If you don’t yet have a driver’s licence (and if you do, pass this warning on to any friends or family without one), apply as soon as you can.Proposed new Road Traffic Regulations – which could be implemented any time now – will radically toughen up the rules applying to provisional licence holders.The draft regulations may or may not be amended before they come into effect, and they will be welcomed by law-abiding drivers sick and tired of our high traffic accident rates.
But they won’t be easy on you if you don’t already hold a licence –
- You will have to hold your provisional licence status for a probationary period of a year.
- You face 2 years’ suspension if during your probation you
- Drive between midnight and 4 a.m., or
- Commit 6 “traffic related offences”, or
- Commit any one of a range of other offences, such as speeding (just one speeding offence will be enough to keep you off the road for 2 years!), drunk driving, or overloading.
- Fail to complete a provisional driving licence logbook recording all trips undertaken with a minimum of 60 hours.
© DotNews, 2005-2013. This article is a general information sheet and should not be used or relied on as legal or other professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact your legal adviser for specific and detailed advice.