Clampdown on solo L Drivers in Kildare and relatives and friends who loan them cars
Kildare Gardai have begun the New Year with a clampdown on unaccompanied L drivers and their relatives or friends who allow them to borrow their vehicles.
Every year, several fatal road crashes in Ireland involve a Learner driver - and many are not accompanied by a qualified driver.
However under a new law, car owners who allow Learner drivers to use their cars unaccompanied will face fines of up to €1,000, up to six months in prison, and could have their vehicles seized.
It's usually parents or older siblings who allow a teenaged driver on a Learner Permit to use their car unaccompanied.
The newly-enacted Clancy Amendment of the Road Traffic Act is named after mother and daughter Geraldine and Louise Clancy who were killed just before Christmas three years ago when unaccompanied Learner driver Susan Gleeson lost control of her car in Co Cork.
Since then their Gleeson family has campaigned for the amendment to be included in road traffic legislation.
A hard-hitting nationwide awareness campaign by the Road Safety Authority is running with the slogan: Unaccompanied learners can lead to unaccompanied lives."
Kildare
In recent days in Co Kildare, motorists with Learner Permits were stopped at Garda checkpoints or by mobile Garda patrols.
Earlier this week, Naas Roads Policing stopped a motorist driving on a Learner Permit who had with L-Plates displayed and unaccompanied by a qualified driver.
The driver was detected travelling at a speed of 115 kmh in a 50kmh Zone.
The motorist was arrested and charged and will appear in court in coming weeks.
The vehicle was also seized under the new Clancy Amendment (Section 41 of the Road Traffic Act).
A Fixed Charge Penalty Notice (FCPN) will be issued to the registered owner of the vehicle.
On Sunday an unaccompanied L driver was arrested by Naas Roads Policing after he failed a roadside breath test at a Mandatory Intoxicant Testing (MIT) Checkpoint.
At the end of December, Clane Roads Policing also applied the Clancy Amendment when they discovered a unaccompanied Learner driver did a U-turn at a checkpoint.
The car was seized and a Fixed Charge Penalty Notice (FCPN) was also issued to the registered owner of the vehicle.