L-plates, R-plates, provisional licenses

eringobragh

plastic-man wrote: »

that i will drive when i feel I am not a threat to other drivers OR PEDESTRIANS

Prove it and pass the test :rolleyes: .The Laws there for a reason and about time to be honest!!!

Alanstrainor

i will drive when i feel I am not a threat to other drivers OR PEDESTRIANS

That's the thing, everyone thinks they are a good driver, the only real proof that anyone knows how to control a car safely is the driving test. Not saying the driving test is perfect(that's a whole other kettle of fish), but it does set a standard.

plastic-man

i appreciate your opinion and I mean if i had a full license i would probably criticize people like me! But, I will try my best to pass my test asap, and until then i hope to drive safe

Wossack

I hope you get done tbh, absolutely lousy attitude

Esel

This is what the Ignore List was made for!

Heroditas

Students eh? :rolleyes:

Henry Ford III

Lousy attitude and contempt for the law displayed by OP. Foreshame.

pyramuid man

You need to give this guy a break. It seems like he has made up his mind and if he gets caught, he gets caught. Simple. I think some tips for driving safely in the city rather than blasting him out of it and saying that you hope he gets caught would be alot more helpful.

If he gets caught he know what will happen.

One thing I will say is that from my experience of it is that if you got caught this doesn't exactly mean no penalty points. As a general rule of thumb, if you get caught, they will do you for everything that they can do you for and you could get penalty points because of that.

ghouldaddy07

I think the amount of flak the op is getting is abit over the top of he wants to risk the 1000 fine so be it is not like he is saying its ok to drink and drive.

I realise its breaking the law but am sure posters that are getting agitated have drove with out of date tax etc or some other obstuction.


I would advise the OP to get a decent set of lessons by a qualifed instructor as I first got lessons of me da that thought me the basic's but when I got in an instructors car I realised I knew feck all and was a risk on the road.

mikemac

plastic-man wrote: »

" driven by (in general) obnoxious people.

What’s your problem with Dublin bus drivers?
Most are highly experienced and many pass advanced tests.
Whereas you’ve displayed your driving skill by …………………………done anything yet OP?

In my own experience of cycling or on a moped across the city, they are the best and most predictable drivers around.
Imagine, they actually use indicators when pulling out from a stop? :eek:

Do what you want OP, I would say leave the L plates up as it’ll go better for you if you are stopped.
And remember Operation Freeflow is not far away so the odds are getting stopped or at least pass gardai on duty are pretty much guranteed.

If I were you, I’d get a motorbike or scooter. Fastest way around the city by far and you won’t be crawling in traffic at all.

Gregor Samsa

pyramuid man wrote: »

You need to give this guy a break.

ghouldaddy07 wrote: »

I think the amount of flak the op is getting is abit over the top

In fairness, the OP specifically asked for people's views. And (s)he's getting them.

craichoe

plastic-man wrote: »

First of all I'd comment on your observational skills, I never questioned why I had to take a test! Also the system isn't exactly safe, I mean I could pass my theory, get my provisional license and hop into a car with my Dad (having never, ever driven a car before).. Would you consider me safe on the road.. Nah .. I don't exactly feel having a fully licensed driver will stop me from swerving onto a path as, at the end of the day, I'd be in control of the car. Furthermore, one should notice the smell of S**t on the number 11B bus.

A fully licensed driver in the car with you will have driving experience and will probably have done a basic test.

They are there to instruct you in the event you do something that may cause an accident.

Example: Driving along, you think everything is fine. Fully licensed driver comments your driving to far toward the middle of the road, you correct and learn.

In the event it looks like you're really going to mess up, like drive down a a one way road or maybe didn't notice the dual carriageway ended and your now on the wrong side of the road, or even perhaps driving WAY too fast for the road surface your on, THEY can point this out.

If your driving unaccompanied then you could drive away blissfully unaware that your driving like a complete and utter lunatic.

Anyway, besides the 1000 euro fine, its just plain dangerous. What if you run someone down because "you didn't know"

superjosh9

OP, apply for the test and then ring those over in Galways or wherever they are based. They will tell you that if you can get a letter of intent from an employer saying that you are to be given a job, but that you need a full licence, they will speed up the date of your test. It will be approx 1 month from when they get the letter. I know this for a fact as a relation did it in 2007.

