Provisional Licence D-Day

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Originally Posted by Billsthoughts

it is policy to give them as much chance to get the questions rite as possible. its on drivingtest.ie or something. to fail the test on the questions you would nearly need to get every single one wrong.passinginterest there is a little book out called how to pass the driving test. i found it v helpfull. its not that big but it goes thru each thing they test ya on in a clear way. its deffo on the counter of the book shop n stephens green centre. just read that and didnt get any pre test lessons.

best of luck with it anyways and dont be bothered bout anyone else passing it.

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Had that book the last time. It's excellent. I was 100% certain I should have passed the last time. It was way better than my previous attempt and I would have passed that but for one stupid mistake (the guy actually apologised and said sorry he couldn't pass me). I'm convinced I came across as over confident, I was very relaxed, our car looks a little sporty (despite being a totally unmodified 1.3 Hyundai), the tester just decided she was going to fail me. The things she marked me for were so different to my previous tests and to anything that was mentioned in pre tests. I had to ask her to repeat herself when she told be I failed because I was convinced I heard wrong!

EDIT to say thanks for the advice and good wishes :)

Anyway as is pretty obvious I'm a bit bitter about it. I looked into the appeals process, but it's basically non-existent, you have to go to court and the most they can do is order a re-test. I don't drive much since the other half passed anyway, no point taking the chance, it's just handy when I want to head home to Wexford the odd time, otherwise I wouldn't be bothered if I never passed.

Passed yesterday on my first and a half go (car wasn't ready the first time.)
Two people before me both passed aswell, a fella on his first go and african woman on her fourth.
Very handy.
Insurance won't come down that much until i'm 25 but at least I don't have to dodge the PSNI next time I'm in Derry.:eek:

ssems like the gardai-psni co-operation is increasing. student engineer on our site in derry was coming back from belfast the other day. hes from clonmany and his car is dl reg, tax was about 3 months out. psni hit him with a £200 fine on the spot.

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Originally Posted by shantykelly

ssems like the gardai-psni co-operation is increasing. student engineer on our site in derry was coming back from belfast the other day. hes from clonmany and his car is dl reg, tax was about 3 months out. psni hit him with a £200 fine on the spot.

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Cooperation is always possible when money involved.

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Originally Posted by KevB76

In fairness, all credit to the powers that be for finally getting this sorted. The situation in this country with L drivers driving home (and everywhere else)after failing the test has always been slightly bothersome to me.

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For creating the mess in the first place? It's year 11 of this Government, not year 1.

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Originally Posted by shantykelly

ssems like the gardai-psni co-operation is increasing. student engineer on our site in derry was coming back from belfast the other day. hes from clonmany and his car is dl reg, tax was about 3 months out. psni hit him with a £200 fine on the spot.

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How can the PSNI verify that a car is untaxed in another jurisdiction?

I would presume they don't have access to the Irish tax records and made the decision on the basis of the old tax disk displayed.

I'd almost guarantee this could be appealed.

Saw one road block all weekend. On a roundabout in the middle of nowhere.
Just on the earlier point about observation being all a show for the tester. I nearly got ploughed by some sham pulling out of an estate last nite cause he was waiting for a van to pass before pulling out and then pulled ou with out looking to see I was coming the other way. Ya need to be aware of your surroundings so its not just for show.

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Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

How can the PSNI verify that a car is untaxed in another jurisdiction?

I would presume they don't have access to the Irish tax records and made the decision on the basis of the old tax disk displayed.

I'd almost guarantee this could be appealed.

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Don't know about the UK, but I assume it's the same as here, in that the fine is for failure to display a current tax disc. Doesn't matter if you actually have one or not (although in most cases if you said you did have one you'd get a chance to produce it).

btw - the waiting list for the NCT is ridiculous. I think it's same company that does the NCT and the driver test. One side of the system improves the other gets worse. Should've just gone for an MOT style system with proper controls, where you can just turn up at an approved garage.

