DRIVERS WHO SAT their car test in Ireland during the first ten months of the year passed more often than they failed, according to figures from the Road Safety Authority.
Data released to TheJournal.ie by the RSA showed the pass and fail rates for each of the 50 centres where driving tests were carried out between January and October this year.
According to the figures, just over half (51.9%) of those who sat their car test managed to pass during the ten-month period, with a large minority (48.1%) failing.
Although the figures are comparable to pass and fail rates in previous years, the number of drivers who sat tests was significantly lower this year due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Driving tests were suspended after Ireland entered its first lockdown in March, only resuming on 29 July.
Tests were suspended again for everyone but essential workers for six weeks in late October when Level 5 restrictions were introduced (although that period is not covered in figures supplied by the RSA).
According to the figures, just 29,382 people sat their car test in Ireland between January and October.
Highest pass rates
Data provided by the RSA included a breakdown of the results from each centre where drivers sat a car test across the country.
Drivers passed their car test more often than they failed in 37 out of the 50 RSA centres across the country during the first ten months of the year.
However, just one in four of the 20 ‘top-performing’ centres were located in Leinster, with the majority of higher pass rates coming in centres based in the three other provinces.
The highest pass rate came in Clifden, where 68.6% of drivers passed their car test between January and October – although just 51 people sat their test at the centre during the ten-month period.
It was followed by Cavan (66.6%), Monaghan (64.5%), Longford (62%) and Mallow (60.8%) as the centres where the highest rate of drivers passed their test in the first ten months of the year.
Overall, the pass rates for these centres were:
Lowest pass rates
It revealed that motorists who sat their car test failed more often than they passed in 13 of the 50 RSA centres where tests were carried out between January and October.
Eleven of these centres were based in Leinster, with all six test centres in Dublin having among the lowest pass rates in the whole country.
Drivers tested in Raheny (with a pass rate of 47.6%) were the best performers in the capital between January and October, followed by those in Dun Laoghaire (47.6%), Tallaght (46%), Mulhuddart (45.7%), Churchtown (44%) and Finglas (42.9%).
Shannon in Co Clare (42.7%) had the lowest pass rate in the whole country over the ten-month period, although only 234 car drivers sat their tests at the centre between January and October.
Shannon was followed by Finglas, Churchtown, Clonmel (45.9%) and Tallaght respectively as the centres with the five highest fail rates during the first ten months of 2020.
Overall, motorists who sat their car test between January and October this year failed more often than they passed in:
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