Provisional licence rules deferred until 30 June 2008!!!

Tootins

I think the Government focusing only on the actual testing part is totally wrong. The whole Learning Approach needs to be overhauled, the actual testing is just a small part of learning to drive.
Im on my first provisional, I've had it now for close to 10months, I have had 25 driving lessons (with a proper instructor) and then I drove supervised for 6 months with my dad or my brother in the car. What else can I do now? My schedule with work means that I'm not in a position to get my dad to bring me out driving every night and as a result how can I gain experience? I cant afford to pay for an instructor to come out driving with me a couple of times a week. A one hour lesson already costs 35euro!
I applied for my test, long before the whole controversy exploded. I rang up the driving test people yesterday and they told me they were nowhere near processing my application AND then I was told the people on their second provisional license would get priority over me because all their applications have to done before June 30th. What sort of system is that?? I need my full-license just as much as anyone else does and I was actually prepared to get up and organise my test so I could get it as soon as possible.
I'm so nervous now about being pulled over by the police so the only compromise I can come to is driving to and from work with my dad driving in his car behind me!
The whole system is a mess. Getting through the backlog in driving tests, in my opinion is still not going to make a difference to our road deaths! All you have to do is iron out your bad habits for a 40min driving session and then you can go back to driving the way you are used to!

Mrs Roy Keane

Tootins wrote: »

I think the Government focusing only on the actual testing part is totally wrong. The whole Learning Approach needs to be overhauled, the actual testing is just a small part of learning to drive.
Im on my first provisional, I've had it now for close to 10months, I have had 25 driving lessons (with a proper instructor) and then I drove supervised for 6 months with my dad or my brother in the car. What else can I do now? My schedule with work means that I'm not in a position to get my dad to bring me out driving every night and as a result how can I gain experience? I cant afford to pay for an instructor to come out driving with me a couple of times a week. A one hour lesson already costs 35euro!
I applied for my test, long before the whole controversy exploded. I rang up the driving test people yesterday and they told me they were nowhere near processing my application AND then I was told the people on their second provisional license would get priority over me because all their applications have to done before June 30th. What sort of system is that?? I need my full-license just as much as anyone else does and I was actually prepared to get up and organise my test so I could get it as soon as possible.
I'm so nervous now about being pulled over by the police so the only compromise I can come to is driving to and from work with my dad driving in his car behind me!
The whole system is a mess. Getting through the backlog in driving tests, in my opinion is still not going to make a difference to our road deaths! All you have to do is iron out your bad habits for a 40min driving session and then you can go back to driving the way you are used to!

I feel for you really. No everyone has a qualified driver to accompany them constantly. The government did not think this true fully. I agree the cost of the test and driving lessons is expensive

SeanW

I disagree about the cost of the test - a fill of petrol costs more than that and a driving lesson nearly as much, so I would even be in favour of raising the test fee - IF - it meant that everyone who applied for a test got it within a month.

Zambia

The Irish driving licence system is a joke and always has been.

I know of no other first world country where you can drive away by yourself after failing your test.

Its a shocking system that has been silly for years.

To solve this i think the following should happen

Everyone on a bodgy second provisional must apply for a test by feb 2008.

After feb 2008 a second provisional is the same as a first , the exception being unless you have a confirmed test date cert. Then you may drive as you where till your test.

Should you fail/miss your test you then go back to accompanied driving. If you do not have the inteligence to book a test between now and feb 2008 .

Well then hard luck. Even with the long waiting times everyone shouldbe accomodated

Hotblack Desiato

Mrs Roy Keane wrote: »

I feel for you really. No everyone has a qualified driver to accompany them constantly. The government did not think this true fully. I agree the cost of the test and driving lessons is expensive

This sort of attitude stinks to high heaven to be brutally honest. How many lives have been lost or blighted because people are too cheap to learn how to drive properly? Or just too damn ignorant and lazy.

As has been pointed out to you repeatedly, the cost of the test is thirty eight euro, FFS. Driving is a privilege, not a right, anyone who can't be bothered to learn how to exercise that privilege safely should get the hell off the roads.

murphaph

ninja900 wrote: »

This sort of attitude stinks to high heaven to be brutally honest. How many lives have been lost or blighted because people are too cheap to learn how to drive properly? Or just too damn ignorant and lazy.

As has been pointed out to you repeatedly, the cost of the test is thirty eight euro, FFS. Driving is a privilege, not a right, anyone who can't be bothered to learn how to exercise that privilege safely should get the hell off the roads.

+1. Driving/riding is indeed a privilege and if one can afford a nice car/bike, one can afford to get proper training of driver/rider and testing of driver/rider and car/bike

Boggle

How many lives have been lost or blighted because people are too cheap to learn how to drive properly?

