County Longford has one of the highest ratio's in Ireland of learner drivers aged over 80

Longford has one of the highest ratio's per head of population of learner drivers aged over 80 on our roads, new figures have revealed.

There has been a jump of over 12,000 more learner driver permit holders on the country's road in a six month period, with a 3% rise in county Longford.

New figures released from the Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA) reveal that there were 3,687 learner drivers in county Longford at the end of March 2025.

However, by September 30 last this had increased by 110 to 3,797 -a 3% increase.

The extraordinary number of learner drivers on Irish roads comes at a time when road deaths are spiralling.

A total of 11 learner permit holders in Longford are over the age of 80 while 30 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Longford.

There were also steady jumps in neighbouring counties such as Westmeath where there were 8,201 learner driver permit holders in March 2025 and 8,635 by the end of September -a 5.3% increase.

In Offaly, there were 5,758 learner drivers in March but this had soared to a total of 6,171 by September, a significant 7.1% jump.

In Roscommon, there were 4,385 learner drivers in March and this increased by 100 to 4,485 learner drivers by the end of September - a 2.2% increase.

There are 394,128 learner drivers on Ireland’s roads in total which includes 12,257 more learner driver permits in just six months.

A total of 10,610 of them are on the roads in Roscommon (4,485) Leitrim (2,328) and Longford (3,797).

The extraordinary number of learner drivers on Irish roads comes at a time when road deaths are spiralling.

A total of 11 learner permit holders in Longford are over the age of 80 while 30 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Longford.

As of November 20th, 2025, Garda figures show that 158 people had lost their lives on Irish roads, nine more deaths than on the same day in 2024.

Most learner permit holders in Longford are aged between 17 and 20 years of age (967 drivers) and 30 and 39 (788).

A total of 11 learner permit holders in Longford are over the age of 80 while 30 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Longford.

Most learner permit holders in Longford are aged between 17-20 (967 drivers) and 30 and 39 (788).

Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) President Ger Hyland said the levels of inexperienced drivers on our roads “beggars belief” at a time when millions of taxpayers euros are being pumped into the RSA to clear a chronic backlog of driver testing across all licence categories”

Hyland warned that the surge in learner drivers on our roads poses a direct threat to Irish 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”

Mr Hyland pointed to Garda figures which show that 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. That is an increase of 9.5% on the same period in 2024.

Mr Hyland said that our 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.

Most learner permit holders in Roscommon are aged between 17-20 (1,277 drivers) and 30 and 39 (822).

Some 11 learner permit holders in Roscommon are over the age of 80 while 51 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Roscommon according to figures provided by the RSA.

Most learner permit holders in Leitrim are aged between 17 and 20 (746 drivers) and 30 and 39 (421 drivers).

A small number, four learner permit holders in Leitrim are over the age of 80 while 33 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Leitrim.

Most learner permit holders in Longford are aged between 17-20 (967 drivers) and 30 and 39 (788). 11 learner permit holders in Longford are over the age of 80 while 30 learner permit holders are between 70 and 79 years old in Longford.

Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) President Ger Hyland said the levels of inexperienced drivers on our roads “beggars belief” at a time when millions of taxpayers euros are being pumped into the RSA to clear a chronic backlog of driver testing across all licence categories”

Hyland warned that the surge in learner drivers on our roads poses a direct threat to Irish 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.”

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