James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We know from statistics released by the Road Safety Authority that six learner drivers receive penalty points each day, which equates to 2,000 in year. Those are the ones who are caught. This indicates this is a fairly systemic problem of young people getting learner permits and then feeling they have the confidence to drive on their own. We know driver error represents the largest contributory factor to road traffic accidents and debts. That no doubt increases by a multiple when one adds in inexperience and overconfidence. It is a serious systemic problem.

This is also an issue for these young people who do not realise that most motor insurance contracts have a condition that one must comply with the conditions of one's driving licence for the insurance to be valid. When driving in breach of the law, the motorists in question are driving without insurance. Some of them do not realise the actual consequences of something going wrong. It is an area that needs to be looked at with much more focus.

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