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Transport Omnibus 2013

Driver and Vehicle Testing

Driver and vehicle testing

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A total of 2,641,590 Irish driving licences were held at the end of 2013, of which 9% were learner permit licences.
More than 105,000 driving tests were conducted in 2013 with an average pass rate of 51.8%.
Compared with 2012, the number of driving tests conducted in 2013 increased by 0.9%, the number on the waiting list at the end of the year decreased by 28% and the average waiting time for a test fell by 11%.
Almost 1.2 million (1,170,874) cars underwent the National Car Test (NCT) in 2013. Almost 47% passed the initial test while over 94% of cars passed after one or more tests.

Driver and vehicle testing

Table 2.1 Number of current driving licences by type in each licensing authority at 31/12/2013
					Number
Licensing authority	Learner permit licences	Annual licences	Triennial licences	10 year licences	Total number of driving licences

County Councils
Carlow	3,333	141	3,146	29,256	35,876
Cavan	3,685	88	4,031	34,466	42,270
Clare	5,016	234	7,411	59,908	72,569
Cork¹	24,077	863	30,994	252,840	308,774
Donegal	6,091	381	9,436	78,688	94,596
Galway¹	11,191	388	13,887	123,870	149,336
Kerry	6,406	204	9,767	73,122	89,499
Kildare	10,529	200	8,922	101,082	120,733
Kilkenny	4,698	252	5,343	44,949	55,242
Laois	3,926	198	3,802	34,520	42,446
Leitrim	1,361	85	2,110	16,091	19,647
Limerick	5,759	260	8,078	69,512	83,609
Longford	1,975	61	2,298	18,205	22,539
Louth	5,729	210	6,051	54,163	66,153
Mayo	5,547	282	8,334	65,506	79,669
Meath	8,320	228	8,845	88,119	105,512
Monaghan	2,582	120	3,733	30,977	37,412
Offaly	3,872	180	3,962	35,689	43,703
Roscommon	2,661	121	4,352	32,096	39,230
Sligo	2,537	161	4,302	32,901	39,901
Tipperary North	3,571	199	4,667	35,641	44,078
Tipperary South	4,788	179	5,663	42,690	53,320
Waterford	2,635	122	4,235	32,578	39,570
Westmeath	4,185	184	4,652	41,051	50,072
Wexford	7,177	540	9,051	70,680	87,448
Wicklow	6,552	254	7,914	66,350	81,070

City Councils
Dublin¹	64,618	1,971	64,357	519,507	650,453
Limerick	2,673	94	3,031	21,915	27,713
Waterford	2,640	65	2,634	22,074	27,413

NDLS²	9,063	617	5,320	16,737	31,737

Total	227,197	8,882	260,328	2,145,183	2,641,590

¹ City and county
² NDLS - National Driver Licence Service
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.1 (XLS 13KB)

Table 2.2 Number of current driving licences by type and gender in each licensing authority at 31/12/2013
							Number
	Full licences				Learner permit licences
Licensing authority	Male	Female	Unknown	Total	Male	Female	Total

County Councils
Carlow	17,662	14,880	1	32,543	1,695	1,638	3,333
Cavan	21,448	17,137		38,585	1,773	1,912	3,685
Clare	34,994	32,559		67,553	2,431	2,585	5,016
Cork¹	153,036	131,652	9	284,697	12,015	12,062	24,077
Donegal	48,534	39,971		88,505	3,078	3,013	6,091
Galway¹	73,013	65,132		138,145	5,521	5,670	11,191
Kerry	45,171	37,922		83,093	3,197	3,209	6,406
Kildare	58,635	51,569		110,204	4,990	5,539	10,529
Kilkenny	26,177	24,367		50,544	2,271	2,427	4,698
Laois	20,848	17,672		38,520	1,794	2,132	3,926
Leitrim	10,031	8,255		18,286	666	695	1,361
Limerick	41,159	36,691		77,850	2,898	2,861	5,759
Longford	11,464	9,100		20,564	905	1,070	1,975
Louth	32,782	27,641	1	60,424	2,677	3,052	5,729
Mayo	40,161	33,961		74,122	2,745	2,802	5,547
Meath	51,155	46,037		97,192	3,859	4,461	8,320
Monaghan	20,006	14,824		34,830	1,254	1,328	2,582
Offaly	21,950	17,881		39,831	1,928	1,944	3,872
Roscommon	19,950	16,619		36,569	1,289	1,372	2,661
Sligo	18,645	18,719		37,364	1,232	1,305	2,537
Tipperary North	21,754	18,753		40,507	1,838	1,733	3,571
Tipperary South	26,275	22,257		48,532	2,316	2,472	4,788
Waterford	19,795	17,140		36,935	1,346	1,289	2,635
Westmeath	24,695	21,192		45,887	2,045	2,140	4,185
Wexford	41,294	38,977		80,271	3,526	3,651	7,177
Wicklow	39,243	35,275		74,518	3,163	3,389	6,552

