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Max Power1

drawnacrol wrote: »

Have my driving test tomorrow in Finglas, wish me luck

good luck - I have my test tomorrow in finglas too (12.45). Hopefully ill be posting in here tomorrow evening! Its my 1st test and id love to pass 1st time!

**Timbuk2**

Congrats at_thefragile - really glad to hear that! You failed your first test on the day I failed my first test, and we were both quite gutted!

Really great to hear that you passed! It's an excellent feeling when the tester tells you you've passed, especially if it isn't the first time!

You've been a fantastic contributor to this forum, I hope you stick around. You helped me a lot when I was new to driving!

Enjoy your pink licence!

the_monkey

Congrats all, just curious what is this grade 2's etc ?? what are the rules to pass in Ireland ?

Spain it's pretty much perfect driving for 20-25 mins, but we don't have to do a reverse around a corner (pointless excerise - if you can parallel park you can reverse around a poxy corner) or a 3 point turn.

Then again it's driving in Spanish traffic (Barcelona - nightmare)...

And they like to trick you, like driving around streets with lots of zebra crossings that have blocked visibility ...

zynaps

the_monkey wrote: »

Congrats all, just curious what is this grade 2's etc ?? what are the rules to pass in Ireland ?

Spain it's pretty much perfect driving for 20-25 mins, but we don't have to do a reverse around a corner (pointless excerise - if you can parallel park you can reverse around a poxy corner) or a 3 point turn.

The documentation released by the RSA is quite clear and reasonable. Where it falls down a bit is the implementation, where testers don't have to explain anything about why you failed, and people occasionally get some bad marks for things that they feel didn't happen or that they handled correctly.

On the other hand, the two testers I had were very clear with their instructions, letting me know in good time what to do, repeating them if I asked. They helped me stay calm and relaxed (as much as is possible) for most of the test, which took about 30 minutes. Giving the impression that you're relaxed and in control and not going to "lock up" or panic under any circumstances seems to be a big part in passing the test.

My main beef is simply that they can refuse to explain anything that happened in the context of the test, even though it would undoubtedly help the candidate improve for the next one (or, if they passed, help them become a safer driver - even when I passed the test, the tester refused to give me any advice at all on what I should work on). "Just show your instructor the sheet" is not good enough.

Rookey

Passed yesterday in Raheny!! I haven't posted in this forum but I was stalking alot (thanks for all the info) as I didn't want to give wrong info as I failed the first time ..
I must say the tester was very nice and told me after a few minutes "if I have a flashy car I better start driving like it" (I was over cautious at the start). I was very lucky to be the last test of the day and from the time I went into the test centre and at the end back into my car it took a total of 15 minutes, only 10 minutes driving!!!

Well done to everyone else that passed and all the best to future people.

Mint Sauce

2nd attempt, 1 green 4 blues

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

i'm now off for a lie down

<phew>

FewToLose

irish-stew wrote: »

2nd attempt, 1 green 4 blues

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

i'm now off for a lie down

<phew>

Haha I know the feeling, congratulations-I passed just a month ago and the adrenlin still hasn't worn off!!

af_thefragile

irish-stew wrote: »

2nd attempt, 1 green 4 blues

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

i'm now off for a lie down

<phew>

Good job. Now treat yourself by going on a nice drive!! Its a brilliant feeling to drive by yourself after you've passed. I went for a nice drive down into the wicklow mountains then back into Dublin wandering around the coastal roads of south dublin. Took a good few pictures, listen to some good music, was out for almost 5hrs, drove about a 100miles. Great feeling!!

robdrog

Passed first time today in Finglas! Delighted!!! :D:D:D

davehey79

passed first time this morning in Longford was a nervous wreck. 5 greens & 4 blues

the_monkey

just curious what is the typical average time between tests in ireland ?

I remember years ago it was ridicolous like 18months , is it still that way ?

Basq

I'd say the average is probably somewhere between 6 and 10 weeks, depending on test centre.

the_monkey

basquille wrote: »

I'd say the average is probably somewhere between 6 and 10 weeks, depending on test centre.

Ah ok ! , much improved, used to take years to get the licence if you failed a couple of times, out of curiosity (obviously not for those who passed on 1st attempt ) what was the time frame for people to get their pass
from the first attempt ?

For me (in Spain) it was May 2009 (1st fail) ... June 2010 Passed.

Basq

From a quick browse of my e-mails:

1) 1st application for test - mid October 2009
2) 1st test attempt (failed) - December 11 2009
3) 2nd application for test - February 11 2010
4) 2nd test attempt (passed) - April 19 2010

Of course, everyone's timeline will depend on whether they applied straight away, or liked me, waited a month or so before applying again.

zynaps

1st application was around May/June 2009
1st test in early October 2009... bombed with about 18 grade 2s
2nd application about 3 days later
2nd test at the end of October 2009, scraped a pass with 8 grade 2s!

I made sure to apply for a cancellation when applying for the second test, which is why it happened about 3 weeks after the first.

Max Power1

Ive only done the one test (and failed )

Havent booked my next test yet but I was able to pick a date 3 weeks away. Are people still waiting 2-3 months for test dates?