I don't know. How many? Last I knew, the gardai didn't even keep records of what drivers involved in fatal collisions had provisional licenses.
(while we are talking about actual facts, I'd be interested to know if there were nubers available on how many lives would be saved by reducing the alcohol limits (ie how many fatal accidents are attributable to people with alcohol levels in their system between old and new laws.)


I still think that until they fix the test (ie make it a test rather than a lottery) we will make no difference. As it stands, rubbish drivers pass because they rehearse a course and good driverss fail because the test cannot actually distinguish between good and bad drivers....

Hotblack Desiato

Boggle wrote: »

I don't know. How many? Last I knew, the gardai didn't even keep records of what drivers involved in fatal collisions had provisional licenses.

Notice that I didn't mention passing the test. I said learning to drive properly which should really go beyond what the test demands. It is the bare legal minimum standard of driving skill, after all. Yet here in Ireland we seem to regard it as some sort of pinnacle 40% of drivers don't need to bother even trying to climb.

(while we are talking about actual facts, I'd be interested to know if there were nubers available on how many lives would be saved by reducing the alcohol limits (ie how many fatal accidents are attributable to people with alcohol levels in their system between old and new laws.)

I'd be interested in that too. I strongly suspect the figures would not support a reduction in the limit, but we'll get one anyway :rolleyes:

After all, most drink-drivers are 50%, 100% or even more over the existing limit, so it's no skin off their nose if we reduce it.

I still think that until they fix the test (ie make it a test rather than a lottery) we will make no difference. As it stands, rubbish drivers pass because they rehearse a course and good driverss fail because the test cannot actually distinguish between good and bad drivers....

I'm sorry but this sounds like the sort of lame excuses constantly trotted out by people who have either (a) failed through their own fault or (b) not bothered to apply at all.
No test can be perfect, we can and should try to make it better. But we'd be wasting our time given that up until now, passing the driving test is effectively voluntary. We have to do the provisional licence reforms first, then improve the test.

I haven't been to Motors or Learning to Drive in a while, are they still full of "I failed my test, snot fair" and "How few lessons can I take and be OK to drive on my own, cause I'm a cheap bastard" threads?

Mrs Roy Keane

ninja900 wrote: »

This sort of attitude stinks to high heaven to be brutally honest. How many lives have been lost or blighted because people are too cheap to learn how to drive properly? Or just too damn ignorant and lazy.

As has been pointed out to you repeatedly, the cost of the test is thirty eight euro, FFS. Driving is a privilege, not a right, anyone who can't be bothered to learn how to exercise that privilege safely should get the hell off the roads.

Any how many lives have been lost by accidents caused full licenced drivers and/or drunk drivers

SeanW

ninja900 wrote: »

We have to do the provisional licence reforms first, then improve the test.

Why not sort out the driving test system mess fiirst, so that every applicant gets a consistent test within a month, then have license reforms?

I haven't been to Motors or Learning to Drive in a while, are they still full of "I failed my test, snot fair" and "How few lessons can I take and be OK to drive on my own, cause I'm a cheap bastard" threads?

No, "I failed my test" posts are limited to a single carefully managed stickied thread, and most of the threads are for people asking for advice about practical matters on the road, test advice, regulatory affairs and so on.

Hotblack Desiato

Mrs Roy Keane wrote: »

Any how many lives have been lost by accidents caused full licenced drivers and/or drunk drivers

Can you not accept the fact that people need to be taught how to drive properly before they are let loose on the roads.

Dangerous driving is illegal.
Drunk driving is illegal.
Breaking the provisional licence rules is illegal too, but has been ignored for decades, can you justify that?

Hotblack Desiato

SeanW wrote: »

Why not sort out the driving test system mess fiirst, so that every applicant gets a consistent test within a month, then have license reforms?

I was talking about the test standard, not how long it takes. Sorting out the waiting list should be a simple administrative task (yes, yes, I know, insert world's biggest rolleyes icon here)

Mrs Roy Keane

ninja900 wrote: »

Can you not accept the fact that people need to be taught how to drive properly before they are let loose on the roads.

Dangerous driving is illegal.
Drunk driving is illegal.
Breaking the provisional licence rules is illegal too, but has been ignored for decades, can you justify that?

I accept that but what about the full licenced drivers who sit and pass their tests and then that are causing accidents? Or the Politicans or Garda members who drink drive and get no punishment. Its not just provisional drivers causing accidents.

bonkey

Mrs Roy Keane wrote: »

I accept that but what about the full licenced drivers who sit and pass their tests and then that are causing accidents? Or the Politicans or Garda members who drink drive and get no punishment. Its not just provisional drivers causing accidents.

If you are suggesting that we need additional restrictions, which try and clean up crap driving across the board, I'm with you and would guess most people would be too.

If, on the other hand, you're suggesting the new legislation should not be introduced because its imperfect, and doesn't deal with every problem on the road all at once....then I doubt you'll get far with that.