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25 1968

ROAD TRAFFIC ACT, 1968

PART III

Driving Licences

Regulations in relation to control of driving instruction.

18. —(1) The Minister may make regulations in relation to the control of the giving for reward of instruction in or in respect of the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle.

(2) Regulations under this section may, in particular and without any prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), provide for all or any of the following matters:

(a) the licensing of driving instructors;

(b) the qualifications of licensed driving instructors;

(c) the payment of specified fees in respect of licences and applications for licences and the disposition of such fees;

(d) the conduct and duties of licensed driving instructors;

(e) the keeping and inspection of specified records, the issue of specified certificates and the specifying of the persons by whom such records are to be kept and such certificates are to be issued;

(f) the inspection of courses of instruction given by licensed driving instructors and of vehicles used by them when giving such courses;

(g) the prohibition or the restriction of the giving for reward by a person other than a licensed driving instructor, of instruction in or in respect of the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle, and the prohibition of a person from employing a driving instructor who is not a licensed driving instructor for the purpose of giving instruction for reward in or in respect of the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle;

(h) the prohibition of a person other than a licensed driving instructor from holding himself out as a licensed driving instructor, and the prohibition of a person employing a driving instructor other than a licensed driving instructor from holding that driving instructor out as a licensed driving instructor;

(i) the type of vehicle in which the giving for reward of instruction in or in respect of the driving of a mechanically propelled vehicle may be carried on, the fittings required to be in or on such a vehicle and the prescribing of any other conditions subject to which such a vehicle may be used for such instruction.

(3) Different regulations may be made under this section in respect of different classes of vehicles and for different circumstances.

(4) A certificate purporting to be issued pursuant to regulations under this section and stating that a specified person was on a specified day the holder of a licence under the regulations shall, without proof of the signature of the person purporting to sign it or that he was the proper person to issue it, be evidence in any legal proceedings until the contrary is shown of the matters so stated.

(5) In a prosecution for an offence under this section in which a licence under regulations under this section is material, it shall be presumed, until the contrary is shown by the defendant, that at the material time, such a licence, then having effect, was not held.

(6) Whenever a person (in this subsection referred to as the instructor) is accompanying the holder of a provisional licence (within the meaning of section 35 of the Principal Act) while such holder is driving a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place, the instructor shall be deemed, in any prosecution for an offence under this section, to be giving for reward instruction in or in respect of the driving of that vehicle until the contrary is shown by the instructor.

(7) A person who contravenes a regulation under this section which is stated to be a penal regulation shall be guilty of an offence and, in the case of a contravention of a regulation prohibiting or restricting the giving for reward of instruction by a person other than a licensed driving instructor or prohibiting the employment of such a person for the purpose of giving instruction for reward, shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

Amendment of section 29 of Principal Act.

19. —Section 29 of the Principal Act (which relates to the removal of disqualification under consequential or ancillary disqualification orders) is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) (a) A person in respect of whom a consequential disqualification order has been made may, at any time and (save as is hereinafter mentioned) from time to time after the expiration of three months from the beginning of the period of disqualification and before the expiration of that period, apply, to the court which made the order, for the removal of the disqualification, and that court, if it considers that circumstances exist which justify such a course, may by order remove the disqualification as from a specified date not earlier than six months after the beginning of the period of disqualification.

(b) A person in respect of whom an ancillary disqualification order specifying a period of disqualification exceeding three months has been made may, at any time and (save as is hereinafter mentioned) from time to time after the expiration of two months from the beginning of the period of disqualification and before the expiration of that period, apply, to the court which made the order, for the removal of the disqualification, and that court, if it considers that circumstances exist which justify such a course, may by order remove the disqualification as from a specified date not earlier than three months after the beginning of the period of disqualification.”, and

(b) by the insertion after subsection (7) of the following subsection:

“(8) A person intending to make an application under this section shall give fourteen days' notice in writing of his intention to the Superintendent of the Garda S[html]och[html]na for the district in which the person ordinarily resides.”

Operation of disqualification order.

20. —The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 30:

“Operation of disqualification order.

30. (1) A person in respect of whom a consequential, ancillary or special disqualification order is made shall stand disqualified in accordance with the order for holding a driving licence, and a driving licence held by him at the date of the order shall stand suspended correspondingly.

(2) Where a disqualification is removed under section 29 of this Act, subsection (1) of this section shall cease to have effect as and from the date from which the disqualification is so removed.