City Councils
Dublin¹	315,531	270,304		585,835	30,272	34,346	64,618
Limerick	13,874	11,166		25,040	1,287	1,386	2,673
Waterford	13,400	11,373		24,773	1,216	1,424	2,640

NDLS²	12,606	10,068		22,674	4,500	4,563	9,063

Total	1,295,288	1,119,094	11	2,414,393	109,727	117,470	227,197

¹ City and county
² NDLS - National Driver Licence Service
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.2 (XLS 15KB)

Table 2.3 Number of current full driving licences by age in each licensing authority at 31/12/2013
											Number
	Age (years)
Licensing authority	Under 17	17 - 20	21 - 24	25 - 29	30 - 39	40 - 49	50 - 59	60 - 69	70 - 79	80 and over	Total


County Councils
Carlow	0	390	1,517	3,034	7,986	7,129	5,623	4,167	2,101	596	32,543
Cavan	0	612	2,075	3,781	8,990	7,961	6,733	5,103	2,500	830	38,585
Clare	0	1,158	3,338	5,954	14,851	14,881	12,074	9,509	4,529	1,259	67,553
Cork¹	0	4,616	13,790	25,142	65,949	61,618	50,382	38,101	19,183	5,916	284,697
Donegal	0	1,539	4,786	9,197	20,047	18,207	15,005	12,037	6,015	1,672	88,505
Galway¹	0	1,861	6,604	13,249	34,340	29,835	23,772	17,492	8,565	2,427	138,145
Kerry	0	1,244	4,049	7,567	18,134	16,860	15,215	12,154	6,053	1,817	83,093
Kildare	0	1,103	4,311	9,559	27,450	27,748	19,861	13,627	5,296	1,249	110,204
Kilkenny	0	753	2,502	4,494	11,377	10,730	9,233	6,858	3,501	1,096	50,544
Laois	0	427	1,729	3,648	9,518	8,540	6,769	4,752	2,361	776	38,520
Leitrim	0	300	973	1,719	4,011	3,627	3,276	2,586	1,357	437	18,286
Limerick	0	1,408	4,010	7,284	18,278	16,011	13,616	10,820	5,068	1,355	77,850
Longford	0	276	970	2,006	4,852	4,111	3,401	3,034	1,466	448	20,564
Louth	0	556	2,473	5,182	14,314	14,354	10,747	7,870	3,821	1,107	60,424
Mayo	0	1,324	4,249	7,652	15,981	13,951	13,285	10,617	5,398	1,665	74,122
Meath	0	1,167	4,089	8,121	23,945	24,154	17,095	11,845	5,355	1,421	97,192
Monaghan	0	689	2,107	3,619	7,910	6,686	6,059	4,810	2,258	692	34,830
Offaly	0	523	1,927	3,797	9,459	8,722	6,996	5,056	2,592	759	39,831
Roscommon	0	632	1,916	3,567	7,806	7,019	6,667	5,282	2,743	937	36,569
Sligo	0	613	1,934	3,498	8,118	7,201	6,932	5,465	2,753	850	37,364
Tipperary North	0	540	1,911	3,590	9,051	8,356	7,279	5,807	2,958	1,015	40,507
Tipperary South	0	664	2,355	4,501	10,621	9,922	8,881	6,770	3,654	1,164	48,532
Waterford	0	621	1,912	3,227	8,047	7,843	6,610	5,060	2,778	837	36,935
Westmeath	0	575	2,088	4,203	10,985	10,093	8,245	5,866	2,926	906	45,887
Wexford	0	1,209	3,863	7,082	17,690	17,471	14,387	10,837	6,081	1,651	80,271
Wicklow	0	864	3,042	5,892	16,844	17,412	14,056	10,148	5,011	1,249	74,518

City Councils
Dublin¹	0	4,378	19,429	46,949	147,133	132,721	105,769	77,507	39,288	12,661	585,835
Limerick	0	220	929	2,265	6,151	5,007	4,483	3,411	1,949	625	25,040
Waterford	0	231	957	2,223	6,372	5,537	4,230	3,112	1,644	467	24,773

