A "driving awareness" programme aimed at transition-year students will be launched today by the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, when he visits the north-west.
Transition-year students at St Eunan's College in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, will receive advice from gardai, driving instructors and representatives of the insurance industry while participating in the programme, which is aimed at educating the new generation of young drivers.
The students will travel with the Garda traffic corps and visit local courts to see traffic offences being processed.
The head of the Donegal traffic corps, Sgt Brendan Roche, said that speeding and inexperience would be the two key areas tackled by the scheme.
"Young people only think they are competent drivers, but in fact they really don't know very much about what is entailed in driving. If this scheme makes young drivers more aware and alert, then we are confident it will have a very positive effect on safer driving down the road", Sgt Roche said.
The programme will continue for about eight weeks and instruction will be provided for 40 students aged between 15 and 16.
The president of St Eunan's College, Father Michael Carney, said he hoped that, if successful, the safer driving programme could later be introduced into the wider education curriculum.
"Young people must realise that there is much more to driving than simply jumping into a car and turning the key in the ignition. Hopefully, this course will give them a more rounded view of the whole area of driving.
"Overall, we are very hopeful that this will be another small but important step in reducing the awful carnage we have seen on our roads in recent times".