(3) (a) Save as provided by paragraphs (b) to (e) of this subsection—

(i) a special disqualification order shall come into operation immediately it is made and a consequential or ancillary disqualification order shall come into operation on the fifteenth day after it is made,

(ii) the operation of a special, ancillary or consequential disqualification order shall not be suspended or postponed.

(b) Where an appeal is being brought against a special disqualification order, the court making the order may direct the suspension of the operation of the order pending the appeal.

(c) Where a consequential or ancillary disqualification order (or, where the order is related to a conviction, that conviction) is the subject of an appeal, notice of which is lodged within fourteen days of the making of the order, and the convicted person has duly entered into a recognisance to prosecute the appeal, the operation of the order shall stand suspended pending the appeal.

(d) When making, confirming or varying a consequential or ancillary disqualification order the court may, at its discretion but subject to paragraph (e) of this subsection, postpone the operation of the order for a period not exceeding six months.

(e) A Court shall not postpone under paragraph (d) of this subsection the operation of a consequential or ancillary disqualification order unless it is satisfied that a special reason (which it shall specify when postponing the operation of the order) relating to his personal circumstances (including the nature of his employment) has been proved by the convicted person to exist in his particular case.

(4) Where—

(a) a notice of appeal has been lodged in a case in which a consequential, ancillary or special disqualification order has been made,

(b) the operation of the order stands suspended pending the appeal, and

(c) the appellant has given notification in writing that he wishes to withdraw the appeal,

the suspension of the operation of the order shall be regarded as having terminated immediately before the day on which the notification was given and the period of disqualification shall begin on that day.

(5) Where—

(a) a consequential or ancillary disqualification order (or, where the order is related to a conviction, that conviction) is the subject of an appeal,

(b) the operation of the order stands suspended pending the appeal, and

(c) the appeal is not prosecuted or the order is confirmed or varied by the appellate court,

the period of disqualification shall begin on the day on which the appropriate order of the appellate court is made, save in a case where the operation of the consequential or ancillary disqualification order is postponed under paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of this section.

(6) Where—

(a) a consequential, ancillary or special disqualification order operates until the person concerned produces to the appropriate licensing authority a certificate of competency or fitness, and

(b) such person produces to that authority such certificate,

the authority shall, where appropriate, note the production of such certificate on the relevant driving licence.”

Amendment of section 33 of Principal Act.

21. —Section 33 of the Principal Act (which relates to certificates of competency) is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsection:

“(3A) (a) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (3) of this section, a test under that subsection shall not be carried out save where the issuing authority has satisfied itself in the prescribed manner that the eyesight of the applicant or, in the case of an applicant with a defect of eyesight for the time being corrected, the eyesight of the applicant as so corrected, complies with the prescribed standard.

(b) A person aggrieved by a refusal, in pursuance of paragraph (a) of this subsection, to carry out a test may appeal to a Justice of the District Court having jurisdiction in the place in which the person ordinarily resides, and the Justice may either refuse the appeal or, if satisfied that the eyesight or corrected eyesight of the applicant complies with the prescribed standard, direct the issuing authority to test or cause to be tested the applicant under subsection (3) of this section.

(c) A decision under this subsection of a Justice of the District Court shall be final and not appealable.”

Limited certificates of competency for special cases.

22. —(1) Where an applicant for a certificate of competency under section 33 of the Principal Act so requests and the issuing authority within the meaning of that section so determines, a certificate of competency issued under subsection (4) (b) (ii) of that section to that applicant shall, notwithstanding anything in that Act, contain a statement that, in relation to a class of vehicles in respect of which the certificate is issued, it is limited to a specified type of vehicle belonging to that class.

(2) Where the certificate of competency accompanying, pursuant to section 22 (3) (c) of the Principal Act, an application under that section for a driving licence contains a statement that the certificate is limited to a specified type of vehicle belonging to a specified class, any driving licence issued in pursuance of that application shall, notwithstanding anything in that Act, contain a statement that, in relation to that class, the licence is limited to a vehicle of the type specified in the certificate and the licence shall, for the purposes of section 38 of the Principal Act, have effect accordingly.

Penalty for undergoing or attempting to undergo test under section 33 of Principal Act in name of other person.

23. —(1) A person who undergoes or attempts to undergo a test arranged under section 33 of the Principal Act in the name of some other person shall be guilty of an offence.

(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(3) Where a certificate of competency is issued on completion of a test in relation to which an offence under this section has been committed, such certificate and any driving licence granted in pursuance of an application accompanied by such certificate shall be void and of no effect.