Get those full licences asap!

MarkR

Did anyone get the full story regarding provisional licences this morning? I heard that the gardai are (will be?) issuing on the spot fines to unaccompanied provisional drivers licence holders.

If this does go through, there's going to be a pretty big back log in applications, wouldn't there?

Slydice

afaik it's only while your on your 1st provisional?

Mayshine

So they get their €60 fine, and what, they just drive right off, or do they have to wait at the side of the road for a full licence holder to get in the car. Surely a ban would be more appropriate...

Chimaera

Once the full points system comes in, it'll mean points on your licence as well. Can't remember how many, think it might be 4 or 5.

It's about time something was done about people driving on their own on their first provisional anyway. Of course, the biggest problem here is the amount of time it takes to get a date for your driving test.

sceptre

Originally posted by Slydice
afaik it's only while your on your 1st provisional?

And 3rd and any subsequent provisional.

So you can only drive unaccompanied while on your 2nd.

Trev M

The system sucks ....Im on my third and have just found out I have to be accompanied to get to work???? Im waiting for my test date to roll around in Feb , I applied last june!

It blows goats!

MarkR

Who gets the proceeds? Is it charlie again? Nice little money earner for him if there's a big crack down.

Bo Duke

I don`t care who gets the proceeds once the test is done more fairly and there isn`t a double set of stanards for young and old and male and female.I think that a provisional should only be a yearly licence and you should be assessed after each year of holding a licence weather you drove or not.

ando

about time, some L'oner' drivers are useless

mike65

Originally posted by ando
about time, some L'oner' drivers are useless

True but many who passed are ****e too!, and many never needed to pass as they've been driving since before 1963 when the test became manditory or they were part of the amnesty back around 1980, when the test backlog stretched into the 1990s.

This you're okay on the 2nd provisonal is maddness, whats the difference?

Mike.

sceptre

Originally posted by mike65
This you're okay on the 2nd provisonal is maddness, whats the difference?

I assume the thinking is something like "hey you've obviously been driving for two years given that you've had your licence for that long (let's ignore the fact that you just have a licence and may never have seen the inside of a car) so you obviously know which end of the car is up - hey, you can drive by yourself"

Meanwhile if you hit licence number 3:
"hmmm, you're obviously crap at this and must have failed your test - back into your box and get someone to drive with you"

Jury's out on whether either or both reasonings are complete bunkum.

BeatTun

im sorry, but there is no excuse whatsoever for anybody to be on a 3rd provisional

Stephen

Er, yes there is. You know, they won't issue you with a third provisional unless you have taken a driving test and failed, or unless you have one booked for the near future. You can't very well go take another driving test with NO licence.

leeroybrown

im sorry, but there is no excuse whatsoever for anybody to be on a 3rd provisional

Some of the better drivers I know had to sit the test more than once. Passing the test can also involve an element of luck on the day.

I've got a full license (passed 1st time) and have in the past driven (regularly) unaccompanied on 1st and 2nd provisional licenses. I needed to do it to get to work. No car no job.

I applied for my test and had to wait over 7 months for the first one. and when it came up it fell on top of exams I had. I deferred and had to wait another 5 months for a second.

Obviously the system is flawed but in a country like Ireland where in certain situations the car is essential (rural, etc) it's problematic if you just use a big-bang solution.

I think it would be better if there was a n optional set way for a learner to *quickly* qualify for extra freedom while still having to do a full test at some stage. (course of lessons and cert or something similar)

Either that or put in place a situation where a test is something you can get quickly if necessary and encourage the uptake of it.

halkar

After doing the test 3 times and failing (dooooon't ask ) and I think 8-9 years on the provisional licence (doooon't ask ) they stopped stamping the number on the licence. I agree on the test , it is all about luck nothing about driving. I am driving 12 years and 8 years with no claims here and I drive over 30k a year and driven in different countries (I have a full licence from another country, not EU) and I can't pass the test !! Oh well sounds like it is time to fill the form and send the cheque for the fees for McGreedy

I might be lucky next time :rolleyes:

Oh well, I guess I have a new year resolution : Pass the Test , Pass the Test!!, hmmm give up smoking too , naaaa I pass the test first
Good luck to all who is going for their tests

yankinlk

seriously, i have to ask...how did u fail three times? are you a really bad test taker?

i too have a license from another country, been driving 15 years...and havent bothered to get the license here...waste of time.
im still not convinced the gardai will even ask to see a license if i am unlucky enough to be pulled over...its just not a habit for them..they wont change. (unless they get a pay raise)

technically i got a learners 6 years ago when i first arrived, i thought, yeah ill do things by the book...waited 7 months to get a test, was 5 minutes late getting there, they took my money and said "apply again"... yeah right, and while im at it i think ill pay 6 times what i should for car insurance too.

halkar

nope I am not the bad test taker, they are the bad testers I think
You can't question on their decisions and they mark as they please , I have also taken pre-tests in the routes I have been tested and gave the instructors my previous test results to practice on but I think they are wasters too, most of the questions I have asked them was not answered and all they say is be yourself when the test time arrives. I don't think they want you to pass either as it is more money for them having so many test failures :mad:
Anyway I am doing it again and until I pass it, but after few times I will just turn the ignition on and off and ask them to give my failure paper! Because I really believe it is more of a luck and time of the day issue then anything else. After all I see all those people they passed on the roads too, especially the ones that doesn't know where the indicators are Like yourself I don't really care but it is a big let down getting the failure again

leeroybrown

An interesting story I remember:

(This was on one of the morning radio shows years ago)

An Irish-American guy was visiting Ireland for a while and had arranged to take the Irish driving test while here (apparrently it reduced premiums for him if he had an EU license). He was a police driving instructor in the US so he had to be a damn good driver. He failed and had no idea how he could have been failed having been instructing drivers for years. The story was on the radio.