NDLS²	0	1,141	1,130	1,426	4,391	4,331	3,017	2,195	3,832	1,211	22,674

TOTAL	0	31,634	106,965	213,428	570,601	528,038	429,698	321,898	163,036	49,095	2,414,393

¹ City and county
² NDLS - National Driver Licence Service
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.3 (XLS 15KB)

Table 2.4 Number of current learner permit licences by age in each licensing authority at 31/12/2013
											Number
	Age (years)
Licensing authority	Under 17	17 - 20	21 - 24	25 - 29	30 - 39	40 - 49	50 - 59	60 - 69	70 - 79	80 and over	Total

County Councils
Carlow	22	752	673	583	758	303	163	54	20	5	3,333
Cavan	50	1,121	788	483	661	303	161	83	29	6	3,685
Clare	39	1,473	1,021	729	958	444	192	115	34	11	5,016
Cork¹	172	6,543	4,592	4,007	5,206	2,125	900	412	100	20	24,077
Donegal	74	1,854	1,371	943	999	449	247	98	49	7	6,091
Galway¹	78	2,814	2,287	1,938	2,504	890	418	200	49	13	11,191
Kerry	64	1,862	1,367	994	1,187	479	265	128	54	6	6,406
Kildare	21	2,360	2,189	1,709	2,545	1,084	409	164	41	7	10,529
Kilkenny	48	1,348	940	747	857	420	209	101	24	4	4,698
Laois	28	1,010	795	638	852	344	149	82	23	5	3,926
Leitrim	14	406	279	196	240	112	58	44	6	6	1,361
Limerick	33	1,738	1,149	863	1,125	453	225	128	42	3	5,759
Longford	14	480	440	323	396	167	93	40	16	6	1,975
Louth	11	1,168	1,234	998	1,298	653	238	95	31	3	5,729
Mayo	50	1,804	1,167	847	946	380	206	101	42	4	5,547
Meath	36	2,168	1,804	1,267	1,731	794	314	154	48	4	8,320
Monaghan	40	911	538	358	382	186	102	41	20	4	2,582
Offaly	47	981	850	647	752	328	167	70	27	3	3,872
Roscommon	30	825	546	385	448	213	134	46	26	8	2,661
Sligo	22	758	529	399	457	212	87	58	13	2	2,537
Tipperary North	43	1,091	730	550	637	285	128	77	24	6	3,571
Tipperary South	34	1,305	972	747	882	434	249	123	30	12	4,788
Waterford	29	832	519	346	452	229	137	68	20	3	2,635
Westmeath	25	1,019	907	718	865	380	158	86	20	7	4,185
Wexford	53	1,869	1,494	1,105	1,358	682	369	163	76	8	7,177
Wicklow	10	1,666	1,379	1,071	1,382	587	276	137	38	6	6,552

City Councils
Dublin¹	18	9,725	12,043	12,818	19,170	6,985	2,507	1,068	251	33	64,618
Limerick	1	444	487	541	743	282	114	47	14	0	2,673
Waterford	6	461	472	461	759	309	107	51	13	1	2,640

NDLS²	87	2,230	1,474	1,498	2,227	942	387	179	32	7	9,063

TOTAL	1,199	53,018	45,036	38,909	52,777	21,454	9,169	4,213	1,212	210	227,197

¹ City and county
² NDLS - National Driver Licence Service
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.4 (XLS 15KB)

Table 2.5 Number of current driving licences by age and gender at 31/12/2013
							Number
	Full licence				Learner permit licence
Age	Male	Female	Unknown	Total	Male	Female	Total

Under 17	0	0		0	1,135	64	1,199
17 - 20	19,498	12,136		31,634	28,312	24,706	53,018
21 - 24	58,592	48,373		106,965	20,408	24,628	45,036
25 - 29	110,192	103,236		213,428	18,057	20,852	38,909
30 - 39	292,016	278,584	1	570,601	25,129	27,648	52,777
40 - 49	276,956	251,080	2	528,038	10,877	10,577	21,454
50 - 59	230,547	199,151		429,698	4,094	5,075	9,169
60 - 69	181,719	140,179		321,898	1,384	2,829	4,213
70 - 79	95,496	67,540		163,036	263	949	1,212
80 and over	30,273	18,815	7	49,095	68	142	210

Total	1,295,289	1,119,094	10	2,414,393	109,727	117,470	227,197

Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.5 (XLS 13KB)

