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With all the chat about tests/failure rates......

  • 17-02-2019 12:31am
    #1
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 1,924 Mod ✭✭✭✭MascotDec85


    I found this online. It requires some fairly honest self-analysis.

    As driving instructors, we can only advise people about their readiness to take a test!
    You may think you are driving well when the instructor is:
    Telling you when to change gear!
    Asking you what the speed limit is!
    Talking you through every manoeuvre!
    Telling you which lane to be in!
    Reminding you which exit to come off of on a roundabout because you forget!
    Helping you when you can’t work out if there is enough space for you to get your car through!
    If all, or any of the above apply to you, then you are not test ready!
    When the door shuts and it’s just you and the examiner, the car is the loneliest place to be, when you make a mistake and your brain goes to mush it’s the worst feeling ever!
    Remember those family and friends who urge you to just have a go for the experience, aren’t the ones having to go through it, people have very selective memorys when it comes to driving and tests!
    Ask anyone who has failed a test if it was a nice experience!
    Remember it’s YOU doing the test, no one else, no phone to google answers, no help from anyone else just YOU!
    If you are up to standard, you will still be nervous, but you won’t be doubtful of your ability!
    Go look in the mirror and have a straight talk with yourself!
    This is a skill for life.
    It saves YOUR life and other road users life.
    The big question is.......
    Would you take an A level if you hadn’t studied enough and then expect to pass it?
    Thanks for reading. Have a serious think .....


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 343 ✭✭emilymemily


    If youre so bad at driving that you dont know when to change lanes or what the speed limit is then it's understandable youd fail the test, I cant imagine anyone going for a test not knowing the basics of driving and I cant imagine a driving instructor encouraging a client to do so.
    Suggesting that everyone who fails the test is an idiot with no basic knowledge of how to drive after 12+ lessons is very condescending and down right ignorant. People are failing their tests over minute 'mistakes' that have no effect on the person driving or other road users.
    Imo its a big money racket. The cost of learning how to drive is shocking. The theory test books, the price of the theory itself then paying for the provisional license on top of the hundreds it costs to get driving lessons all before paying for the test itself which has to be repeated and paid for a second time when failed. It costs a grand or more just to get a license when you add all that up. I don't think anyone is taking that lightly by spending hundreds on tests knowing they cant even change gear.
    And whats an A level?

    I think people who have been driving for years dont understand the amount of time and money it takes to learn how to drive these days let alone get a car and insure it. They are trying to catch new drivers out at any opportunity as they know they'll have to pay, literally, for their mistakes.


  • Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators Posts: 1,924 Mod ✭✭✭✭MascotDec85


    If youre so bad at driving that you dont know when to change lanes or what the speed limit is then it's understandable youd fail the test, I cant imagine anyone going for a test not knowing the basics of driving and I cant imagine a driving instructor encouraging a client to do so.
    Suggesting that everyone who fails the test is an idiot with no basic knowledge of how to drive after 12+ lessons is very condescending and down right ignorant. People are failing their tests over minute 'mistakes' that have no effect on the person driving or other road users.
    Imo its a big money racket. The cost of learning how to drive is shocking. The theory test books, the price of the theory itself then paying for the provisional license on top of the hundreds it costs to get driving lessons all before paying for the test itself which has to be repeated and paid for a second time when failed. It costs a grand or more just to get a license when you add all that up. I don't think anyone is taking that lightly by spending hundreds on tests knowing they cant even change gear.
    And whats an A level?

    I think people who have been driving for years dont understand the amount of time and money it takes to learn how to drive these days let alone get a car and insure it. They are trying to catch new drivers out at any opportunity as they know they'll have to pay, literally, for their mistakes.

    There are countless people going for test every day who don’t know what the speed limit is, they very often don’t see signs, simply they aren’t paying attention.
    There are countless people who go for test and don’t use the gears or clutch correctly. I meet countless of people throughout a year who tell me “ah I just went for it and hoped for the best” after failing numerous tests. So these things do happen.
    An A level is an exam in England where I got the post from. The point is, people need to properly prepare for the driving test in the same way they’ve prepared for any other exam they’ve sat and done well in.

    Yes learning to drive can be expensive. A driving licence is something you have to work for, it’s not a right. Driving instructors have to make a living. Tests have to be paid for, they can’t be free. When they were cheaper, thousands a year wouldn’t turn up cos they could pay €30 for a test they had no intention of sitting so that they could renew their provisional.

    The post was designed to make people think. It wasn’t an attack. Learning to drive would be more affordable if greedy insurance companies weren’t screwing everyone or judges in personal injury cases had a bit of cop on.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,001 ✭✭✭ Maliyah Dead Plasma


    I’m normally not one for long posts but I’ve had a quick look through the 2 posts here.

    In short I’ve mentioned on other threads about the Cork pensioner who has sat and failed the test 17 times yet claims to have driven on a then provisional licence and now learner permit, testers were brought in from up the country, he challenged it in court and now claims he is blacklisted, this was supported in court by his driving instructor.

    2 things from all of that:

    1. How are people allowed to just carry on after failing like nothing has happened.

    2. The previously suggested idea on another thread that driving instructors formally test their own students is the most bizarre thing I have heard.

    The suggestion was to reduce the backlog

    The current format could do with improvements as with other areas of road traffic legislation, but the 2 above are just daft.


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,521 Mod ✭✭✭✭Amirani


    The cost of learning how to drive is shocking. The theory test books, the price of the theory itself then paying for the provisional license on top of the hundreds it costs to get driving lessons all before paying for the test itself which has to be repeated and paid for a second time when failed. It costs a grand or more just to get a license when you add all that up. I don't think anyone is taking that lightly by spending hundreds on tests knowing they cant even change gear.
    And whats an A level?

    I think people who have been driving for years dont understand the amount of time and money it takes to learn how to drive these days let alone get a car and insure it. They are trying to catch new drivers out at any opportunity as they know they'll have to pay, literally, for their mistakes.

    I just did this in the past year, so I'm well aware of the costs involved.

    Driving isn't a right though. The instruction hours, testing hours, learning materials all have to be paid for; people aren't going to work for free. It's entirely correct that these costs should be borne by the person learning to drive.

    Also regarding it costing "a grand or more"; it really doesn't have to. If you're smart about it, you can do it all for about €600. Use the library for learning material, just do the minimum 12 lessons (and maximise your benefit from them - bring questions, self-analyse, do prep between lessons), and just pay for the theory & driving test once. This is exactly what I did.


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