New license laws a burden on Americans moving to Ireland
Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 02:08 PM
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Starting next week anyone wanting to get a driver's license in Ireland will have to prove that they've undergone 12 hours of tuition with an approved driving instructor. The idea is that young drivers will benefit and be less unsafe if they've had professional education and training. Like most American teens I got my driving instruction from people with a vested interest in my safety and the safety of the car I drove - my parents. I paid for Driver's Education, but that was after I already had my license. I took Driver's Ed because doing so allowed me to drive after 9pm and provided a reduction in my insurance rate. It wasn't mandated by the state.
The new Irish law requires that the trainee take 12 one-hour lessons with a minimum of two weeks between each lesson. That means it will be a minimum of six months before someone can even take their test. Oh, and the lessons cost about €30-€35 per hour, which means the trainee driver must pay €360-€420 ($500-$590) before they can take their driving test.
This law is an insult to parents because it implies that they don't impart sufficient safety instruction to their children despite the fact they obviously want their children to take care of themselves and their cars. Back when I was a teenager I knew plenty of young drivers (all boys) who passed Driver's Ed without any problem, but still drove like lunatics. It wasn't that they didn't know how to be safe, it was they didn't want to be safe.
I'm sure this is true here too. Some boys just love danger and these added lessons will almost certainly make zero difference to road safety. However, I'm willing to keep an open mind. Maybe young Irish drivers will be safer as a result of these additional, pricey lessons.
The law may indeed have some merit as it applies to young drivers. However, it seems pretty silly that it also applies to those who take up driving after the age of 25. And it is downright ludicrous that it applies to licensed drivers who move to Ireland from outside the EU and a handful of other countries.
That means that any American or Canadian moving here after next week will have to go through this process as if they're a 17-year-old just learning how to handle a car.
What makes this requirement farcical is that an American or Canadian can actually move here and drive for 12 months without an Irish license on an International Driving Permit. That means that someone who moves here from America can drive without restriction on the IDP, but if they're staying beyond that first year they have to act as if they've never driven before and take a series of lessons aimed at the novice at a substantial cost in both time and money.
It's crazy. It's pointless. And it could even be damaging to Ireland.
When companies decide to invest abroad they often take into account the life their managers will have in the country. Obviously driving is part of life in Ireland and this new requirement is a not insignificant burden being placed on any manager (and potentially their spouse too) posted here.
Will American companies choose to locate their European businesses elsewhere because of this? Probably not, but you never know and in the cut-throat business of luring investment why even take such a risk?
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TheYank | Apr 17, 2011, 06:10 AM EDT
Padraig,
No, if you're only visiting you can still drive on your American license. It's only if you plan to live here does the law require an international license - good for one year.
No, if you're only visiting you can still drive on your American license. It's only if you plan to live here does the law require an international license - good for one year.
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Padraig | Apr 14, 2011, 01:32 PM EDT
Wait a moment. American friends of mine drove in Ireland with only stateside drivers license for a holiday. That's not true anymore??? The car rental companies need a international drivers license now?
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mamaginnty | Mar 31, 2011, 02:54 PM EDT
Tis wrong I think, should be for under 25s and Irish.
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littlefoot1947 | Mar 30, 2011, 04:01 PM EDT
Even though I live here in the U.S.< I think it's a bunch of baloney. We aren't going to ask any of the Irish citizens that are planning to emmigrate to the states for jobs to have to take any special driving test & if we would it wouldn't take 6 months to do so also it wouldn't cost $500-$590 dollars to do so....it would only cost whatever that states drivers license fee was which is generally not over $20.00. You go to any of the offices that give the test,you study the book for that particular state,you have a friend drive with you (so you can get use to driving on the oppisite of the road of course) when you get comfortable enough you go to the same facility,take the written/pc test, then go with one of the licensed Instructors from the state,take your driving part & if you have passed both of them they take your picture & wallaw! You have an American drivers license. Why is it so hard for anyone emmigrating to Ireland to get a license? I'm sorry I don't gt it. I understand that there quite a few American business there & I would imagine that if some of the families are there they would want a license or is that where International license comes into place?
