http://apnews.myway.com//article/200710 ... EVUG0.html
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - When police caught driver David Clarke flying down a road at 180 kilometers per hour this month, he looked likely to lose his license.
But a country judge reduced the charge and let the 31-year-old information technology worker stay on the road after concluding the speed did not look as bad when converted into miles, or 112 mph.
However, it was this part that caught my eye:
Over the past week, the government has been forced into an embarrassing U-turn over its plan to close the biggest loophole of all - a law that allows people to fail a first driving test but still receive a license and drive unsupervised.
The government had made Tuesday a deadline for police to begin citing some 150,000 people for driving alone despite failing the test, but pushed the deadline back to mid-2008 after test-flunkers complained they would lose their jobs if barred from the roads.
One in six Irish drivers has never passed an on-the-road test, according to Transport Department statistics.
Which sounds really bad, but that's still a lot better than New Zealand where an estimated 50% of drivers have never even had a test....
