The decision to tackle provisional drivers came as a nasty surprise for hundreds of thousands of people - including L-plate holder Conor Pope
Like Gay Byrne, I have never passed a driving test. Unlike the chairman of the Road Safety Authority (RSA), however, I've at least taken it - twice - but both times been found wanting. The first time I would have failed myself, I was that useless. The second time was closer and, but for a moment's hesitation at an unfamiliar junction, I might have scraped through.
But I didn't and when I woke to the news that legislation was being introduced at short notice and that it would dramatically impact on my ability to drive and my ability to pass any future test, I cursed my misfortune. Then I cursed Gay Byrne and Noel Brett, the head of the RSA, before finally settling on the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey as the person most deserving a cursing.
Has legislation ever been introduced in a more cack-handed way? The State's 420,000 provisional drivers now don't know whether they are coming or going, or how many of them would be legally allowed to drive there. The Garda seems equally confused and, no doubt, thrilled skinny at the prospect of policing a law that a great many learner drivers routinely break.
There are approximately 280,000 drivers with provisional licences who are not allowed to drive unaccompanied. Last year, just 4,500 were charged with driving without L plates or not having a qualified driver with them and 3,000 cases were struck out because gardaí never served the summons or an order wasn't made by the judge. Others who actually made it to court had the charges dismissed because legislation is unclear as to what penalties should be meted out.
The looming prospect of the rules being enforced immediately mired the proposed road safety reforms in controversy, a great pity as, amidst all the confusion, there is one certainty - the current system is dangerously stupid.
It has been for generations, going right back to the time when drivers could take advantage of ludicrous amnesties in which the government of the day, unwilling to face down unions or to fund a proper driver training regime, would simply cave in and say: "Oh, there are too many provisional drivers and the waiting lists are too long. I'll tell you what, you can all have a full licence. Drive safely now."
Until last week, as a first provisional licence holder, I could at least drive legally in the presence of my wife, who passed her test a year ago. The new law means I won't even be able to do that come the end of June and, for a brief period last weekend, it looked as if I wouldn't be able to do it today.
I've been on the waiting list for two test centres - in Galway and Dublin - for weeks but, despite the promises from the RSA and the Minister, I'm not overly optimistic that my time will come again this side of the summer and, even if it does, I'm not overly optimistic that I'll pass. If I fail - as half of us do - it will be months before I can try again.
LAST FRIDAY'S NEWS sent people to the test centres in their thousands. Some 40,000 test applications have been processed in the last 10 days alone. Good news perhaps, but it's hard to see how the already long waiting lists will be cleared in the Minister's timeframe, with so many more people suddenly seeking immediate tests.
So, in the absence of a full licence, what am I supposed to do? Ignore the new rules? Take the L-plates off my car and break two laws so that my breaking of one - driving with a driver who qualified too recently - will be harder to detect? Do I just stop driving? Or do I spend €120 a week on driving lessons and bring the instructor shopping with me? The simple answer is that I don't know. I'm at a loss, but at least my job or my way of life doesn't depend on my ability to drive.
THOUSANDS OF PROVISIONAL drivers aren't so lucky. Mark (not his real name) is one of them. He's had 20 accident-free years of driving on 10 provisional licences and has taken the driving test more times than he cares to remember. He always seems to freeze on the day, however, and for years he has illegally ferried his five children more than 10km to and from school. Within months, unless he breaks the habit of a lifetime and passes his test, he's going to be in trouble and could face heavy fines and the possible suspension of his licence.
"At least now I have some time to get my test, which is a better position than I was in last Friday," he says. "But if I haven't got the test by the end of June, then I will have no choice but to continue to break the law because there are too many people depending on me.
"Byrne, Brett and Dempsey say all I will have to do is ask someone who's been qualified longer than two years to accompany me any time I want to drive. Now, I am not a teenager and don't have any parents prepared to drop everything to go with me on my Sunday morning jaunt to Tesco, so how they imagine I can prevail upon any other fully qualified driver to come with me every time I sit behind the wheel is anybody's guess."
The Ray D'Arcy Show on Today FM has been watching recent developments closely. For years, D'Arcy and his team have tirelessly campaigned to raise awareness of road deaths in Ireland. The show can make a real difference, as many of its listeners are among those most likely to die in weekend crashes - young men aged between 18 and 23. Last year it won a PPI Radio award for highlighting the issue and specifically for its "Don't be a f**king eejit" radio ads, which featured real stories from people who'd lost friends and family on the roads.
When the RSA was set up and sought submissions, the show channelled many of its listeners' messages to it and they helped to shape the new road strategy. When the legislation was announced last Friday, Noel Brett made a point of giving a lengthy interview on D'Arcy's show, during which thousands of people e-mailed and texted in, many complaining bitterly about the proposed changes.
Will Hanafin, the show's producer, has failed his driving test twice and is on his fourth provisional. He will be negatively affected by the new legislation as, come June his wife, who got her licence a year ago, will no longer be qualified to accompany him.
"I've had a no-claims bonus for six years, no penalty points and I am a careful driver. But, according to the new legislation, I won't be able to drive alone and I won't be able to drive with just my wife in the car," he says.
"I'm in my mid-30s and I do feel pretty hard done by, but I know that the law is aimed at stopping some 17-year-old on a first provisional driving legally with his 18-year-old, just-qualified friend in the passenger seat. I do understand the thinking behind the law and I really don't mind."
Hanafin believes we've witnessed a chronic case of reactive politics over the past 10 days "that had nothing to do with the number of young people dying on our roads".
On one side, he says, you have people demanding something be done to end the carnage, "but as soon as sufficiently hard-hitting legislation is introduced, there's uproar. A focused strategy has been developed and the whole thing came close to collapse in the face of political expediency.
"Within hours of the legislation becoming public, Noel Dempsey was telling us that there would be a nod and a wink approach. By Monday, he'd postponed key elements until the end of June. How many people will die between now and then?" Hanafin asks.
"Last weekend, no one was saying anything about road safety. They were all talking about Dempsey. We should have had more news about the kids who died on the roads over the weekend in the papers on Monday and less stories about Noel Dempsey and his backtracking."