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Originally Posted by passinginterest

Had that book the last time. It's excellent. I was 100% certain I should have passed the last time. It was way better than my previous attempt and I would have passed that but for one stupid mistake (the guy actually apologised and said sorry he couldn't pass me). I'm convinced I came across as over confident, I was very relaxed, our car looks a little sporty (despite being a totally unmodified 1.3 Hyundai), the tester just decided she was going to fail me. The things she marked me for were so different to my previous tests and to anything that was mentioned in pre tests. I had to ask her to repeat herself when she told be I failed because I was convinced I heard wrong!

EDIT to say thanks for the advice and good wishes

Anyway as is pretty obvious I'm a bit bitter about it. I looked into the appeals process, but it's basically non-existent, you have to go to court and the most they can do is order a re-test. I don't drive much since the other half passed anyway, no point taking the chance, it's just handy when I want to head home to Wexford the odd time, otherwise I wouldn't be bothered if I never passed.

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Even your Username mocks you, Passing Interest!!!! :)

I've endured the same woes - failed in March for the third time. :(

In fairness, I've contributed to my own downfall here - zero interest for years and poor preparation. That said, thought I drove well for the last test.

I was a bit unfortunate as the lights had failed at a junction which threw me a bit. I slowed right down to ensure the way was safe and clear and then proceeded but apparently in this instance you treat the junction with the faulty lights as a Full Stop. It was a safe manouevre - but the wrong one. :(

What works against me is that I don't drive continuously which leads to rustiness.

At least I'll have a designated driver as the Missus passed 7 years ago - first time.

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Originally Posted by Macy

btw - the waiting list for the NCT is ridiculous.

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I'd say the nct waiting list depends upon where you are.
Here the wait is about 2 weeks which is grand.

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Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

How can the PSNI verify that a car is untaxed in another jurisdiction?

I would presume they don't have access to the Irish tax records and made the decision on the basis of the old tax disk displayed.

I'd almost guarantee this could be appealed.

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At a guess I'd say that your appeal would have to include evidence that your car was taxed. If you don't have that you won't get far.

I got stopped today and my dad got stopped yesterday so they're about.

I was out this morning, and there seemed to be an unusually high number of cars with L plates around. I wonder if it's people preparing for those last minute tests, or just fear that they'll get done for not displaying the plates at the moment.

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

At a guess I'd say that your appeal would have to include evidence that your car was taxed. If you don't have that you won't get far.

I got stopped today and my dad got stopped yesterday so they're about.

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I got stopped three times on Friday driving across the country, but thats not the point.

You can't enforce another country's laws and to the extent you are enforcing your owns laws, you need sufficient evidence to do this.

But good to see the Guards and PSNI enforcing road rules. The cost of uninsured drivers (who will also likely be untaxed) adds a sizeable amount to everyone's annual premium.

I heard a news story that the pass rate in the private test centres in higher. Could not find web link though...

65% against 51% according to Radio 1 this morning.


I passed a guy on a motorbike today - hi-vis vest, and an L plate stuck on his back. Is that part of the new regs.?

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Originally Posted by noby

65% against 51% according to Radio 1 this morning.

I passed a guy on a motorbike today - hi-vis vest, and an L plate stuck on his back. Is that part of the new regs.?

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65% is almost 1/3 better chance than 51% which is significant,

Noticing a few more shiny new L plates in recent weeks. I think many some people were not displaying them previously.

The pass rates were in the Herald yesterday. In one particular town the RSA centre had a 30 something percent pass rate while the SGS center had close to 70 percent. The justification was that those tested by SGS have been waiting longer and are better prepared.

Im doing my test with SGS on the 8th of July. Just back from my 4th lesson there now and the instructor was fairly impressed. Anyone else here do their's with SGS?

They say thy have been handing the SGS crowd the more experienced drivers, those waiting for longer periods and who were on 2nd 3rd etc provisionals.

I would stand to reason that these are people with more driving experience and the pass rate would be higher ?

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Originally Posted by higgins

They say thy have been handing the SGS crowd the more experienced drivers, those waiting for longer periods and who were on 2nd 3rd etc provisionals.

I would stand to reason that these are people with more driving experience and the pass rate would be higher ?

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You could also suggest they are getting the 4+ brigade. Lets face it if you can't pass after 3 you probably never will.

Sometimes more experience means more bad habits for the test.