A driving test candidate who failed their exam reacted by punching walls and kicking a door, while another lashed out with verbal abuse after being told their test couldn’t proceed due to the strong smell of cigarettes in the vehicle, reports Breaking News.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) reported that from the beginning of last year, they have documented 85 incidents involving collisions during driving tests, 15 near-miss situations, and 38 instances of staff being subjected to abuse.
In five of those situations, the Gardaí had to be contacted, including one significant case where two driving testers received menacing letters at their residences, reports Breaking News.
The RSA also revealed that several unsuccessful candidates had made “accusations of racism” based on details in a log released under Freedom of Information.
One report from earlier this year described how a test-taker became aggressive after learning they had not passed.
The account read: “Tester proceeded to write out the statement of test outcome and when it was handed it to the applicant it was scrunched it up and started shouting and using abusive language towards tester again. Tester got up and walked away again, but this time [the] applicant landed punches on the walls and kicked the door,” reports Breaking News.
Other incidents occurred on the road, including a case where a candidate drove the wrong way into oncoming traffic directly outside a test centre.
“Another driver had to take avoiding action to avoid a collision,” noted the report, reports Breaking News.
In a separate situation, a tester had to step in after a child was nearly struck, and another staff member described a narrowly avoided serious crash.
One entry stated: “Candidate dangerously turned right in front of [an] approaching vehicle, tester had to verbally intervene, and shout stop several times to the candidate. Extreme near miss to crash into vehicle who had to swerve to avoid test car. Noted as an extremely dangerous situation,” reports Breaking News.
Another report told of a test car “violently mounting” a footpath at high speed when the applicant turned right at a blind T junction and barely escaped a crash.
Additionally, about 85 lesser accidents and scrapes were recorded either during tests or where RSA personnel sustained injuries while working, reports Breaking News.
One example from last year involved a candidate travelling at roughly 35kph who abruptly shifted the vehicle into first gear.
RSA logs noted the tester’s neck “jerked severely” leading to neck and back injuries, reports Breaking News.
Further entries described a candidate hitting a pole, another speeding toward a crash barrier, and one striking an ESB utility box.
However, not all incidents were due to the applicants. In one case, a hopeful driver was struck from behind by a speeding car on the day of their test, reports Breaking News.
An RSA representative stated: “[Our] testers conducted more than one quarter of a million driving tests in 2024. Thankfully, the vast majority passed off without incident or threat of violence to the tester. The RSA has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of threatening or abusive behaviour towards our colleagues. Such incidents are treated with the utmost seriousness and managed with care, discretion, and sensitivity,” reports Breaking News.
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