Over 16,000 learner drivers on the roads in Meath

There are 16,057 learner drivers on Meath roads according to statistics from the RSA from 31st September of this year, an increase of 285 learners from six months prior.

394,128 learner drivers are on Ireland’s roads in total, an increase of 12,257 learner driver permits in just six months.

Most learner permit holders in Meath are aged between 17-20 (4,565 drivers) and 30 and 39 (3,238). 12 learner permit holders in Meath are over the age of 80 while 105 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Meath according to figures provided by the RSA.

Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) President Ger Hyland said the levels of inexperienced drivers on our roads “beggars belief”.

Hyland said the surge in learner drivers on Irish roads poses a direct threat to road safety.

“To have 394,128 inexperienced drivers on our roads is a testament to the failure of the Road Safety Authority and their mismanagement of our driver testing system. It is a mess and not getting any better, despite all the creative accounting that the RSA are doing with driver testing figures”.

2,754 fixed charge notices were issued nationally by Gardaí in the first three months of 2025 alone to learner drivers caught driving without a fully licensed driver according to Garda figures. This represents an increase of 9.5 per cent on the same period in 2024.

Hyland said that the roads have become dangerous places for his members and accused the RSA of not getting a handle on what is a crisis for Irish road safety.

“How are we supposed to accept that around 10% of Ireland’s driving public are on some kind of learner permit? We have been asking questions of the RSA for the past 12 months on behalf of our members and the driving public. The RSA have ducked, dived and dodged accountability and transparency and it is high time that Minister Sean Canney called them to task”.

As of November 20th this year, 158 people had lost their lives on Irish roads according to Garda figures, 9 more deaths than on the same day in 2024.