Second-level students to pay less for driving tests with new road safety course

Kenneth Fox

Second-level students are set to pay less to sit the driving test and will receive marks towards the driver theory exam as part of a new road safety course.

The course, which is being developed by the Department of Education with the Road Safety Authority (RSA) will be rolled out in schools from next September in a bid to reduce accidents and fatalities.

As the Irish Examiner reports, the measure is part of a range of road safety changes being examined amid a worrying rise in deaths this year.

Up to yesterday morning, 177 people had been killed on the roads so far this year — 28 more people than last year.

Between 2014 and 2022 a total of 56 children died and 852 were seriously injured on Irish roads.

Minister for Education, Norma Foley has been involved in discussions with the RSA around the new short course which will be taught in transition year.

"I have met with the RSA, with Sam Waide their chief executive and we're currently working on a programme for September 2024, specifically for transition year students, where these students would be very much brought into the heightened awareness of safety on the road, be it cyclists or pedestrians or drivers or whatever the case might be," she said.

Ms Foley said it would be "very positive" to introduce "some kind of incentive for students to be involved in these programmes" and she is currently working on this with the RSA.

Some of the options that have been discussed include a certificate for TY students which would be helpful for their CVs.

However, Ms Foley is pushing the RSA to provide students who complete the course with a voucher to reduce the cost of the driving test.

On completion of the course, she also wants to see students awarded a credit or additional marks for the driver-theory test, which requires candidates to correctly answer 35 questions out of 40.