The number of people who are driving on the roads with provisional licences has increased by more than 6,000 since the end of last year, new statistics have shown.
In figures released by the Department of the Environment in the Bulletin of Vehicle and Driver Statistics, the number of provisional licences held as of December 31st, 2002, was 352,500.
However, a Department of Transport spokeswoman when asked for current statistics yesterday said the number of people now holding provisional licences was 358,845.
The number of applications for driving tests stood at 129,478, she said. Despite the increase in provisional licences, the number of driving licences remained the same at 2.1 million.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, is proposing a Bill on road safety which is expected to include a package of measures to improve driving standards.
Mr Brian Farrell, of the National Safety Council, said it did not consider this number of provisional licence-holders to be ideal. The council would like to see the Government's proposals introduced. "We would like to see these measures brought in as soon as possible," he said.
"It is not an ideal situation where someone can fail a driving test then jump back in the car and drive on a provisional licence."
Driving tests conducted in 2002 totalled 149,000. An overall pass rate of 54 per cent (80,900), was achieved while in the case of repeat tests, a pass rate of 57 per cent was achieved.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that applicants for the driving test would have to wait up to 10 months to be examined, the longest delay since last year.
As regulations stand, a driver on a second provisional licence who has not sat a test in the last two years must, to get a third provisional licence, provide proof of a forthcoming test date. Those who cannot provide the date will not be granted a licence.
The bulletin also showed that the number of private cars increased by 4.5 per cent from 1,384,700 in 2001 to 1,447,900 last year. The number of licensed vehicles increased by the same amount. In 2002, there were 1,850,000 vehicles.
There was an overall pass rate of 94 per cent in 536,000 car tests carried out by the National Car Testing Service last year, with 41 per cent passing after defects discovered in the initial test had been rectified.