Omagh solicitor: Young drivers treated unfairly by outdated law

YOUNG drivers are being unfairly penalised under outdated road laws, an Omagh-based solicitor has warned.

Michael Fahy says the current system places inexperienced motorists at a disadvantage, with many facing bans for mistakes that have little to do with road safety.

Under existing legislation, any driver caught without insurance automatically receives six penalty points.

For new drivers, however, the consequences are far harsher.

Within their first two years on the road, they can only accumulate a maximum of six points before the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) revokes their licence – forcing them to re-sit their test.

“The restricted period doesn’t end with the removal of the ‘R’ (Restricted) plates,” Mr Fahy said. “And a lot of young people who come to me are shocked when they hear this.”

This week, Mr Fahy represented a 23-year-old Strabane woman who was fined for having no insurance.

She was stopped by police on Donaghanie Road on August 4, 2023, while driving a Seat Leon.

She believed her passenger, who owned the car, was insured, but checks showed otherwise.

Mr Fahy told the court that the offence occurred within Farrell’s two-year restricted period.

District Judge Barney McElholm said the current system unfairly lumps young drivers who make genuine mistakes into the same category as reckless motorists.

“Young drivers who make an oversight on insurance should not be compared to those who speed down minor roads at night,” he told the court.

He criticised the ‘draconian’ powers of insurance companies and questioned why an offence that has ‘little to do with road safety’ should trigger the loss of a licence.

Calling the requirement to resit a test ‘absolutely ludicrous’, Judge McElholm opted not to impose points.

Instead, he handed the defendant a one-week driving ban and a £200 fine to avoid the disproportionate consequences of revocation.

Speaking after the court case Mr Fahy said: “Young people are never told that the restricted period is two years, so while they are allowed to exceed 45 miles per hour and no longer bear the mark of a new driver [after the first year], they are still only allowed six points before their licence is removed.

“Insurance is one of the only ‘strict liability’ offences – you either have it or you don’t – but it has no bearing on the standard of a young person’s driving.

“And, as judge Barney McElholm said, it is a wholly different offence to speeding or careless driving, which carries less points and fines.”

Mr Fahy believes the legislation is outdated and fails to take account of the financial and social consequences for young people.

“On one hand, it teaches obligation to the rules of the road,” he said.

“But on the other hand, it can mean a major financial blow – from the cost of resitting a test to soaring insurance premiums and even the potential loss of employment.”