What's been described as 'an explosion' in the number of learners drivers on Irish roads in the last five years, has led to a road safety crisis.
That's the claim being made today by the Irish Road Haulage Association, who say that in Kerry alone, there are currently 22,636 learner drivers on the road.
They've also called for a root and branch review of the Irish driving test system.
Figures released to the IRHA under Freedom of Information, show that there were 842,260 learner drivers on Irish roads at the end of March.
By comparison, at the end of 2019, there were 233,025 learner drivers on our roads.
The hauliers say, these figures coincide with recently released figures by the Gardaí, which show a dramatic increase in some counties in the numbers of learner drivers caught driving unaccompanied.
That figure for Kerry, shows a 39% increase in the number of Kerry learner drivers caught driving unaccompanied by Gardaí between 2023 and 2024.
The IRHA claims that an inadequate and backlogged testing regime, is forcing young learner drivers out on the roads without a full license or a supervising driver.
They say they're concerned for the safety of their drivers, who are coming across inexperienced drivers on a daily basis on Irish roads.
Their President Ger Hyland has called for a radical overhaul of our driving test system, to include testing for motorway driving skills, night time driving and safe overtaking on secondary roads.
