Applying for the Driving Test?

PWEI

Can anybody tell me the different ways to apply for the driving test and which one is the quickest.Is it true that once you apply the standard waiting period is 12 months?
Thanks in advance!!

govinda

You can get all the information (including the disastrous waiting times) you need here:

www.drivingtest.ie

Applying online would be the quickest way. Best of luck!

aodh_rua

Some of the centres in the west have much lower - down to the teens in terms of weeks. They also seem to have better pass rates - connection?

For the longer waits - the driver testing people will accept a letter from your employer saying that you need it for work. That could cut your wait from a year to around 3 months.

gurramok

Some of the centres in the west have much lower - down to the teens in terms of weeks. They also seem to have better pass rates - connection?

My wait was 15 weeks just over a year ago in Finglas with no fixed route.
Route depends on the instructor's preferences from that centre.

It varies from centre to centre, maybe the test is harder in the cities due to traffic/daily hazards (speculation of course not to offend our country cousins )

aodh_rua

Anyone know how to get a quick retest? I made a ball's of mine today. The tester got in the car and sat on my specs and by the time we found em (five mnutes later) any chance of a forgiving test experience was out the window and my nerves were shot.

I've done all the pretests and what not and the instructor thought I should've breezed through and I am really frustrated at the thought of going back on the waiting list (even the with letter one).

PWEI

Thanks a lot of the info.I applied online and paid with Laser.Is there any way of tracking your application? I didn't get any email confirming I had paid or confirming i had applied for the test.

Ronaldo7

ye man i applied in September and i still dont have any bloody confirmation. What is the story with this? Im kind of nervous now because i was going to get lessons coming up to the test and now the ****s havent got back to me.

*Sorry for cursing, but im getting nervous now...*:dunno:

EDIT: Churchtown 50.2%(pass rate) 51 Weeks

Holy **** thats a bad pass rate and a long wait...grrr so that means some time in july ill have it. What if ur going away and cant do it then? Do they wait till u come back or is there another 51 week late...load of bollox.

PWEI

I got a letter in the door today confirming my application. Ronaldo7 if I was you I'd ring them up cause I only applied at the beginning of this month.

aodh_rua

Originally posted by Ronaldo7
ye man i applied in September and i still dont have any bloody confirmation. What is the story with this? Im kind of nervous now because i was going to get lessons coming up to the test and now the ****s havent got back to me.

*Sorry for cursing, but im getting nervous now...*:dunno:

EDIT: Churchtown 50.2%(pass rate) 51 Weeks

Holy **** thats a bad pass rate and a long wait...grrr so that means some time in july ill have it. What if ur going away and cant do it then? Do they wait till u come back or is there another 51 week late...load of bollox.

Whatever about the delay in getting a test - the confirmation of your application usually takes a week. Has the application fee been taken out of your account? They usually do that straight away too.

If I was you - I'd get onto them asap to see what's going on because I'd be worried that the application has gotten lost along the way.

seamus

I'd agree Ronaldo, normally they're very quick in getting back to say your application has been received.

You won't get a date until 6 weeks before your test. Since you applied in September, at the moment, don't expect to hear anything until Middle-Late July at the earliest.

However, it does seem that the backlog is being cleared, albeit slowly....

LEARNER drivers have to wait almost a year to get a driving test, according to new figures.

The longest wait is at Dungarvan, Co Waterford where it takes 49 weeks to get a test.

But it is much shorter in Athlone where they have it down to just nine weeks - the shortest waiting time in the country.

There are 118 testers in 55 test centres nationwide.

A further nine supervisors work in headquarter centres and there is a Chief Driver Tester based in Ballina, Co Mayo. The figures were released by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan in the Dail last night.

Not that the Indo could be wrong...
But if that's right then most of the current waits have dropped by about 4 weeks, since Waterford was 53 weeks just before Christmas. Athlone on the other hand has dropped 7 weeks, so it could be promising.
I'll wait till the figures are refreshed on the driving test website, but if 9 weeks is right, I'm very pushed towards popping out to Athlone for the test

aodh_rua

Originally posted by seamus
I'd agree Ronaldo, normally they're very quick in getting back to say your application has been received.

You won't get a date until 6 weeks before your test. Since you applied in September, at the moment, don't expect to hear anything until Middle-Late July at the earliest.

However, it does seem that the backlog is being cleared, albeit slowly....


Not that the Indo could be wrong...
But if that's right then most of the current waits have dropped by about 4 weeks, since Waterford was 53 weeks just before Christmas. Athlone on the other hand has dropped 7 weeks, so it could be promising.
I'll wait till the figures are refreshed on the driving test website, but if 9 weeks is right, I'm very pushed towards popping out to Athlone for the test

Cleared my a** - according to the latest (16 Feb) figures Naas has now stretched to 60 weeks. There are then a brace of centres on 59. A year and two months is ridiculous - especially if somewhere else is on a waiting list that's a full year shorter.

seamus

Originally posted by aodh_rua
Cleared my a** - according to the latest (16 Feb) figures Naas has now stretched to 60 weeks. There are then a brace of centres on 59. A year and two months is ridiculous - especially if somewhere else is on a waiting list that's a full year shorter.

Where did you get those figures? (No doubting you, I need to know )

sceptre

Originally posted by seamus
Where did you get those figures? (No doubting you, I need to know )

Waiting times as at 16 February:
http://www.drivingtest.ie/drivingtest/HTMLContent/passrates.html
(Athlone or Ennis anyone?)

seamus

There we go, wasn't there when I posted earlier. Good old Indo, let's feck up the figures completely.

Athlone I think it is

Capt'n Midnight

There are 118 testers in 55 test centres nationwide.

So on average each year each tester passes three people who are later in fatal road accidents .....

Andrew Duffy

Oh come on now - that would suggest that every road fatality is a newly-licenced driver. That's just silly.

TommyK

I did my test just before the Minister announced that everyone had to carry their licences. I only waited about 4 weeks.

That announcement brought all the idiots that were driving on a provisional or no licence for donkeys years rushing to get a test.

So it bloody well serves them all right!

I only have sympathy for the people who only *recently* got a licence and want to get a test.

I hope the rest of them have to wait forever. Ha!

Tommy.