Latest news with #testcentres
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Three driving test centres reach 10-week waiting time target after years of increases
Three driving test centres have reached the waiting time target of 10 weeks or less as 51 of the State's 57 car test centres showed improved timelines after years of increases. Carlow town had a waiting time of 10 weeks, while it fell to nine weeks in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim and Tuam in the Galway East constituency of Minister of State for Transport Seán Canney. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) figures show Dublin had the biggest decrease of 11 weeks. Waiting times in Finglas fell from 25 weeks to 14 while the Maple House, Mulhuddart test centre saw a drop from 22 to 11 weeks. Improvements varied from 11 weeks to one. Tallaght, Co Dublin has the longest waiting time at 33 weeks or eight months, despite a three-week fall. READ MORE Four centres showed an eight-week decrease, including Letterkenny, Co Donegal where waiting times fell from 21 to 13 weeks; Longford (27 weeks to 19); Sligo (19 weeks to 11); and Wicklow (25 weeks to 17). Waiting times increased however in Charlestown, Co Dublin from nine weeks to 16, from 18 weeks to 20 in Ennis, Co Clare and by one week in Dungarvan, Co Waterford from 22 weeks to 23. In May, Mr Canney instructed the RSA to devise a plan to reach the 10-week timeline for all test centres by September after he criticised 'unacceptable' delays of up to 10 months. [ People trying to book a driving test facing 'ridiculous' wait to log in ] Funding was provided for the recruitment of an additional 70 tester drivers. The changes were calculated from the end of May to end of June when the average waiting time fell from 27 weeks to 18 weeks. Dún Laoghaire initially saw a drop from 23 weeks to 13 but it rose again by the end of June to 21 weeks. Waiting times fell in Ballina, Co Mayo from 17 weeks to 10 but increased again to 17, showing no change overall. The figures also revealed 3,030 driving test 'no shows' in the first five months of 2025, resulting in the RSA retaining €257,550 in fees from candidates who failed attend for their appointment. No-show learner drivers can renew their permit annually for a €45 fee so long as they have confirmation that they applied for a test. The RSA received €136,350 in fees for the 3,030 who failed to show for tests between January and May this year. A total of 15,103 learners failed to show for their driving test in 2023 and 2024. Chair of Parc Susan Gray welcomed the improved waiting times. 'It's really good news that a lot of test centres are moving closer to the 10-week average waiting time.' The Minister promised following the group's meeting with him last month that he would commence a 'three strikes and you're off the road' regulation for learner drivers once the 10-week waiting time target was met. Mr Canney has told media the new regulation could come in as early as September 1st. Ms Gray said this would mean 'learners on their third permit who don't turn up for their test will not be issued with a fourth and will have to sit the test', she said. This has been a serious loophole in the regulations going back to 2013 'where learner drivers can continually renew their permit each year without sitting a driving test'. In Tallaght there were 227 no-shows in the first five months of this year, about 45 each month. 'That's the equivalent of a tester sitting twiddling their thumbs for more than a week every month, when they are already being paid to work overtime and weekends,' Ms Gray said.
BreakingNews.ie
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- BreakingNews.ie
Driving test backlog reaches new high: Check the latest waiting time in your area
Ireland's driving test backlog has reached another high while waiting times continue to worsen, new figures show. Data from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) reveal that more than 83,000 applicants were waiting for a driving test in April – the highest number recorded since the pandemic. Advertisement The backlog was 58,860 in April 2024 and reached 72,414 in January this year, before hitting a record 83,486 applicants last month. Waiting times have also worsened significantly this year – the estimated wait for a driving test nationally in April was 27.3 weeks, or between 6-7 months, according to the RSA. In April last year the wait time nationally was 14.9 weeks. The RSA aims to give applicants a test within 10 to 12 weeks of applying, but the last time it was within target nationally was almost three years ago in July 2022. Advertisement The wait for learner drivers in April varied significantly depending on the test centre, though all locations had at least a five-month wait. Navan and Tallaght had the longest wait times out of all the State's driving test centres, with applicants waiting an estimated 43 weeks. Galway's Carnmore test centre was the location with the next longest wait, estimated at 42 weeks. The centres in Clifden, Tralee and Gorey had the shortest queue time last month – but applicants still faced a 21-week wait for a driving test. Advertisement The new figures also reveal that waiting times have got significantly longer over the past year at all of the 60 test centres in the country. Learner drivers applying for a test in Limerick's Woodview centre had a nine-week wait in April last year. By this year that had rocketed to an estimated 31-week wait. The picture is similar across the country, with several test centres recording their longest-ever wait times in April. Driving tests have moved up the political agenda in recent months, with Minister of State Seán Canney saying that "all options" are under consideration to address the backlog. Advertisement "The service is not right and it needs to be rectified," he told the Dáil last week. Ireland RSA need to get act together to tackle driving tes... Read More Mr Canney said he had instructed the RSA to review its plan to get test times down to 10 weeks and "identify further measures that will bring forward the date for achieving the target". The newly appointed chairman of the Oireachtas transport committee, Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy, said he was seeking an early meeting with the RSA "to allow them to outline what they are doing to tackle growing waiting lists for driving tests". The RSA has said a record number of tests took place last year, with 253,850 carried out, up from 196,853 in 2023. The authority has also begun to recruit more testers in order to bring waiting lists down by the end of the year.
The Independent
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
New driving test changes come into force in DVSA plan to save lives
New changes to driving tests will come into force from Tuesday as the DVSA have launched a new trial to make tests more realistic. The DVSA are trialing a three month change to the driving test with three major updates across 20 driving test centres. These centres will include: Avonmouth, Bishopbriggs, Cambridge, Oxford and Portsmouth. They will be reducing the number of stops carried out on a driving test from two to one, in order to allow more of the test to be spent on higher speed roads, including rural roads where possible. The DVSA will also change the frequency of emergency stops from one in three driving tests to one in seven, an element of the test which has not been reviewed since before the fitting of Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS) became mandatory on new cars in 2004. There will also be more flexibility to increase the time of independent driving on the sat nav from 20 minutes to the full duration of the test, as the use of the navigation technology becomes more popular. Up to four driving examiners at each of the test centres will take part, using new routes in rotation with current established ones that will include the changes being tested in the trial. A DVSA spokesperson said: 'DVSA is committed to improving road safety. We continually keep our driving tests under review to make sure they present a rigorous, realistic test of using Britain's roads safely. 'Today (6 May 2025) we are beginning a 3-month trial at 20 driving test centres to increase the amount of time test candidates spend on higher speed roads, including rural roads, where available, during a driving test. 'High speed roads, including rural roads, are some of the most dangerous for novice drivers. We need to ensure that the driving test continues to test the skills needed to drive safely and replicate conditions new drivers will face in the real world to keep improving road safety.' These changes come as 48 per cent of killed or seriously injured casualties among young car driver collisions occur on rural roads, compared to 42 per cent for other aged car driver collisions. On top of this, young male car drivers aged 17 to 24 are four times as likely to be killed or seriously injured compared with all car drivers 25 or over. The latest test changes come a month after the Department for Transport (DfT)made changes to the driving test rules after the DVSA saw record high waiting times to book exams. It is now only possible to make changes up to 10 working days before a booked test slot, compared with three working days previously. DfT officials hope this will incentivise learners to wait until they are ready to pass before they book a test, and encourage people to pull out of tests sooner, meaning there is more chance their spot can be taken by someone else. There is also a campaign to recruit and train 450 new driving examiners.