Table 2.6 Driving test statistics, 2008 - 2013
								Number and rate
	2008		2009		2010	2011	2012	2013
Number of applications received	362,163		144,670		154,166	147,108	141,309	139,381
Driving tests conducted	388,366	1	125,823	1	116,825	127,946	104,302	105,259
Applicant did not attend for appointment	40,521	1	23,874	1	15,288	20,110	18,632	19,621
Number on waiting list at end of year	61,898		42,404		46,419	26,903	40,879	29,252
Average waiting time for test at end of year	9.5 wks		9 wks		9.5 wks	7.9 wks	9.3 wks	8.3 wks
Average pass rate	57.2%		48.2%		50.8%	51.3%	52.5%	51.8%
Number of testers employed at end of year	125		130		130	114	114	113

¹ Includes outsourced tests
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.6 (XLS 12KB)

Table 2.7 Driving test pass rate by gender, 2008 - 2013
					Number and rate
Gender	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013

Male	181,427	70,010	65,725	69,548	56,765	56,491
Pass	104,880	35,214	34,993	37,553	31,672	30,958
Fail	76,547	34,796	30,732	31,995	25,093	25,533

% pass	57.8	50.3	53.2	54	55.8	54.8

Female	206,939	55,813	51,100	58,398	47,537	48,768
Pass	117,291	25,512	24,435	28,143	23,111	23,587
Fail	89,648	30,301	26,665	30,255	24,426	25,181

% pass	56.7	45.7	47.8	48.2	48.6	48.4

Total	388,366	125,823	116,825	127,946	104,302	105,259

Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.7 (XLS 10KB)

Table 2.8 Driving test pass rate by age group, 2006 - 2013
							Number and rate
Age category	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
16 - 21 years
Pass	22,082	25,437	51,868	17,622	16,522	23,553	19,039	19,658
Fail	16,974	17,815	32,466	17,421	20,841	17,960	13,715	14,578
Total	39,056	43,252	84,334	35,043	37,363	41,513	32,754	34,236
% pass	56.5	58.8	61.5	50.3	44.2	56.7	58.1	57.4

22 - 25 years
Pass	20,447	25,998	50,946	13,340	10,009	12,601	10,421	10,807
Fail	15,176	16,732	29,379	12,132	11,318	10,402	8,347	8,925
Total	35,623	42,730	80,325	25,472	21,327	23,003	18,768	19,732
% pass	57.4	60.8	63.4	52.4	46.9	54.8	55.5	54.8

26 or over
Pass	40,639	57,931	119,357	29,764	30,866	29,542	25,323	24,080
Fail	43,423	53,953	104,350	35,544	27,269	33,888	27,457	27,211
Total	84,062	111,884	223,707	65,308	58,135	63,430	52,780	51,291
% pass	48.3	51.8	53.4	45.6	53.1	46.6	48.0	46.9

Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.8 (XLS 10KB)

Table 2.9 Number of tests conducted by the driver theory testing service, 2006 - 2013
							Number and rate
	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013

No of tests conducted	157,846	169,600	154,166	132,893	130,159	110,185	80,465	83,620
% Pass Rate	76.4	64.0	65.8	69.5	69.1	70.6	77.2	77.0

Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.9 (XLS 8KB)

Table 2.10 Waiting time for driving tests by centre, 2009 - 2013
				Number of weeks
Test centre	Number of weeks waiting at driver testing centres at end of year
Test centre	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013

North Leinster
Dundalk	13	11	9	8	7
Finglas	9	10	8	9	7
Mullingar	10	10	8	8	7
Navan	10	11	10	8	7
Raheny	10	9	8	9	7
South Leinster
Gorey	9	12	10	10	9
Naas	10	12	6	10	7
Rathgar	*	10	8	10	7
Tallaght	12	11	6	10	7
Tullamore	10	10	10	11	7
Wicklow	12	10	6	9	8
West
Athlone	10	11	8	9	9
Birr	9	10	9	10	9
Castlebar	10	11	8	9	9
Clifden	9	9	6	8	8
Ennis	9	10	10	9	8
Galway	9	10	8	9	8
Loughrea	10	10	7	11	9
Roscommon	11	9	7	9	8
Tuam	9	10	9	11	10
North West
Ballina	10	8	7	10	8
Buncrana	13	9	9	10	10
Carrick-on-Shannon	11	8	8	9	8
Cavan	9	8	8	9	7
Donegal	8	10	10	11	11
Letterkenny	11	9	8	10	7
Longford	12	8	7	9	11
Monaghan	10	9	9	10	9
Sligo	12	8	7	8	9
South East
Carlow	10	10	8	9	9
Clonmel	9	10	7	8	10
Dungarvan	10	9	7	8	9
Kilkenny	9	9	8	9	9
Nenagh	10	11	10	11	11
Portlaoise	9	9	9	9	10
Thurles	10	10	6	9	11
Tipperary	9	9	8	9	9
Waterford	9	10	7	9	8
Wexford	9	9	7	9	8
South West
Cork	12	11	8	9	8
Killarney	10	9	6	9	7
Kilrush	11	11	7	9	7
Limerick	9	9	8	9	8
Mallow	10	9	8	8	6
Newcastlewest	7	8	7	9	9
Shannon	8	7	7	8	7
Skibbereen	9	8	6	10	9
Tralee	8	8	8	9	7

