Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1975 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities > Report No. 18 - Driving Licences and Road-Worthiness Tests

REPORT

A. INTRODUCTION

1. The Draft Directive

The Joint Committee has considered the following proposals:-

These proposals are based on Article 75 of the EEC Treaty under which the Council may adopt measures for the implementation of a Common Transport Policy.

Proposals on both subjects were originally adopted by the Commission in July, 1972 and were subsequently considered by the European Parliament which generally welcomed the proposals but recommended various amendments. Acting under Article 149 of the EEC Treaty the Commission in June, 1974 amended its proposals in regard to road-worthiness tests to take account of the opinion both of the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee. The Commission has intimated that it proposes to adopt an amended proposal for a Directive on vehicles′ driving licences also to reflect the views of those bodies but the amended proposals have not yet appeared.

It is understood that an early decision by the Council on the proposals is not likely.

B. DRIVING LICENCES

2. Commission’s Proposals

The Commission’s proposals are designed to facilitate the flow of intra-Community road traffic, to promote the freedom of movement and of establishment for transport operators and to contribute to road safety in conditions of increasing congestion on roads. The draft Directive would provide for:—

(a) standard form of licence and issue in accordance with standardised procedure;

(b) uniform categories of vehicles for which licences are required;

(c) validity of licence in one category to cover vehicles in “lower” categories;

(d) minimum age requirements for licences in different categories;

(e) examinations for applicants;

(f) speed limits and distinguishing sign for novice drivers;

(g) periodical medical examinations for drivers;

(h) reciprocal recognition of existing licences;

(i) national registers of drivers convicted of offences and exchange of information relating thereto; and

(j) suspension in the case of offences of licences issued in other Member States.

3. Views of the Joint Committee

The Joint Committee favours the objectives which the Commission’s proposals are intended to achieve and it believes that the adoption of the proposed Directive should further the attainment of those objectives. It would, however, like to see the proposals amended in some respects and there are some provisions in the draft which it can support only with reservations. The following are the provisions with which the Joint Committee is particularly concerned:—

(i) Age Requirements

The Directive would fix 16 and 18 respectively as the minimum ages for licences to drive motor cycles with a design speed exceeding 40 km per hour and motor cars. In Ireland the age is 18 for motor cycles, except in the case of motor cycles with engines under 150 cc in cylinder capacity where the age is 16, and 17 for motor cars.

The Joint Committee is surprised that the Directive would make no provision at all for licences to drive cycles with an auxiliary motor or motor cycles with a design speed not exceeding 40 km per hour. It believes that all persons driving on the road should be licensed. As regards motor cars, it believes that it would be a retrograde step as far as this country is concerned to raise the age from 17 to 18. It notes that the European Parliament has recommended that by way of derogation from the general provisions for a period of five years, 17 should remain the minimum age in those countries which currently operate that requirement. In that period the Commission should conduct a comprehensive survey of comparative accident rates among drivers of 17 and 18 years of age to enable a final decision on the minimum age to be reached. The Joint Committee would accept this proposition as a reasonable compromise.

The Joint Committee notes that the Directive would fix the minimum age in the case of agricultural tractors at 21 as compared with 17 which is the minimum age in this country. It considers that such a change would be rightly and deeply resented by the agricultural community and it recommends that this provision be strongly resisted.

(ii) Examinations

The Directive would require an applicant for a licence to pass a practical, theoretical, medical and psychological examination. It would also oblige licencees to present themselves for medical examination at the following intervals:—

5 years if under age of 50;

2 years if between 50 and 65 or a disabled person;

1 year if over 65.

A licencee would also require medical examination if he suffered injuries in any accident which necessitated hospitalisation for more than one week.

In this country an applicant for a driving licence must pass an oral theoretical test and a practical test. Medical certificates of fitness are required annually in the case of drivers over 70 years of age and in certain circumstances from disabled persons. Also a person may be disqualified by court order from holding a licence until he produces a medical certificate of fitness.

The elaborate nature of the examinations envisaged by the draft Directive is likely to prove expensive for the national exchequer and the Joint Committee is concerned that the expense may not be justified by results. It recognises that psychological examinations may well be desirable but it believes that the deployment of trained personnel to carry out those tests may be a costly and difficult affair. In particular it believes that the proposed successive medical examinations will impose an unduly expensive burden on resources already overburdened and the Joint Committee has considerable doubts if the exercise will improve the safety of persons on the roads to any great extent.

(iii) Goods Vehicles

The proposed Directive would involve classifying goods vehicles for the purpose of drivers’ licences by reference to a permissible maximum laden weight. In Ireland the classification is by unladen weight.

It has been represented to the Joint Committee that the proposed change would present administrative problems in this country. The Joint Committee accepts that this may be so but it recognises that this element is always present to some extent in the harmonisation of national laws. Classification by reference to laden weight involves setting safe load limits for vehicles and this may well be a significant factor in promoting road safety.

C. ROAD-WORTHINESS TESTS

4. Commission’s Proposals

The proposals are based on the proposition that the Common Transport Policy should aim at increasing road safety and harmonising competition by eliminating variations between different national systems of testing vehicles. The draft Directive provides for the compulsory testing of motor vehicles and trailers and specifies the intervals at which tests are to be required, the vehicles to be examined and the items to be tested and the method and conditions of the tests. Private motor cars would require testing four years after registration and annually thereafter and more frequent tests would be necessary in the case of other vehicles. The holder of the vehicles’ certificate of registration would be made responsible for ensuring that the tests are carried out and would be required to pay the cost. The tests could be carried out in testing stations run by the State or by appointed testing agencies or in approved garages.

5. Views of Joint Committee

In this country where there is at present no statutory provision for the testing of motor vehicles generally, it may well be a costly operation to implement the proposed Directive. Presumably the burden would in the main be borne by the motoring public whose running costs have increased so dramatically in recent years. It is important therefore to try to determine if the benefits likely to ensue would be commensurate with the probable cost. The Committee is informed that it has been estimated that the responsibility for 85% of the road accidents in this country rests with drivers, the remaining 15% being attributable to climatic and infrastructural factors as well as defective vehicles. From the report (document 343/73) of the Committee on Regional Policy and Transport of the European Parliament, it would seem that the position is similar in other countries. It is scarcely reasonable therefore to anticipate the proposed tests having any dramatic effect on road safety. If this is so the cost of the scheme is of particular importance. The Department of Local Government has informed the Joint Committee that it is unable to commit itself to any estimate of costs until further progress is made on the proposed Directive. In the absence of such estimate the Joint Committee is unable to commit itself to supporting the proposed Directive.

(Signed) CHARLES J. HAUGHEY,

Chairman of the Joint Committee.

10th December, 1975.