Shane Ross (Independent)

I thank Senator Quinn for sharing his time with me.

It is somewhat dangerous for us all to stand around and preach about bad driving because I do not believe there is anyone in this Chamber who is not a sinner in one way or another. I have accumulated penalty points myself as a result of some minor speeding offences. While I believe it is essential that restrictive measures be introduced and that penalty points are a necessary and sensible way of doing so, we must be wary of sitting in judgment over those we say are bad drivers. Many of us are probably pretty bad drivers ourselves and I certainly confess to being one. One of the reasons for bad driving is that once one has passed the driving test at 17, there is absolutely no compulsion on one to keep up to date with any of the rules of the road. I and others, if we are honest, will confess that we sometimes see signs at the side of the road and do not know what they mean because we have not read the up-to-date rules of the road. Apart from fulfilling certain moral and legal obligations, we have no obligation to read the rules of the road.

There is a case for testing people regularly as the time of their driving tests becomes more distant. It is a bit absurd to say people are competent to drive in modern conditions when they passed a test 60 years ago. This is not ageism but a matter of experience in that one may have passed one's test in road conditions that were completely and utterly different from those of today. Everybody knows people travel at a much faster speed, that traffic congestion is much worse and that the rules of the road are different. The Minister should consider some way of re-testing drivers who passed their tests a very long time ago. I do not believe I would pass one if I were asked to do so today. I do not believe many others would do so either, but that does not mean I will volunteer for a test — I am afraid I am not as noble as that. The NCTs would be more appropriate to people than cars and driving tests should be almost as frequent.

Several Senators referred to board membership. I am disappointed in this Bill because it follows the normal pattern established by Governments in respect of board membership. The 11 members of the board of the authority are all political appointees.