* Prior to 2010 Churchtown and Rathgar were amalgamated
Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.10 (XLS 13KB)

Table 2.11 National car test results by test centre for year ending 31/12/2013

Test centre	Pass	Fail	Pass	Fail	Total	Total
Test centre	(initial test)	(initial test)	(re-test)	(re-test)	passes	tests

Abbeyfeale	6,446	6,557	6,249	569	12,695	13,003
Arklow	10,217	12,054	10,529	1,074	20,746	22,271
Athlone	7,169	8,277	7,350	726	14,519	15,446
Ballina	6,223	7,715	7,081	537	13,304	13,938
Ballinasloe	5,417	5,395	4,852	500	10,269	10,812
Cahir	11,418	13,225	11,745	1,029	23,163	24,643
Cahirciveen	1,508	1,737	1,553	118	3,061	3,245
Carlow	10,049	13,869	12,005	1,426	22,054	23,918
Carndonagh	2,812	2,728	2,750	275	5,562	5,540
Carrick-on-Shannon	4,129	6,396	5,709	633	9,838	10,525
Castlerea	5,374	7,760	6,811	757	12,185	13,134
Cavan	5,002	8,071	7,361	936	12,363	13,073
Charleville	8,123	6,970	6,548	519	14,671	15,093
Clifden	1,378	2,409	2,159	193	3,537	3,787
Cork-Blarney	16,827	19,542	16,430	1,702	33,257	36,369
Cork-Little Island	29,711	27,805	25,499	2,322	55,210	57,516
Deansgrange	40,659	40,561	36,672	3,832	77,331	81,220
Derrybeg	2,211	2,566	2,416	211	4,627	4,777
Donegal	4,941	4,424	4,188	440	9,129	9,365
Drogheda	14,796	13,624	11,984	1,103	26,780	28,420
Dundalk	7,398	9,173	8,210	990	15,608	16,571
Ennis	11,398	15,388	13,807	1,493	25,205	26,786
Enniscorthy	12,670	16,850	14,849	1,440	27,519	29,520
Fonthill	37,628	47,982	39,018	4,306	76,646	85,610
Galway	20,020	26,917	24,163	2,511	44,183	46,937
Greenhills	25,057	26,509	25,623	2,622	50,680	51,566
Kells	11,359	14,535	12,509	1,385	23,868	25,894
Kilkenny	11,611	10,605	9,524	705	21,135	22,216
Killarney	8,438	7,138	6,655	593	15,093	15,576
Letterkenny	8,332	10,692	9,653	1,077	17,985	19,024
Limerick	19,521	24,522	21,965	2,470	41,486	44,043
Longford	5,968	7,013	6,247	738	12,215	12,981
Macroom	7,532	7,284	6,627	515	14,159	14,816
Monaghan	3,978	7,211	6,574	928	10,552	11,189
Mullingar	6,883	8,828	7,953	838	14,836	15,711
Naas	17,046	21,748	17,792	2,108	34,838	38,794
Nenagh	9,808	10,456	9,301	783	19,109	20,264
Northpoint 1	24,309	31,823	27,450	3,665	51,759	56,132
Northpoint 2	30,317	36,533	32,460	3,757	62,777	66,850
Portlaoise	9,140	8,703	8,031	678	17,171	17,843
Skibbereen	6,649	7,246	6,756	513	13,405	13,895
Sligo	6,970	9,672	8,694	821	15,664	16,642
Tralee	10,037	8,299	7,634	596	17,671	18,336
Tullamore	8,442	7,973	7,283	603	15,725	16,415
Waterford	15,117	15,961	14,037	1,495	29,154	31,078
Westport	8,761	8,683	8,096	574	16,857	17,444
Youghal	6,405	6,241	5,649	485	12,054	12,646
Total	545,204	625,670	556,451	57,591	1,101,655	1,170,874

Source: Road Safety Authority

Open in Excel: Transport Omnibus 2013 2.11 (XLS 14KB)

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