FEWER people in Northern Ireland are learning to drive or buying new cars - and there even a quarter fewer taxis on the road than four years ago, new government figures show.
But for frustrated commuters hoping for a clearer run to the factory or office, used cars and "white van man" remain the dominant force and continue to dominate the highways, byeways and motorways in bigger numbers.
Industry monitoring body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) had already reported last month that, under its measures, new car registrations in the north were five per cent below the corresponding period in 2016, with the reverse is steeper in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK.
And now official statistics from the Driver & Vehicle Agency have further laid bare the state of the car market.
It said the number of new plates issued between April and June was down 12 per cent on the previous quarter and by a whopping 14 per cent on the same three-month period in 2016.
That's equivalent to more than 2,000 fewer fresh new models driving away from dealerships, which will be seen as a huge concern given the falling business and consumer confidence, exacerbated by ongoing anti-diesel messages from government.
And underlining that more older vehicles are on the road, nearly 272,000 MOTs were carried out during the quarter, up more than 5 per cent (though only four in five vehicles passed the test, fewer than before).
The SMMT's managing director Mike Hawes said “Diesel remains the right choice for many drivers, not least because of its fuel economy and lower Co2 emissions.
“The government's recent decision to tax the latest low emission diesels is a step backwards and will only discourage drivers from trading in their older, more polluting cars.
“Given fleet renewal is the fastest way to improve air quality, penalising the latest, cleanest diesels is counter-productive and will have detrimental environmental and economic consequences.”
The DVA figures also revealed that nearly 15,000 driving test applications were submitted in Northern Ireland over the April-June quarter and just over 14,400 tests conducted, down 4 per cent, the biggest decrease since 2013/14.
But the pass rate for those doing their driving tests, at 59 per cent, was up on the same period a year ago.
At the end of September there were nearly 11,800 licensed taxi drivers in the north - down 8 per cent on 2016 and more than a quarter on the series high of around 15,800 recorded at the end of 2013.
Yet of the 1,400 vehicles inspected by DVA Enforcement staff, nearly half (47 per cent) were taxis as the authorities continue their push to maintain higher industry standards and work with the police and other bodies to improve passenger safety.
And there were more than 110,000 commercial vans registered in the north in the whole of 2016. They were among a record 4 million-plus vans in the UK, which between them cover around 45 billion miles each year.
