Changes to the Driver Licencing System Mega Thread

Ludo

Back on topic...

I shall be ignoring the "enforcement" and continuing to drive alone with my L plate up. No option. Absolute rubbish public transport where I live and the wife is currently in hospital about to give birth to twins so she won;t exactly be able to travel to and from work with me.

Been on the waiting list for a test now for 4 months...only another 7 months to wait to actually get the test as there is currently a 47 week waiting time.

DarkJager

I'm not surprised but I am relieved. How they thought they'd get away with it is beyond me..

Clare Bear

I'll continue driving, end of. As will any provisional driver I've spoken to about it.

They're backtracking already, now 2nd provisionals are allowed to drive on their own for several months as of this morning.

squishywishy

BlackWizard wrote: »

Anyone really worried about this? I'm beginning to get a lil apprehensive. Starting to think of my options in a worse case scenario. Sell car? Postpone the insurance. Waste of tax money too

Yeh i am genuinely worried. Have out so much time and effort and money into my car and driving that i cant back out now!!

New tax disc arrived this morning....talk about a kick in the nuts!!!!

lmimmfn

Calina wrote: »

IIRC it is possible to go through the French system in under one year. In fact where I used to live it was possible to do it in one month, it's just at the time I didn't per se have even the money I used when I did it in Ireland. You didn't do it there why? Or Sweden? The truth is it was not impossible.

You're applying now. Why not before now?

Didnt apply before because i have had 0 driving experience in my life beforehand( except for 3 or 4 driving lessons with a driving instructor ), ive only needed to drive since August, i only had the ability to drive since january and i would have been driving an hour or two a week to/from shops with a fully licensed driver in the car also. Ive basically only been driving properly and had the need to drive for 12 weeks( 2 of which i was away on vacation ). I had planned on applying for the test in November anyway before all this as ive just got my letter from work to include in the application form

I didnt do it in France or Sweden because i had no need to, the public transport system in paris and stockholm is absolutely amazing, not to mention that all the cars are left hand drive and i also did not have the money to do so. I got my original provisional a few weeks before i had to move unexpectedly to Paris, i had planned on getting a car/lessons/test until that had happened

Its quite easy to comment on the current situation if youre not affected, but its a different matter if it inhibits your ability to work, i couldnt honestly give a toss about the changes if i could use public transport

Keith C

Wel it looks like its going to be postponed till Feb, so that means everyone should apply for their test & if they feel confident of passing, reqeust a letter from employer stating test is urgent & you have a good chance of getting a test date before Feb.
When Feb comes around & anyone on a prov who hasnt applied starts giving out, tough, now is the time to apply.

LillyVanilli

Noel Dempsey has given in for 2nd provisional licence holders only until february. Just on Today FM.

squishywishy

Keith C wrote: »

reqeust a letter from employer stating test is urgent

Would a letter from a college help??

jennifer79

Just heard that they are putting it back to Feb on the radio ??? has anyone else heard this ???

lisbon_lions

What about subsequents? im on a third just because of waiting times

bernard0368

The law comes into force on monday, however the gardai will use a common sense approach to it till Feb. Folks this has been on the radar for a long time. The Gov. didn't hear to much uproar so they ran with it. While I feel its a little harsh Its only bringing us into the 20th century. In most countries the laws are even tougher regards learners.

Ludo

Why are people on here constantly saying that 400000 people should or are applying for their test??? The vast majority of them are already on the waiting list which is why the damn thing is so long!!!

ITT-Pat

jennifer79 wrote: »

Just heard that they are putting it back to Feb on the radio ??? has anyone else heard this ???

is that for all provisionals or just 2nd provisionals??

jennifer79

ITT-Pat wrote: »

is that for all provisionals or just 2nd provisionals??

No clue, im getting seriously pissed at this whole situation, you would think they would put f'cking updates on the web or something.

I swear if I could Line them all up and ..... I would.

eringobragh

lisbon_lions wrote: »

What about subsequents? im on a third just because of waiting times

Your in the same boat as before, It was infact the law before yesterday that you have to accompanied at all times on all provisonals with the exception of 2nd.

eringobragh

ITT-Pat wrote: »

is that for all provisionals or just 2nd provisionals??