Mint Sauce

about 6 weeks between 1st and 2nd test, applied for the 2nd about an hour or 2 after failing the 1st

the_monkey

OK a lot better then used to be, I think my brother failed 3 times ,
was about 3 years between 1st attempt and pass..

danthefan

Passed on Wednesday in Raheny, first time taking the test. What a relief.

aisling.laura

I passed!! woohoo

Second time in Finglas, delighted!
Know a great instructor in Finglas, if anyone's interested give me a PM.

bambera

Wu-hu. Just past in Rathgar (first time) Took me in 15 mins earlier. Was nervous but had a very nice tester and she put me at ease straight away.Got two grade 1's and 5 grade 2's (Tried to do my hill start in 2nd gear :eek:) Been lurking around here for awhile now. Thanks to everyone's helpful tips and answers.

PhysiologyRocks

I passed first time in Wilton today.

Delighted.:D

I now have my lovely shiny new pink licence... So happy!

If anyone wants the number of a brilliant instructor in Cork, PM me.

Carsinian Thau

Passed.

Wilton. Very nice instructor.

Got a few grade twos for Progress (actually, all bar one for an indicator mistake that I would normally never make).

Carsinian Thau

Carsinian Thau wrote: »

Passed.

Wilton. Very nice instructor.

Got a few grade twos for Progress (actually, all bar one for an indicator mistake that I would normally never make).

Sorry, I meant "very nice examiner/tester".

I do happen to know of a very nice instructor though. If anyone ever needs a recommendation for one in the south side of Cork city, send me a PM (this instructor has previously mentioned that he has no problem in me distributing his contact details and even gave me a stack of his business cards for any friends that wanted some ).

biZrb

Passed for the FOURTH time today and by the skin of my teeth too, got eight Grade 2 faults, I was very very lucky!

My instructor told me I can drive quite well, its just when I'm in the car with someone watching every little thing I do, I get so nervous and I get the shakes and then I make really stupid mistakes. I went into this test feeling confident that I would pass, and I guess it really helped, because I wasn't as nervous as other times.

It also helped that I was chatting to a guy waiting to take his test too in the waiting room, he was saying he had the same problem as me, can drive ok when he's not being tested but then drives badly when taking the test. He passed with flying colours, the two of us where cheering outside the test center when we had finished!

It was also my first time taking it in Raheny, took the other tests in Finglas, I found Raheny a much better place to take the test.

Wats_in_a_name

biZrb wrote: »

Passed for the FOURTH time today

You know you can stop once you passed once!

Congratulations -Best feeling ever isn't it!

andrew163

Passed today in Finglas, first time. Very nice tester. Seven grade two faults, two were for not keeping enough distance from parked cars. The rest were scattered fairly evenly. Five greens, one of which was in the sitting down talking in the office bit of the test.

Also had an excellent instructor.

After the test was over, not realising that I had parked in one of the few spaces that you can't drive forward out of, I inched forward onto a high concrete kerb, lovely loud scraping sound. A few seconds later, after reversing out and getting into gear, I let my foot off the clutch while stopped, car did that lovely lunge forward onto the handbrake it usually does when you do that. Moral of the story is, beware that adrenaline crash after your test (or any other time), you forget how to operate a car temporarily. :pac: Felt like I'd been driving almost perfectly all day before that point.

Think one of the other testers there was looking at me a little strangely, wondering "should he really have just taken those L plates off?". Felt incredibly stupid, and thank God I had that handbrake on (and for flexible plastic bumpers that don't break when you scrape them off concrete >.<).

zynaps

andrew163 wrote: »

After the test was over, not realising that I had parked in one of the few spaces that you can't drive forward out of, I inched forward onto a high concrete kerb, lovely loud scraping sound. A few seconds later, after reversing out and getting into gear, I let my foot off the clutch while stopped, car did that lovely lunge forward onto the handbrake it usually does when you do that. Moral of the story is, beware that adrenaline crash after your test (or any other time), you forget how to operate a car temporarily. :pac: Felt like I'd been driving almost perfectly all day before that point.

Good thing you saved up the best for after you passed the test An important skill!

Raskolnikov

andrew163 wrote: »

After the test was over, not realising that I had parked in one of the few spaces that you can't drive forward out of, I inched forward onto a high concrete kerb, lovely loud scraping sound. A few seconds later, after reversing out and getting into gear, I let my foot off the clutch while stopped, car did that lovely lunge forward onto the handbrake it usually does when you do that. Moral of the story is, beware that adrenaline crash after your test (or any other time), you forget how to operate a car temporarily. :pac: Felt like I'd been driving almost perfectly all day before that point.

When I passed, I tried to take off with the handbrake engaged and no seatbelt on

Only time I ever did anything as stupid as that in my life.

pmurphy00

passed in tralee yesterday failed in newcastlewest a year ago tralee much easier i thought..even tho id know newcastle better i found tralee handier
hadnt taken the route he took me on which was nearly an advantage coz i was super concentrated..
got six grade 2's drove poor enough i thought..but passed anyhow ****in delighted!..:D:D cant wait to got on hols and scoot around in a rental!:D