NEW ROAD traffic legislation arising from investigative reports into two major school bus incidents six years ago in which six pupils died has been approved by Cabinet.
At its weekly meeting yesterday, the Government approved a new Road Traffic Bill that will give the Road Safety Authority (RSA) direct control over safety testing of coaches and heavy goods vehicles.
The Bill, brought to Cabinet by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar, will give effect to recommendations made following investigative reviews after the deaths of six schoolchildren in bus crashes in Kentstown, Co Meath, and Clara, Co Offaly, in 2006.
At the time of the incidents, school buses and trucks were tested by private garages on behalf of the Department of Transport.
The new Bill will switch responsibility for testing to the RSA and will also allow roadside inspections of vehicle conditions for the first time. It will also allow the RSA to appoint officers.
And for the first time, there will be statutory powers to check the premises of private garages used for vehicle testing. There has been concern about inconsistency in standards of testing throughout the country.
Some 20 per cent of all road fatalities in Ireland involve heavy goods vehicles and commercial vehicles.
The other major new change included in the legislation will be the introduction of a driving licence that will be physically smaller. The new licence will be made of plastic and be the same size as a credit card.
Mr Varadkar hopes to introduce the new licence in January 2013.
The credit-card sized licence was first mooted by the late Séamus Brennan in 2003 when he was minister for transport.
