Driving test troubles: Walls punched, threatening letters, first gear at 35km/h

Irish Times

13-05-2025

A failed driving test applicant began punching walls and kicked a door while another unleashed a volley of abuse at a tester for refusing to conduct an exam in a car that stank of cigarettes.
The
Road Safety Authority
(RSA) said since the start of 2024 it had recorded 85 road incidents involving driving tests, 15 near-misses and 38 cases involving abuse of staff.
On five occasions, gardaí had to be called to investigate, including a serious incident where two testers received threatening letters to their home.
The RSA said there had been multiple cases where a failed candidate had made 'accusations of racism', according to a log of incidents provided by the agency under the Freedom of Information Act.
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A report on one incident earlier this year said a test candidate had become verbally abusive after being told they had failed.
'Tester proceeded to write out the statement of test outcome and when it was handed it to the applicant, it was scrunched it up and [the candidate] started shouting and using abusive language towards tester again,' said the report.
'Tester got up and walked away again, but this time [the] applicant landed punches on the walls and kicked the door.'
There were other dangerous incidents during tests on the road including a candidate who turned the wrong direction into oncoming traffic right beside a test centre.
'Another driver had to take avoiding action to avoid a collision,' said a note of the incident.
In another case, a tester had to intervene after a child was almost hit by an applicant while another staff member complained of a near-catastrophic incident.
The incident database said: 'Candidate dangerously turned right in front of [an] approaching vehicle; tester had to verbally intervene, and shout stop several times to the candidate.'
The report said there was an 'extreme near miss' with a vehicle which had 'to swerve to avoid test car'.
It was 'noted as an extremely dangerous situation'.
Another case involved a test vehicle 'violently mounting' a footpath at speed after a test applicant turned right at a blind T-junction and narrowly avoided a crash.
About 85 more minor crashes and collisions were logged during tests or where RSA staff were injured on duty.
In one case last year, a candidate was driving at about 35km/h when suddenly they put the car into first gear.
RSA records said the tester's neck had 'jerked severely' causing injuries to their neck and back.
Other cases included a candidate who crashed into a pole, another who drove at high speed towards a crash barrier and another who hit an ESB box.
Not all incidents were the fault of driving test applicants with one person rear-ended by a speeding car on the day they hoped to secure their licence.
An RSA spokesman said: '[Our] testers conducted more than 250,000 driving tests in 2024. Thankfully, the vast majority passed off without incident or threat of violence to the tester.
'The RSA has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of threatening or abusive behaviour towards our colleagues. Such incidents are treated with the utmost seriousness and managed with care, discretion, and sensitivity.'