Driving alone on a provisional

Hagar

Saruman wrote:

How does one just convert to a swill licence??

Ask Pighead

skywalker_208

MrPudding wrote:

Either way it is mental the provos can drive on their own.
MrP

yea well.. when you are waiting for over a year for a test what can you do... this wouldnt really be an issue if you could apply for and do a test within a few weeks like other countries...

Litcagral

kbannon wrote:

All prov licence drivers (except those on 2nd provisionals) need to be accompanied. QUOTE]


Incorrect.

Provisional drivers in categories A and W are not required to be accompanied.

Seth Brundle

Litcagral wrote:

Incorrect.

Provisional drivers in categories A and W are not required to be accompanied.

Well, given that the entire conversation has been about transferring a car licence, I thought it was safe to refer to car driving licences without the need to refer to tractors, trucks, mopeds, etc.

However, since you decided to correct me on it, maybe you should have also mentioned that moped riders (Class M) do not need (legally(!)) to be accompanied.

Sparky

just as a matter of interest, and because i had some free time to spare i rang up my driving instructor from 2 years ago as he said he will do a pre driving test, test to see how i am.

His result was that he would not see any problem on me passing my test, and that the only thing i have to sort out is to always remember handbrake-neutral in 3 instances i done it neutral-handbrake and to try and use the steering wheel properly, this is what i really want to get sorted, sometimes i feed the wheel then in certain instances like a sharp corner i dont.

He said my attitude towards other road users was excellent, and that they will look out for that. And his best tip was put on some newstalk or slow music nothing to upbeet tempo as it tends to make people do things a bit faster.

Anyways form gos off tomorrow

MrPudding

skywalker_208 wrote:

yea well.. when you are waiting for over a year for a test what can you do... this wouldnt really be an issue if you could apply for and do a test within a few weeks like other countries...

Blah blah blah. No excuse, I'm sorry. It is an absolute disgrace that ;earners have to wait a year for their test but it still does not excuse it.

Some provisional drivers are, so I have heard, OK at driving. But some are not. How can anyone think that allowing someone who does not know how to drive and possibly hasn't had any actual lessons isn't dangerous? It is fcuking madness. Simply because people are inconvienienced by the length of time they have to wait is no excuse for putting other road users at risk.

There was an interesting article in the IT on saturday. One of the journos was doing a story on the coroners court. It was quite interesting. One of the cases was a man killed by somone driving a car. The family were not happy with the result, it was a non result really. One of the family members was asking a few questions. He refered to the pictures of the car that killed his father and pointed out it had L plates. He asked if the driver was qualified, the answer was the question was beyond the scope of the coroners office. Is anyone collecting figures?

Do we have any idea how many provisional drivers are involved in accidents? I have lost count of the number of near misses I have had with unaccompanied L drivers. Madness.

MrP

Our man in Havana

It seems to me that the coroners court is inpotent to answer probing questions about the causes of accidents.
I was at the inquest into the death of my brother in law 2 years ago and I asked some very probing questions of the garda witnesses but these were not answered as they were not within the scope of an inquest. Of course the gardai are clever enough to make sure that anything uncovered in the inquest is outside the time limit for a prosecution so its always a case of justice denied for the dead.

MrPudding

Bond-007 wrote:

It seems to me that the coroners court is inpotent to answer probing questions about the causes of accidents.
I was at the inquest into the death of my brother in law 2 years ago and I asked some very probing questions of the garda witnesses but these were not answered as they were not within the scope of an inquest. Of course the gardai are clever enough to make sure that anything uncovered in the inquest is outside the time limit for a prosecution so its always a case of justice denied for the dead.

Shame. It has the potential to be useful for getting to the bottom of accidents. THe journalist did point out a number of questions that a relative asked, and like in your case he was told they were beyond the scope. It was an interesting article.

MrP

blastman

There was a few interesting figures in the IT Motoring section yesterday regarding provisionally licenced drivers. Apparently there are about 404,000 provisional drivers on the roads in Ireland, but only about 125,000 are waiting on a driving test. According to the insurance companies, provisional drivers are up to twice as likely to make a claim. But the main thing was (and this will be of interest to the OP and his missus), the offence of driving unaccompanied on a provisional licence is not among the top 3000 (that's three thousand, folks) offences that come before the courts each year. The amount of cases is so small it cannot be measured (in the words of the article).

