
Despite claims that the legislation will be unenforceable, gardaí said they would uphold the law.
"People can try to second guess us if they wish, but as far as we are concerned this is the same as any other legislation coming in," a Garda spokesman said yesterday. "There is already a large volume of road traffic legislation we enforce. We will enforce this appropriately and proportionately."
Hundreds of provisional licence holders will be crossing their fingers tomorrow when they attend the 52 driving test centres around the country.
The average pass rate for driving tests in 2007 was 57 per cent, though this varied from centre to centre, with drivers in Birr, Co Offaly, achieving a rate of almost 67 per cent, while those in Thurles, Co Tipperary, managed just over 44 per cent.
The waiting time for the test also varies around the country. The Road Safety Authority recorded the average length of time spent waiting for a test at June 16th this year as 7.7 weeks, but drivers in Clifden, Co Galway, Cork and Portlaoise waited 10 weeks and drivers in the Shannon area waited only four weeks. Since the introduction of changes was announced last October by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey, driving schools have experienced a sharp increase in business.
Anthony Dempsey of the Superior School of Motoring in Cork said that last year 70 per cent of his pupils were learning how to drive, but this year 90 per cent are preparing for their test.
"We have been really busy since the announcement was made, and since January we've been off the chart," he said. "I'm working seven days a week at the moment."
He said he is seeing people who have been on provisional licences for 15 or 20 years.
"If people can avoid stress they will, some people have always feared taking the test, but now they are being forced to and they are panicking," he said.
A spokeswoman for Fonthill School of Motoring in west Dublin said they have been contacted by a number of drivers who want last-minute lessons before their test.
"People are going in even though they are not ready for the test because they need to be able to drive their cars," she said.
"We would normally advise people who are not fully prepared to reschedule the test, but most of them want to chance it anyway. There is a last-minute panic."
There is also anecdotal evidence of a rapid increase in the number of driving schools opening.
PJ Butler, of the Ormonde School of Motoring in Kilkenny said driving schools are appearing over night.
"There was a time when you knew how many driving schools were in the town, but now they're just mushrooming," he said.
