Driving test almost reduced me to tears

Supercell

Applied to sit my driving test last January (04) ..finally finally the day arrives ..today.

Checked I had my license, my insurance , my tax , cleaned the bike , oiled the chain , checked the indicators, the brake light etc.
Bought flouresant jacket to wair, made sure i knew how to check tire pressure, oil levels etc etc, reckoned I was ready for the test.

Booked the day off work, turned up at the test center, the tester seemed like a nice guy, chatted about the weather, bikes etc..thought i'm sorted here...

So he asks me for my license and insurance papers, hand them over.....

My goddamn second provisional expired last Novemeber , was so angry withmyself though i was gonna cry with the frustraition...another 1.5 bloody years (or more probably) til i can resit the test..damn am so annoyed at myself and the damn que time thats so long at the moment

Mucho alcohal will be drank tonight (will deffo not be on the bike tho ).

daveg

shít... sorry about that longfield. My second time taking my driving test... just as I was about to set off.... examiner says hang on... your tax is out.

It was the instructors car. Cúnt.

Stix

When i sat my test the brake light only came on when i used the front brake. So when he asked me to hit the back brake, i did, but i tipped the front brake too. LoL

I got both my car and bike tests within 6 weeks.

Peace

If you get some headed paper from your company/someones company and say something like:

"Mr/Ms X

We are delighted to offer you the job on the basis you can produce a Full Driving license before xx date. " etc etc etc...

Send it in with a letter saying that you would like a cancellation date dude to you have a job offer waiting this.

Worked for me, both times i took the test i did this and waitied max 6 weeks. I think i waited 3 weeks for my retest.

Supercell

daveg wrote:

shít... sorry about that longfield. My second time taking my driving test... just as I was about to set off.... examiner says hang on... your tax is out.

It was the instructors car. Cúnt.

Jaysus thats bad, at least you didnt have to blame yourself for being a total ééjit like myself this morning!

Supercell

Peace wrote:

If you get some headed paper from your company/someones company and say something like:

"Mr/Ms X

We are delighted to offer you the job on the basis you can produce a Full Driving license before xx date. " etc etc etc...

Send it in with a letter saying that you would like a cancellation date dude to you have a job offer waiting this.

Worked for me, both times i took the test i did this and waitied max 6 weeks. I think i waited 3 weeks for my retest.

I know my employer does write letters for people with cars for cancellations, hmm good idea will ask the boss to write me one like this, wish I didnt have to be dishonest tho.

BrianD

Seems to be the latest ploy by the testers. They are gettin through greater numbers of people and the pass rate remains the same but no increase in the number of testers. How they do it?

Simple. They refuse to do the test on some spurious reason - mechanical problem with the car or even the smell of smoke. Technically the person hasn't failed only the test has been refused.

Happened to a work colleague this week. Brand new car (05 reg) owned by a well known motoring assist company. Tester saw scuffing on tyres and refused to get into it. The car had been checked by a garage on the way to the centre as it did have a faulty brake light. The tester cited section 10A which refers to the thread depth but he did not measure it at the time. To be fair, once the car has a valid NCT cert it should be taken as being road worthy.

seamus

I rented a bike for the test, set off, about halfway there, the clutch isn't working properly, it won't disengage, so I have to force it into gear. I reckon a cable has popped out, or become loose. Nope. The clutch is just ****ed, and I'm about a 40 minutes equally from the test centre and Dublin (where I could get a replacement bike), and my test is in an hour.

Back to the waiting list for me then.

Supercell

Went to the tax office to renew my license, waited about 35 mins to be seen..guess what..they wont renew it without proof I have applied to sit a driving test............................

Sometimes you just have to stand back and laugh a bit at the madness of it all..without a 1.5 year wait my provisional would have been just fine (even if the que was up to 10 months) ..and now i have to drive knowing i'm unlicensed because the govt refuse to issue me one...

I told the girl behind the counter that i had applied online already and maybe she could check that..but no..apparently not..they need paperwork..

What a day....beer awaits ..in silly quantities...

a_ominous

Longfield, That's a real PITA on both counts. I did my test about 2 years ago and only had a 5 month wait. Just before the penalty points came in.
I applied online too but did get a written acknowledgement from them. I'm sure your details could have been checked but some of those staff are real jobsworths and not really thinking of customer service. Without us, they've not job. But that's another rant.

Re driving without a licence: I've only been asked for my licence once in (oh $#!+) nearly 20 years. Don't worry about it. If you had done the test and failed, you could still drive home. Irish driving laws are great.

mike65

I was stopped at a checkpoint last week and my licence was requested which I had as I always carry it. Don't assume they WONT ask.

Mike.

Supercell

mike65 wrote:

I was stopped at a checkpoint last week and my licence was requested which I had as I always carry it. Don't assume they WONT ask.

Mike.

TBH , i wish i had been asked in the last few years..on my bike ..i've never ever been stopped and asked for insurance tax license..the Garda just wave the bikers though.

So for another year i will pay excessive insurance..even though in most other eu countries i am an experienced driver and even here i have the max no claims on a provisional license..

damo605

Nasty but it could always be worse - I did my test just over a month after turning 17 in a car with no tax, 3 bald tyres and a knackered exhaust (Long before the NCT was heard of) - passed the test so thought I could drive (I couldn't) - stuck the car into a wall on the way home going way too fast.... My mother wasn't pleased as it was her car :-(

unkel

Longfield, I can feel your pain

What can I say? Gain all the experience you can for now and fly through your test the next time...

causal

Sorry to hear that Longfield , but you've been riding with no licence for the last 6 months - WTF were you thinking

On the bright side - if you do well in the Axa assessment thingy you can get the provo licence loading removed and then upto a max of a further 33% off that unloaded premium

causal

Calina

Longfield,

came a cropper with that "you have to have applied for your test before we'll issue you with a new licence" after being out of the country for five years. I sort of see the point in it in terms of trying to reduce the number of people who keep on renewing provisional licences ad infinitum...but I could prove I had been out of the country for the previous five years so I was not impressed.

Our man in Havana

Calina wrote:

Longfield,

came a cropper with that "you have to have applied for your test before we'll issue you with a new licence" after being out of the country for five years. I sort of see the point in it in terms of trying to reduce the number of people who keep on renewing provisional licences ad infinitum...but I could prove I had been out of the country for the previous five years so I was not impressed.

After 5 years your back to the never having a licence stage. Should be no probs getting a provisional.

Funkstard

Peace wrote:

If you get some headed paper from your company/someones company and say something like:

"Mr/Ms X

We are delighted to offer you the job on the basis you can produce a Full Driving license before xx date. " etc etc etc...

Send it in with a letter saying that you would like a cancellation date dude to you have a job offer waiting this.

Worked for me, both times i took the test i did this and waitied max 6 weeks. I think i waited 3 weeks for my retest.

I've lost count at the amount of times my Dad has done that for people. He just gets some official company paper with the logo/address etc. on it and writes a quick note saying "Mr/Ms X has recently been employed by us but needs his/her full license before he/she can start working....." So on and so forth.

My brother got his test in 3 weeks by sending in a letter. He sent the exact same letter in for my sister 3 times (she failed twice).

Esel

Longfield wrote:

Checked I had my license.....

Should have said "checked I had piece of plastic-covered paper, didn't check it was still a licence".

Once bitten etc.

PlayaFlow

did anyone ever try applying for two tests at once , in different locations?!!!
1 of my friends applied online for a test in tallaght and for a test in naas. he failed his first test , but two weeks later he had an appointment for the one in naas and he passed it!!