(Someone else might remember more details)

There is an element of luck involved in whether you pass or not.

yankinlk

are you suggesting they fail people no matter what? like they only pass so many people per day?

halkar

Originally posted by yankinlk
........ like they only pass so many people per day?

I heard that too, I don't know how all thing works , I am just having my own guesses and I am probably wrong :rolleyes: And I am sure the ones who has their test passed at the first attempt will not aggree but I have many friends that they have passed their tests on first attempt and I wouldn't get in a car they drive
Naaaa all thing is weird and it is a fact that someone with no real driving experience and with just lessons have a better chance of passing than someone like myself or yourself driving so long with so many bad habits (so they say :rolleyes: ) .

The_Bullman

Since I passed my test first time out, I wonder how I did this. Personally I think that the testers grade depends on who your instructor was. If you have a good instructor, one who is recognised around the testing centre-not a parent/friend, and you use their car for the test, I would imagine that this puts you in good stead for the test.

DMC

I'm not happy about this. I'm on my second provisional licence, and I drive around unaccompanied. I applied for the test at the start of November, as I have been only been driving around 6 months. (the first licence, like all, was used for ID as a 16 year old! )
I cant afford to be without my car, or inconveniencing others in my family and so on to accompany me.

Like, are they going to increase the number of testers to clear this 300,000 backlog? No mention of that. And also, if you apply to get it done at short notice, that will be pretty impossible now.

I'm really not happy.

Quigs Snr

I passed my test. Applied for a cancellation, got the test in 2 weeks. Did 6 lessons with a fantastic instructor, drove perfectly on the day and passed first time.

I don't think it's about luck, well maybe it is to a point. On a bad day an instructor might fail you for something small, on another, you pass, depending on the row he had with his wife that morning.

However, make no mistakes they won't fail you. My GF failed first time, she had a **** instructor. I took her out for a pre-test, most of it being fresh in my head. I would have failed her, her instructor told her she was fine. She failed. I sent her to my instructor, she did 5 lessons, took the test again 6 weeks later and passed. I don't think theres anything to it apart from that. Get a good instructor and you're set.

The test itself is not a realistic test, but then again neither is the leaving cert, you've just got to do what they ask and be rid of them forever, just like the leaving.

By the way in Waterford there are two instructors of note.....

Anthony Mullally
Richard Chadwick

Stick with one of these two if you're in Waterford. Both fantastic.

yankinlk

haha, u think the irish driving test is unrealistic? give the US one a try....you never leave the parking lot...just driving around cones and stop signs.

BeatTun

my point was that if you fail your test once, you should re-apply immediately.

i know it costs money, and peolpe will argue about the tester being mean etc etc and being unlucky, but thats just the way it is.

i think its sickening that someone can fail the state driving test and then carry on driving.......it makes he actual full drivers licence sort of obselete.

Dampsquid

Back in the days when it was difficult to get into pubs when you just turned 18, many of my friends who have never been abroad would have to get a provisional licence as it was the only other ID that bouncers would except. most of them would have been just getting their second provisional when they were getting their first car.

DMC

The Irish Times today makes the point that there are only 170 testers (I'll change the figures when I look at the paper again!) and that it would take over 60 weeks to clear the backlog. That has to be taken into consideration.

Also, on Pat Kenny this morning, a guy rang in and said that he failed his driving test because he failed to use all the gears in his car! He never strayed out of 30mph zone, and because of the size of his engine, he couldn't go into 4th gear without going over 30mph! Ridiculous!

mfield

I have my test tomorrow afternoon, its my 1st time to do it, fingers crossed! I'll keep ya posted on how I get on!


mfield.

Dampsquid

Does anyone know of a good instructor in the Naas, kildare area. The previous instructors i had were Sh*te. They both told me contradicting things on the day of the test which don't help with your confidence.

mfield

Originally posted by mfield
I have my test tomorrow afternoon, its my 1st time to do it, fingers crossed! I'll keep ya posted on how I get on!


mfield.

I passed!!!!! :cool:

Originally posted by Dampsquid
Does anyone know of a good instructor in the Naas, kildare area. The previous instructors i had were Sh*te. They both told me contradicting things on the day of the test which don't help with your confidence.

I went to the Naas School of Motoring and got a chap called Brian, he was reccomended to me, he was very very good, explains everything really well! I only had two lessons with him! I would recommend more though!

Hope this helps!


mfield.

DMC

Congrats squire!