Best time of day for driving test, and other queries..

Are there any schools on the test routes? That's the only thing that would worry me about doing your test at that time of the day. Parents dropping their kids off and parking where they shouldn't, kids running out in front of cars, traffic wardens stopping cars etc etc are things that you wouldn't normally encounter at another time of the day. Your tester may have you avoid them altogether, or he may want to see how well you react to unexpected hazards. If you can, do some driving over there at that time of day and scout out what the conditions may be on the test day, so there won't be any unexpected surprises on the day.

Re traffic, what do you mean what are you supposed to do? You drive the car in a safe manner, paying attention to speed limits, road positioning, possible hazards, leaving proper space between you and the car in front of you, and exhibiting good levels of observation before moving off. Odds are the tester will not take you to areas of heavy traffic. He wants to see how well you drive. Not how well you sit in traffic.

hattoncracker wrote: »

No, I mean what happens if I get caught in bad traffic and it goes over the allocated testing time? Thats what I'm worried about..

It is highly unlikely that the tester will take you to an area of heavy traffic. It just wastes his time, and if the allocated time runs over it will make him late for his next test appointment. In the unlikely event of it happening, don't worry about it. Just relax, and just follow his instructions of what to do and where do go. Concentrate on your driving, and try not to let the specifics of the test itself (how long it is taking, the testers manner, what he is writing down on the form etc etc) distract you from concentrating on your driving.

They'll generally not take you through bad traffic if they can avoid it but on the test I finally did pass on the tester took me up main street in Cavan which was actually grand because I got to sit there moving up a car length at a time during lunch hour. Wasted a hell of a lot of time doing it and all so and there's not a whole lot you can do wrong when your sitting in traffic tbh. I was just there drive up. Stop. Handbrake. Car ahead of me moves so I check every mirror. Move on. Stop. Handbrake. Repeat for a good 10 minutes.

If he does get stuck and goes over allocated time he's just gonna have to take you on the faster route back to the center because he's going to have another person waiting on a test so it can only possibly work out well for you.

It's not something I'd worry about too much tbh but if I could choose a time of day - 10am, all the school children are in school and it's still too early for the majority of shoppers to come out to do the days shopping and such. If you know the town your doing your test in and know what times it's quiet, then choose that, it will generally be morning from my experiences anyways and secondly your not waiting all day getting nervous waiting on the test. So if you have a choice, morning wins every single time.

9.15 should be a great time though for you - first few minutes will be him asking you questions about the rules of the road so by the time your actually sitting in the car every school child will be in school, it's still too early for people to come to town as a rule of thumb so it's as quiet as the town will get. And you'll just be out of bed so you don't have too much time to build up nerves when waiting all day. And the test itself lasts for 40 minutes or so so you'll be finished by 10am.

Best of luck in it anyways and hopefully all goes well

Hello Hattoncracker,

I wouldn't imagine there would be a lot of traffic/congestion at 9:15 as the kids will have just gone into school. By the time you do your theory questions and car checks etc it'll be after 9:30 .

I'm practising the castlemungret route myself and have been told it's one of the nicer routes to do in Limerick. Make sure you keep an eye on the speed limit in castlemungret as it can change from 50 to 60km/hr depending whether you turn left or right at the exit gate. For the reverse around the corner, make sure you put down your left mirror when doing this. Look everywhere and just take it easy. Make sure to put the mirror back up afterwards.

Keep us posted. Hope all goes well and hope you pass. Try and forget the nerves and make sure you tell yourself you have control and nothing can get in the way.

Good luck