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DaveyBoy | Mar 30, 2011, 03:13 PM EDT
Let me put it this way when I do get to move to ireland I wont worry about driving I just want to win the lottery and take the money and open businesses that will give the irish people jobs and homes at a low cost. or just buy a lot of land and give it to the people to build homes or businesses on to help the economy
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LinLinisme | Mar 30, 2011, 11:10 AM EDT
I always wanted to move to Ireland, but not if this stupid law is true. I love all things Irish but this is terrible
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jamieLM | Mar 30, 2011, 09:52 AM EDT
Whoever thought this up must have no common sense, or else it's nothing more than a money-making scheme. Ireland allows foreigners to drive for a year on an IDP and THEN they want to test people's driving skills and force experienced drivers to take driving lessons? No need to be insulted, neldonlan. No one is trashing Ireland. People in every country, including the U.S., have a right to question ridiculous laws created by government officials with no common sense who think up crazy schemes to make money.
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joan1954 | Mar 30, 2011, 08:51 AM EDT
The government is more or less broke. How much of a kickback are they going to get from this? Nickle and diming everyone,euro and centing everyone doesn't make sense.
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TheYank | Mar 30, 2011, 08:04 AM EDT
oisinoc,
I had to take the driving test when I first came here. I wasn't that upset about it because I thought it was fair enough that the state might want to test my driving skills. I would have really resented having to take all these lessons as if I were a schoolboy just getting behind the wheel for the first time.
I had to take the driving test when I first came here. I wasn't that upset about it because I thought it was fair enough that the state might want to test my driving skills. I would have really resented having to take all these lessons as if I were a schoolboy just getting behind the wheel for the first time.
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oisinoc | Mar 30, 2011, 06:50 AM EDT
We who grew up here and who lived/drove in the US sympathise with you. Supposedly, we have it "easy" compared with other EU countries (not in the East, let me tell you that right now... I was on the point of getting my drivers license there...) - but then again those other countries at least tend to have joined-up thinking relating to public transport as an actual alternative. The rationalisation (won't call it a valid reason) government mandarins give, is that they need a "national" license to recognise - and they can't/won't accept US State licenses as a result. But this is just thick, as the US States have joint sovereignty with the Feds (they are not mere departments of national government), and as you point out, you can drive with your international permit anyway. You ought to be able to take a written "rules of the road" test to transfer.
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blackhawks1 | Mar 30, 2011, 05:35 AM EDT
I Whole heartedly agree. How idiotic is it that you can drive for a year on an international Driving Licence for a year then have to go through " all that crap" to obtain a Licence , like you never drove in your life. I spent the last twenty years living in America ,now I have to go through all these lessons to get a licence,never mind the Extreme cost.Typical Ireland!!!!
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neldonlan | Mar 29, 2011, 11:32 PM EDT
If you don't like it get out. Who needs someone so crass that he demeans himself by signing on as yank. Go to a place where things are so much nicer...Like Iraq. You are an idiot.
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JayDooling | Mar 29, 2011, 03:54 PM EDT
What is even worse about this is that it requires that the 'new driver' must practice between lesssons with a licensed driver. Where is an American moving to Ireland going to find some Irish licensed driver to drive around with them?
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GeorgeDillon | Mar 29, 2011, 03:19 PM EDT
Good Work in pointing this out, Yank. I have been preaching for years that Ireland is run by utter fools, and this is yet one more piece of evidence. Incompetent imbeciles--they have made a mess of a country that had many advantages going for it. Some years ago, I needed to spend a few months in Ireland. I showed my Georgia permit to the insurance company, and it might as well have been a McDonalds Big Mac wrapper. I told them--the truth--that I have driven, in my calculations, some 600.000 miles in my life. Might as well have been talking to Donald Duck. So I didn't bother getting insurance, just drove on my US insurance--don't know whether that was legal, and don't care, because the Irish are fools. Josephpatrick: I understand your point of view. The problem is that the Irish insurance companies are going to get in on this now. They'll load anyone big time who hasn't done these dumb courses.
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