Driving Test Cancelled

meathstevie

Mods, I know this isn't the best spot but this doesn't affect learners only.

On the Friday before Christmas a very close relation of mine was supposed to do the driving test in Navan. As you do or not remember weather conditions were normal for the time of year : a bit of fog and frost but bright and sunny from early morning. In other words : conditions improving by the minit.

When the above mentioned relation of mine arrived at Navan test center the person was told that the driving test was cancelled for health and safety reasons : roads too dangerous because of wintery conditions. You have to keep in mind that getting to Navan meant a 10 mile incident free drive.
What the hell : do you only get to do a fair weather driving test and an according fair weather licence under this completly retarded system ? Is this the reason why a drop of rain and a flake of snow grinds this country to a halt. You're not supposed to be able to drive in these conditions for health and safety reasons ?

Or was this maybe another case of the big thirst before crimbo ? :mad:

DublinDilbert

That sounds like Ireland alright.... I wonder how the driving testers got to the test center?? hope they didn't drive for health and safety reasons...

When i done my test in Ontario, it was the middle of January, lots of snow... Had to parallel park beside a massive snow bank!!

Based on the figures quoted in the media the testers have a 20% absentee rate anyway, that's 1 day per week!!!

This also show's how backward the system is in Ireland... ahh we only teach you to drive on good days... I love the fact that an instructor can't bring a student on a motor way (legally anyway), the tester does not test you on a motorway, but when u do pass the test you can drive away on any motorway you like!!

Anan1

Without meaning to cause offence, I would be more inclined to trust the judgement of the tester than the person sitting the test on whether or not the roads were safe at the time.;)

meathstevie

Anan, I take your point but I was out on the road that morning as well and driving conditions were wintery but more than fair enough. I'm not saying this lightly either. I drive over 100K/year and I know bad road conditions when I see them and that morning was a typical frosty but allright morning.

Even than you're supposed to be able to drive in all conditions and the car to be used has dual controls.

craichoe

Yes, but the tester would have been out on the route already .. he would have seen the route itself.

On the other hand i had my test and it was lashing rain .. i mean seriously beating down, windows wipers on full belt and could still barely see.

Ms Inquisitive

At the end of the day, it's the testers final decision and he may have been doing your relation a favour!

Alot of learner drivers are very cautious in wintery conditions and don't understand suitable driving conditions in this weather, especially when they're nervous as hell after waiting a year for their test.

Stephen

DublinDilbert wrote: »

I love the fact that an instructor can't bring a student on a motor way (legally anyway), the tester does not test you on a motorway, but when u do pass the test you can drive away on any motorway you like!!

Given that large parts of the country have no motorways, what do you propose?

craichoe

Stephen wrote: »

Given that large parts of the country have no motorways, what do you propose?

They could get one of these

DublinDilbert

Stephen wrote: »

Given that large parts of the country have no motorways, what do you propose?

I propose when a driving instructor feels a student is capable of driving on a motor way they are legally allowed take them on one, and give them experience of driving on them.

There's only a hand full of counties without a motor way, I'm sure these at least have a nice stretch of dual carriage way. The driving test should include a merge onto and a merge off at the very least. This merge should be completed safely and at the appropriate speed.

Its amazing we are building all these roads but not teaching people how to drive on them....

Fey!

Test cancelled due to road conditions; doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense to me. Perhaps read "test cancelled dut to tester not interested in working today". No wonder we have such a backlog.

DublinDilbert wrote: »

There's only a hand full of counties without a motor way

More like "there's only a handful of counties that have motorways", which includes most counties west of the Shannon, several border counties, and a few in the south and south east.

Seth Brundle

I recall calling the Ballina about a bike test for a then colleague. I was told that they didn't do bike tests in the winter months there (don't know about elsewhere) because of the inclement weather.