By Joleen Murphy
Over 7,300 fines were paid for learner or novice driver offences last year.
It's almost exactly the same as 2019, despite Covid-related travel restrictions.
Learner drivers must be accompanied by a fully qualified driver at all times and stick to other rules.
If they break them, they face penalty points and fines of up to 120 euro.
Newly qualified drivers have to put N plates on their car for two years, or they could get points and fine of up to 90 euro.
Last year 7,345 drivers paid Garda fines for learner or novice driver offences - just 11 fewer than the year before.
That's despite travel restrictions being in place for much of 2020, due to Covid-19.
Donna Price is the chairperson of the Irish Road Victims Association and is strongly criticising those who break the law.
"They have absolutely no regard for the road traffic laws which are there for all of our safety.
"Last year we saw 149 people being killed on the roads and many thousands more sustain life altering injury.
"That's hundreds of families left destroyed forever.
"Its simple not acceptable to continue to break the laws. In doing so you are endangering the lives of other innocent road users."
30 per cent of last year's fines were in Dublin, and that's followed by 654 in Cork, and 555 in Kildare.
Wexford, Waterford, Laois-Offaly and Limerick all had more than 300.
