Provisional Drivers 1 in Every 6

For a Government which claims to be so dedicated to improving road safety, figures released today, should cause some red faces. That is, of course, assuming there's anyone left in the cabinet capable of becoming embarrased by any of their many failures.

It now appears that 404,600, or to put it another way, one in every six drivers, currently holds only a provisional licence. The other startling reality is the fact that with the small number of new testers being appointed, only 11, because of a union wrangle, and even though 45,000 tests are being farmed out to the NCT beginning in October, the backlog may never be cleared.

The number of new provisional licences issued each year, which currently stands at annual 24,000, coupled with the driving test failure rate of 50% of the annual 45,000 applicants for a test, who must then rejoin the ranks, would seem to indicate that it will be many years before it improves.

Of the 404,600 who currently hold a provisional licence only 135,000 are on the driving test waiting list, and the other 269,400 have either not yet applied, or have failed, and are driving on a renewed provisional licence, some for as much as the fifth time.