G'wan sure, you'll be grand!

jdwals

In my time driving on the road almost without exception the most dangerous driving I have witnessed on the roads has not been from cars with L plates but cars that display no L plates.
In fact the only real issue with L drivers I have is making sure I a: give them plenty off space if I come up behind them on a hill start and b: making sure they don't stall the car at lights when they change to green.
Actually I lie, the big problem I have is when stuck behind them at a set of lights and the stall the car and some ass wipe behind them or behind me starts blowing them out of it with their car horn - like that is really going to help them start up and get moving. Morons.

Supercell

jdwals wrote:

Actually I lie, the big problem I have is when stuck behind them at a set of lights and the stall the car and some ass wipe behind them or behind me starts blowing them out of it with their car horn - like that is really going to help them start up and get moving. Morons.

As a learner I wish there was more considerate drivers like you on the road.
I have stalled once or twice at lights and a fecker flowing their horn just makes things 100% worse (and of course makes the delay even longer as I get flustered).
Good karma coming your way

MrPudding

jdwals wrote:

In my time driving on the road almost without exception the most dangerous driving I have witnessed on the roads has not been from cars with L plates but cars that display no L plates.

This may be your personal experience but the facts are that learner drivers are up to twice as likely to be involved in an accident as a driver with a full licence.

MrP

Ballboy

You'll get away no probs without having another driver... All my friends are on the provisional and not one of them have got caught and they drive the most dodgyist cars!!!

Bogger77

dbnavan wrote:

My wife has 10 years driving experience in America, licence means SFA over here, even though she can rent a car, anytime with american licence.
She is getting provisional licence but how strict are guards about driving with out someone with a full licence?

We need a car as we have a baby on the way, and waiting over a year for her test is not feasible.

THe Provo license is needed for insurance only. If she is the named driver, and listed as such on the cert. Then she can use her american license for driving, as both are under her name. AFAIK.

Brend

I have been driving on a provisional since april, i had a small accident last september where i hit the back of a rented car. The cops were called and i did not have a full licenced driver so i was kinda bricking it. When they asked for my licence i said sheepishly it only a provisional. She said to me thats fine once the insurance policy was in my name, i think if i had been a named driver on a policy it might have been diffrent. So i wouldn't worry about it, just make sure the policy is in your wifes name.

Jood

I've been driving on my own with a provisional for the last 12 months and have never had a problem, but a friend was pulled before christmas and the garda asked her for all the usual and when she showed him her provisional he said that he'd leave her off this time but they will be cracking down on driving alone on a provisional from here on in. Well all was grand till last week when two gardai arrived at her door with a summons for court. She's trying to get it quashed at the moment.

Sparky

Jood wrote:

I've been driving on my own with a provisional for the last 12 months and have never had a problem, but a friend was pulled before christmas and the garda asked her for all the usual and when she showed him her provisional he said that he'd leave her off this time but they will be cracking down on driving alone on a provisional from here on in. Well all was grand till last week when two gardai arrived at her door with a summons for court. She's trying to get it quashed at the moment.

I gather she is on her first provisional. As I am aware you may drive alone on a second provisional.

loyatemu

surely if US tourists can drive here on US licenses then so can she...

As suggested above - get the provisional so she can get insured on an irish car, and apply for the test. If she gets pulled over she can show the US license.

http://www.oasis.gov.ie/transport/motoring/exchanging_foreign_driving_permit.html
If you are not from any of the above countries, (for example, if you are from Canada, the United States or New Zealand), and you hold a national driving licence or an international driving permit from your own country, you may drive in Ireland for the duration of your temporary visit (up to 12 months).

TempestSabre

jdwals wrote:

In my time driving on the road almost without exception the most dangerous driving I have witnessed on the roads has not been from cars with L plates but cars that display no L plates.....

The stats don't agree with you.

Personally I don't have a problem with L drivers. Everyone has to learn. Just avoid the roads at peak please. The reality is that Guards aren't enforcing the law on this, or drink driving for that matter. I haven't seen a check for drink driving in well over 10yrs. But hey they'll get you for 5mph over the limit because thats REALLY dangerous. You've a better chance of winning the lotto than getting done for driving on a L plate alone.

I'm sure you need a difference insurance for driving on a US licence.