A failed driving test applicant began punching walls and kicked a door while another unleashed a volley of abuse at a tester for refusing to conduct an exam in a car that stank of cigarettes.
The Road Safety Authority (RSA) said since the beginning of last year they have recorded 85 accidents involving driving tests, 15 near-miss events, and 38 cases involving abuse of staff.
On five separate occasions, gardaí had to be called to investigate, including one serious incident where two testers received threatening letters to their home.
The RSA also said there had been multiple cases where a failed candidate had made “accusations of racism”, according to a log of incidents they provided under FOI.
A report on one incident earlier this year said a test candidate had become verbally abusive after being told they had failed.
“Tester proceeded to write out the statement of test outcome and when it was handed it to the applicant it was scrunched it up and started shouting and using abusive language towards tester again,” an account of it said.
“Tester got up and walked away again, but this time [the] applicant landed punches on the walls and kicked the door,” it added.
There were other dangerous incidents out on the road including one candidate who turned the wrong direction into oncoming traffic right beside a test centre.
“Another driver had to take avoiding action to avoid a collision,” a note of the incident said.
In another case, a tester had to intervene after a child was almost hit by an applicant while another staff member complained of a near catastrophic accident.
The incident database said: “”Candidate dangerously turned right in front of [an] approaching vehicle, tester had to verbally intervene, and shout stop several times to the candidate. Extreme near miss to crash into vehicle who had to swerve to avoid test car. Noted as an extremely dangerous situation.”
Another case involved a test vehicle “violently mounting” a footpath at speed after a test applicant turned right at a blind T junction and narrowly avoided a crash.
Around 85 more minor prangs and collisions were logged during tests or where RSA staff were injured on duty.
In one case last year, a candidate was driving at around 35kph when suddenly they put the car into first gear.
RSA records said the tester’s neck had “jerked severely” causing injuries to their neck and back.
Other cases included a candidate who crashed into a pole, one who drove at high speed towards a crash barrier and another who hit an ESB box.
Not all accidents were the fault of driving test applicants with one person rear-ended by a speeding car on the day they hoped to get their licence.
“[Our] testers conducted more than one quarter of a million driving tests in 2024. Thankfully, the vast majority passed off without incident or threat of violence to the tester,” an RSA spokesman said.
“The RSA has a zero-tolerance policy for any form of threatening or abusive behaviour towards our colleagues. Such incidents are treated with the utmost seriousness and managed with care, discretion, and sensitivity,” he added.
Reporting by Ken Foxe
