Vol. 528 No. 3
187 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will review the practice of allowing persons who may never have been in a car, or have read the rules of the road, drive unaccompanied once they wait for a two year period and obtain a second provisional licence. [30409/00]
In general provisional licence holders are required to be accompanied and supervised by a person qualified to drive the vehicle concerned. However, in deference to practical considerations, successive Governments since 1979 have permitted some concessions in relation to this general rule. At present, driving of motor cycles and tractors-work vehicles is exempted from it. In addition, a learner driver who holds a second provisional licence in respect of category B vehicles – cars – is exempt from being accompanied during the two year term of that provisional licence.
This latter arrangement reflects a presumption that, in general, persons on a second provisional licence should have sufficient previous driving experience to be allowed to drive unaccompanied for the period of the second licence. The limitation of the exemption to this period is intended as an incentive to pass the driving test during it.
It should also be noted that when applying for a provisional licence a person must, inter alia, make a declaration that he or she has a satisfactory knowledge of the rules of the road. It is an offence under the Road Traffic Act, 1961, for a person to furnish particulars in relation to an application for a provisional licence which to his or her knowledge is false or misleading,
