Last weekend saw another four fatalities on Irish roads in addition to a number of injuries. The headlines were all too familiar, all too depressing.
When there is a fatal road accident investigators look at every angle. Reporters also look for angles and possible causes including weather conditions, the particular stretch of road (was there a bad bend, an accident black spot?). Speed is one of the first questions to be raised. Anyone who has driven in Ireland is familiar with the speed factor.
In an exercise some call hedge clipping, drivers will speed along rural roads that barely allow two cars to pass. And these days the cars on such roads are a good deal bigger than they were just a few decades ago.
The use, or misuse, of phones while driving is a more recent phenomenon. Another matter for Gardai to look into. Another for reporters too. Then there is drinking and driving. This is not as prevalent as it once was because Irish drink/driving laws are today extremely strict.
There is more than a hint of irony hanging over all this highway carnage. Getting your hands on a driver's license is a serious challenge for wannabe drivers. The Irish driving test is multi-layered and the on road testing is rigorous. Many fail their tests one or more times. Learner drivers have to display the traditional L plate. But even after passing the test newly licensed drivers have to display an N plate for two years. The N stands for "novice."
With all these standards and stages of learning you might think that the end result would be safer roads. You would think.
Against the backdrop of all this there is currently a transatlantic discussion over driver license exchange. U.S. license holders, should they move to Ireland, can use their American licenses for up to a year. But then they have to obtain an Irish license, this by jumping through all the hoops that face someone who wants to comply with Irish regulations and law.
Logically, you would think that a year of accident free driving on Irish roads with, say, a Massachusetts permit, would be an indication that obtaining an Irish license should be just a matter of paying a fee, perhaps sitting a written rules of the road test, and then obtaining the Irish license. This is not the case.
Also not the case is a situation where someone who learned to drive in Ireland, but who has lived in Massachusetts for a number of years, can return to Ireland and obtain a new Irish permit. If the previous Irish license has been expired for a specified time it is not possible to obtain a new one. It is back to square one. An individual might have decades of accident free driving in the rear view mirror but it doesn't count.
There is more than a whiff of officious absurdity behind all this - especially when it is held up to the way some people drive even after going through all the stages of Irish learning.
If you have a specified number of years of safe driving (an accident might well have been another driver's fault) behind you in the U.S. - not exactly easy street for motoring - you should be able to quickly secure an Irish permit. The same should apply for Irish license holders living legally in the U.S. and in states that, hopefully, reach a license transfer agreement with Ireland.
The piece of plastic with your photo on it is an important part of modern living for those who need and desire it.
Once obtained we can only hope that common sense prevails, speeding is a non factor and the living part of it all is maintained along and down the road.
