As someone who is currently learning to drive, I will never forget the first words imparted to me by my driving instructor during my first lesson. When I first sat into that small red Kia Picanto, he looked me square in the eye and – having removed his hand from my knee after I told him it was putting me on edge and that I felt it constituted a breach of trust in the relationship between a student and mentor figure – he implored me to remember one thing. “Keith, before you begin to pilot this lithe, metallic steed through these streets, it has been made incumbent upon me by the RSA that I make of you this one request: Do not, under any circumstances, while you are learning your skills behind the wheel, attempt to drive alone at 115km/h in a 50km/h zone. Ok? Now, you may drive.” Leaving aside the fact that he knew full well my name is actually ‘Rory’ and that his decision to call me ‘Keith’ was evidently part of some errant power-play – no doubt he was still irked about the whole hand thing – I thought it rather prudent advice.
Well, apparently there is one chump out there whose driving instructor shirked their responsibilities and failed to alert them to this one golden rule of motoring. The gardaí posted a Tweet today regarding a learner driver who was apprehended last night for, not just breaking the speed-limit, but shattering it into so many thousand tiny pieces that its remains could only ever be identified through DNA testing.
This learner driver was apparently caught, driving without an accompanying driver – very much the thin end of the edge for what’s about to follow in the second half of this sentence – but driving at 115km/h in a 50km/h zone. That’s more than twice the speed limit yo.
Naas Roads Policing conducting a checkpoint last night detected a motorist speeding at 115km in a 50km zone.
Motorist driving on a Learner Permit with no L-Plates displayed. Not
accompanied by a qualified driver.Driver arrested and charged for court. Vehicle seized. pic.twitter.com/t4tXrFtxQ8
— An Garda Síochána (@GardaTraffic) January 8, 2019
Up until just before Christmas, it had been the case that if a learner driver was found driving unaccompanied then they would be the ones solely responsible. However, thanks to legislation that was introduced before Christmas – the Clancy Amendment – the owners of the vehicles are now also liable to be punished if an accompanied learner is apprehended driving their car.
… More than twice the speed limit ya damned fool!?
