S.I. No. 719/2007 - Road Traffic (Licensing of Learner Drivers) Regulations 2007

S.I. No. 719 of 2007

ROAD TRAFFIC (LICENSING OF LEARNER DRIVERS) REGULATIONS 2007

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 30th October, 2007.

I, NOEL DEMPSEY, Minister for Transport, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 42 of the Road Traffic Act 1961 (No. 24 of 1961) and the National Roads and Road Traffic (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 298 of 2002 ) (as adapted by the Public Enterprise (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2002 ( S.I. No. 305 of 2002 )) and in so far as the following regulations relate to driving licence codes, section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 2006 (No. 23 of 2006) giving further effect to Council Directive 97/26/EC of 2 June 1997 ¹ , hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Road Traffic (Licensing of Learner Drivers) Regulations 2007.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), these Regulations come into operation on 30 October 2007.

(3) Paragraphs (a), (b)(ii) and (c) of Regulation 2 come into operation on 1 December 2007.

2. The Road Traffic (Licensing of Drivers) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 537 of 2006 ) are amended—

(a) in Regulation 15(2), by substituting “€10” for “€5”,

(b) in Regulation 17(6)—

(i) by substituting for subparagraph (a) the following:

“(a) In this paragraph ‘qualified person’ means a person who holds a driving licence which has been held by him or her without disqualification for a continuous period of 2 years in respect of the vehicle category being driven, and which licence, unless the vehicle being driven has automatic transmission, does not have code 78 denoted on it.”,

(ii) in subparagraph (b), by substituting for clause (iii) the following:

“(iii) vehicles of—

(I) category B, C1, C, D1, D, EB, EC1, EC, ED1, or ED, shall not drive such a vehicle unless there are displayed on the vehicle rectangular plates or signs bearing the letter ‘L’, not less than 15 centimetres high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the vehicle, or

(II) category A, A1, or M, shall not drive such a vehicle unless there are displayed on a yellow fluorescent tabard worn over the person’s outside clothing, the letter ‘L’, not less than 15 centimetres high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions to the front and rear of the person’s torso,”,

(iii) by substituting for paragraph (c) the following:

“(c) The condition set out in subparagraph (b)(iv) does not apply—

(i) where the holder of the licence is driving a vehicle in the course of undergoing a driving test or where code 73 is indicated on the licence, while he or she is driving a vehicle of any of those categories, or

(ii) to a vehicle which is constructed or adapted for use by a person suffering from a physical incapacity and which is not constructed or adapted to carry a passenger.

(d) The holder of a provisional licence must comply with the conditions set out in paragraph (b) relating to the category of vehicle which he or she is provisionally licensed to drive. This subparagraph is a penal provision.”,

(c) in Regulation 22(2), by substituting “€10” for “€5”, and

(d) in Regulation 32, by substituting for the Table to paragraph (4)(b) the following:

“ TABLE

”.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

25 October 2007

NOEL DEMPSEY.

Minister for Transport.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These regulations provide that—

• A holder of a second provisional licence for a car must be accompanied at all times.

• The accompanying driver in respect of any licence category must hold a driving licence for the category for at least two years. He/she must not have been disqualified for any period of the previous two years.

• From 1 December 2007 persons with a provisional licence for category A, A1, or M, must when driving such a vehicle display a yellow fluorescent tabard bearing the letter ‘L’ not less than 15 centimetres high in red on a white ground, in clearly visible vertical positions worn over the chest clothing. The ‘L’ plates are to be to the front and rear of the person’s torso.

• non compliance by the holder of a provisional licence with the conditions related to the provisional licence is a penal offence.

• the fee to be paid in respect of an application for a duplicate licence or duplicate provisional licence is changed from 1 December 2007.

1 OJ No. L150, 07.06.1997, p.41