Instructor spent lessons telling learner driver 'sexually explicit' stories about his wife

Darragh Mc Donagh

A learner driver complained to the Road Safety Authority (RSA) last year that they had been made to feel uncomfortable by an instructor who spent their lesson recounting intimate and sexually explicit stories about his wife.

Another individual reported that their driving instructor had become aggressive during a lesson and locked her out of his car before driving off, leaving her to call for help from the side of the road.

These were among 161 complaints received by the RSA regarding Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) last year. Some 46 of the complaints related to the conduct of instructors, while 21 were about the quality of lessons.

A total of 25 complaints related to the payment of fees, while another 21 were about driving routes – many of which were complaints by residents of estates where lessons take place.

There were several complaints last January about one driving instructor, who was seen picking up a child’s tricycle and throwing it into some bushes. One of the residents in the area expressed fear that the instructor was going to “kill a child”.

Another complaint was received in relation to a driving instructor who gave a lesson with a flag draped over his shoulders, and “looked like a guy drunk or on drugs”, according to the complainant.

“Is driving around with a large… flag over your shoulders a new part of RSA training?” they asked.

A woman who had been driving for over 20 years, but was doing lessons to get an Irish licence, complained about an instructor who told her he couldn’t bring her into a city because he was afraid of “smashing into a wall”.

He became extremely aggressive during the lesson and she eventually exited the car because she feared for her safety. She had left her purse and phone in the back seat, but he locked her out of the car.

Eventually, he opened the doors and she retrieved her property before he drove off, leaving her to call for help at the side of the road in an unfamiliar area, according to her complaint.

Another instructor was accused of “physically and verbally assaulting” a learner driver, while an 18-year-old girl whose mother had paid for six lessons as a birthday present was unable to complete them because she was afraid to get back into a car with her instructor.

“He is a very rude and impatient man with absolutely no respect for students,” she told the RSA. “He shattered my confidence completely… horrible man altogether.”

A male driver complained that he had been made to feel extremely uncomfortable by an instructor who spent “much of the time” regaling him with “inappropriate, sexually suggestive conversations”.

These included intimate and sexually explicit stories about the instructor’s wife, according to his complaint. The man told the RSA that he had tried to remain polite despite his discomfort.