2nd Only. The Law stays the same for all other provisonal driver, which means a full licenced driver at all times

lmimmfn

I hope the news is right that this might be delayed until February to at least give those of us dependent on driving to get a chance to do the test beforehand

Keith186

I'm going to still drive, feck them and their rushed through laws.

Drink driving limit was supposed to be lowered first which would be more beneficial to safety than getting rid of L drivers.

L drivers are higher risk of having a minor accident in the day time but slightly drunk drivers are a higher risk of actually killing and seriously injuring people.

RSA/Government don't have their priorities in order obviously so you have to ask are they competent at doing their job?

lisbon_lions

I think its time for another amnesty.........:cool:

bonkey

Ludo wrote: »

I shall be ignoring the "enforcement" and continuing to drive alone with my L plate up. No option.

This might be a stupid question....but I'm genunely interested....

Why not take the L-plates down??? You're happy enough to break the law, and you're confident enough in your ability to drive without accompaniment, so why bother leaving the L-plates up at all???

jc

bogmanfan

I've got a date for December 11 for mine. I applied back in March, so that's a 9-month wait. How do they expect to clear the backlog now, when the 300,000 people who haven't applied, all apply in the next week?

eringobragh

lisbon_lions wrote: »

I think its time for another amnesty.........:cool:

I wouldn't hold your breath ,the whole idea of this excerise is to increase road safety, giving licence's out willy nilly ain't going to bring down road deaths

Ludo

bonkey wrote: »

This might be a stupid question....but I'm genunely interested....

Why not take the L-plates down??? You're happy enough to break the law, and you're confident enough in your ability to drive without accompaniment, so why bother leaving the L-plates up at all???

jc

I will leave them up as a courtesy to other drivers even though I find other drivers act the maggot around learners and do stupid things as they think they are going to be held up and lose 10 precious seconds of their life.

Also, if I am stopped for any reason by the gardai and they ask for my license, I don't want to be prosecuted for not having L plates up. I am assuming that they won;t prosecute L drivers as the courts would be full for months. However, if they find you trying to "avoid" detection by not displaying L plates they will throw the book at you.

yom 1

lynners wrote: »

Noel Dempsey has given in for 2nd provisional licence holders only until february. Just on Today FM.

Has this been officially said or is it another RTE it might happen

My girlfriend sent off for her second provisional yesterday - will she still be able to drive until feb then or what will happen her. ie will she get a second provisional issued

requiem1

bonkey wrote: »

This might be a stupid question....but I'm genunely interested....

Why not take the L-plates down??? You're happy enough to break the law, and you're confident enough in your ability to drive without accompaniment, so why bother leaving the L-plates up at all???

jc

well in case you do get caught you only get one fine instead of two.
I'm gonna keep driving but the more worrying thing about this is the fact they also want people to have a min of 20(it might be 10 or 30) certified driving lessons. My instructor told me about it a couple of weeks ago when his school got contacted about this. At €40 a lesson i think we might see fewer people on the roads. personally they should throw this law out. As a statistican the stats favour us in this country anyway in terms of car accidents

eringobragh

Ludo wrote: »

Why are people on here constantly saying that 400000 people should or are applying for their test??? The vast majority of them are already on the waiting list which is why the damn thing is so long!!!

Just over a 100,000 i believe is on the waiting list, the rest of ye have no excuse

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Azlan

According to Minister Dempsey, the reason to introduce the measure immediately was to prevent a flood of applications for tests and licences by people hoping to beat the deadline.

Well - that really worked, didn't it??? Both the driving test website and phoneline are now down - guess the mad scramble to get on the list is well underway and it will be interesting to see just what the waiting time is over the next few days!!

Ludo

Really??? Bloody hell. I have a year wait in cork (47 weeks total - applied 3/4 months ago so long time before I get it) so I assumed most of the 400K were on the list ahead of me. :eek:

MisterAnarchy

Its the same age old story with the Irish people.
Great to crib but very reluctant to get up off their arse and actually do something about it.
Actions speak louder than words.