The letter won't matter if it's from Microsoft or Joe's Shop down the road.

Doing that means that you could be on the road in 2 months or so.

I think you'll find a lot of people here, myself included, spent 6 years or so in college, and prob all of us took the bus. It certainly did me no harm and when I did finally get my own car, I appreciated it all the more. Although I got my test early, I didn't 'drive' until I was 24 and I was a far better 'learner' than the majority of so and so's you see going around at 18.

I'd say apply and wait. Why risk 1000 fine unless money isn't a problem. If money isn't a problem, I suspect you have a few more issues to attend to than getting a car.

Gregor Samsa

superjosh9 wrote: »

Doing that means that you could be on the road in 2 months or so.

While the letter form an employer works (I did it myself), you can't actually sit your test until you've held your Learner Permit for at least 6 months, so that's the minimum time it takes to legally get on the road on your own.

ergonomics

plastic-man wrote: »

"not interested"? thats only because you dont believe in your argument. I've worked hard all summer for this, now I have money and am getting a car, buses are disgusting, smelly, infection-creeping bricks on the road, driven by (in general) obnoxious people. Il gladly get caught in traffic, with my own tunes on, enjoy the bus though :P

I was feeling slightly sympathetic towards you until you posted this. To get to college I had to travel two and a half hours by bus. The bus was so packed you often had to stand for the first hour or more. When I got dropped in Limerick I had another half an hour to walk, in the dark. All through this I had a car but I was an L driver. I could only afford to get lessons during the summer, which I did. Now, three years later, I have finally passed my test and I have my car and I no longer need to get the bus.

You need to get down off your high horse and take the bus like everyone else. Just because you can afford to buy a car doesn't mean you can afford to drive it and flout the law. I honestly hope you get the €1000. I'd love to see how you can afford your car and your insurance then.

craichoe

ergonomics wrote: »

I was feeling slightly sympathetic towards you until you posted this. To get to college I had to travel two and a half hours by bus. The bus was so packed you often had to stand for the first hour or more. When I got dropped in Limerick I had another half an hour to walk, in the dark. All through this I had a car but I was an L driver. I could only afford to get lessons during the summer, which I did. Now, three years later, I have finally passed my test and I have my car and I no longer need to get the bus.

You need to get down off your high horse and take the bus like everyone else. Just because you can afford to buy a car doesn't mean you can afford to drive it and flout the law. I honestly hope you get the €1000. I'd love to see how you can afford your car and your insurance then.

+1

Gambling a 1000 euro fine and possibly an accident or killing someone is a false economy

plastic-man

I have enough views on this topic, and I can honestly say that this thread contains more bigots than a Celtic match! Clearly each person has to be judged on his own merits. Believe it or not there are some safer L-drivers than full-licensed drivers out there. I think I gave a lot of people an excuse to whinge and moan by starting this thread. Drive safe..

Mr. Presentable

plastic-man wrote: »

I have enough views on this topic, and I can honestly say that this thread contains more bigots than a Celtic match! Clearly each person has to be judged on his own merits. Believe it or not there are some safer L-drivers than full-licensed drivers out there. I think I gave a lot of people an excuse to whinge and moan by starting this thread. Drive safe..

Well, this is true.

But you still have absolutely no business driving while unlicensed.

Toots

Alanstrainor wrote: »

No, this is not the case. Lessons are not obligatory...unfortunately...

More's the pity Although there are some fairly dodgy instructors out there. One guy in particular I know of went out for a lesson with an instructor who was clearly drunk and actually reeked of whiskey. He got another instructor after that but he was told that this guy was actually really well known in the area and he'd been at that for years!!!!!:eek:

hot2def

plastic-man wrote: »

Clearly each person has to be judged on his own merits. ..

Word. They should come up with a method for assesing these merits....perhaps some sort of test......

Gran Hermano

hot2def wrote: »

Word. They should come up with a method for assesing these merits....perhaps some sort of test......

Wouldn't work, we tried that... seems to be that certain people in Ireland
don't think a test is prerequisite to driving a car on their own. We even tried
changing and enforcing the law and again these same individuals think it
does not apply to them - after all they're such good drivers they don't have to
pass a test to drive on their own.