Driving Test Experiences

Aceform

Hi,

Could some of you please share your Driving Test experiences. Also a few tips to pass the Test will be very useful.

Many Thanks guys,
Ace

BoozyBabe

I think that's a difficult question because every test is different. Every town is different, the car that pulls out infront of you making you have to think of the best thing to do, prob won't have happenend for most other people so what advice to give??????

Try to stay clam & forget that the person beside you is judging you (V difficult I know)
Make sure to always use your mirros correctly, & let him see you are using them (BUT only when they are required, looking straight ahead is most important)
Always indicate in good time, not at the last minute.
Always keep both hands on the steering wheel, except to change gears.
Always keep within the spped limit
Always keep a safe distance from the car infront.
Always keep the car in the correct position on the road. (you can get marked down for being too close to the white line, or for driving over the yellow line at the sides of the roads (these have to be treated as if they're footpaths.

I'm a N/W admin, so spend a lot of my time fixing PCs. My instructor had a problem with his PC, so chatted to me about it all through the test, so I'd barely enough time to think about what I was doing.

The test was in the centre of town on a rainy cold friday during 5pm rush hour in Jan!!!!

Town was so busy I wasn't even made do the 3-point turn. I was sure I'd failed when he told me to go back to the test centre. Thanksfully I hadn't!!!!

On the other hand, my bf (ex now) got caught out.
A lorry had parked on his side at the top of a hill. You can be failed for not maintaining the flow of traffic, so my bf had to decide whether to wait until whenever the lorry decided to move, or go around it..
He chose the latter & has he did he could see the instuctor flinch!!! Game over!!!!

Best of luck

Creamy Goodness

BoozyBabe wrote:

I'm a N/W admin, so spend a lot of my time fixing PCs. My instructor had a problem with his PC, so chatted to me about it all through the test, so I'd barely enough time to think about what I was doing.

this can be a god send if you get an instructor that's friendly, it certainly helps when they start talking to you. On my test we started talking about college and stuff and ended up that his daughter was a graduate from the course i'm doing.

it really helped the nerves i had and totally made me forget that i was doing a test.

don't always feel like you have to stick to the speed limit, obiviously of course don't go over it but don't feel like you got to flying it either, i'd say just keep up - but keep considerable distance - from yourself and the car in front (remember only a fool breaks the two second rule)

coolmoose

turn off your mobile phone! my instructor left his phone in the car, and when i was halfway through the test the f**king thing rang - tester was not impressed! luckily we were stopped at lights, i explained to her it wasn't mine and turned it off!

try to not cross your hands when doing the about turn (remember you dont have to complete it in 3 moves, around 5 is still acceptable as long as you don't hit the kerb)

other than that take your time, and try to treat it as a driving lesson, stay calm and cool, and don't think too much about being tested!

good luck!

Aceform

Cheers all, much needed pointers.

Stark

Cremo wrote:

this can be a god send if you get an instructor that's friendly, it certainly helps when they start talking to you. On my test we started talking about college and stuff and ended up that his daughter was a graduate from the course i'm doing.

it really helped the nerves i had and totally made me forget that i was doing a test.

I had a tester who gave me the cold stare all the way from the waiting area, through the theory test section and car checks and all the way through the test. Sent my nerves through the roof. Bastard.

Ay Cee

I did my driving test in Portlaoise. The instructor I had told me not to be afraid to speed!!! I was fnked I didn't know what to do. He said keep up with the traffic. If the car's in front are going over 30, go over 30 with them. I was like, "I'm about to do my test, where I don't want to break the law and you're telling me to break the law"

I passed anyway. Had a good chat with the tester. I explained how nerve wracking the exam is. He said that's the way they want it. He said they want people terrified coming in, absolutely sh!tting it so they'll know how that person will react on the roads.

Best advice I can give ye is try to relax. Don't worry over it, try not anyway.

Stark

So did you go over 30?

Irish-trucker

Hi ,

I passed my test on tuesday
I only got 1 blue box !!! and 3 green .
I could'nt believe it that i had passed.
I only had 6 lessons ... ,and only found out i was doing the test 10 days ago .

My advice , show the tester your confidence ,and ability .
Do your best ,and as someone said, treat it as if your driving with your instructor.
Keep looking around all the mirror's too

Best of luck

Ay Cee

Stark wrote:

So did you go over 30?

I think I did. The instructor seen who was testing me and said "oh yeah, drive her on with this lad"

JoeyJJ

I got mine a couple of weeks ago, didn't do it in my own car, done it in a mates car (instructor), made me more alert really. Had a lesson a week before the test and a lesson just before it.

If you make a mistake put it out of your mind straight away and relax.

Keep your foot of the clutch until you need it.


Was pissing rain and the instructor asked the under the bonnet questions inside, didn't want to get wet !

netman

The biggest help for me was the instructor, I booked two double lessons. Had the first one about a month before the test. I asked him to let me drive and take notes, then explain to me everything that I need to correct for the test, and give me any pointers.

The instructor used to work as a tester so he knew exactly how it works. It turns out I was doing plenty of things wrong, bad driving habits etc, and he gave me a report. I drove for the next month the way he told me, which was very difficult as you're going against what you're used to doing, and they rightly say old habits die hard.

Had my second double lesson a few days before the test, went through the same drill except he took me down the test route, paractically did the full driving test with me. His advice was invaluable, I'm sure any driving instructor knows what's required in a test, but it's important to learn to drive the way they expect you to. Whenever you're driving anywhere, practice as if you're doing the test.

I passed with a few minor mistakes, but the big things to focus on would be:

Check your mirrors every time you're making a turn, and check your rear view mirror often. This is something that I'm doing to this day, the habit has stuck with me and it's a good one.

Reversing around the corner and the 3 point turn are where most people fail.
Drill them until you get them right. 3 point can be done in 5 or 7 points, so don't worry about doing it in 3 turns, worry about checking for traffic, and not hitting the kerb.

Also reversing around the corner, you need to be close to the kerb, but if you're not they will tolerate a little bit of distance, on the other hand if you go too close and hit the kerb it's game over.

bush

Just failed my test. Trying to apply again but the site doesnt seem to be working for me.
Could someone check to see is it just me?

http://www.drivingtest.ie/drivingtest/HTMLContent/frameset.html

coolmoose

bush wrote:

Just failed my test. Trying to apply again but the site doesnt seem to be working for me.
Could someone check to see is it just me?

http://www.drivingtest.ie/drivingtest/HTMLContent/frameset.html

working for me ...try revisiting www.drivingtest.ie

bush

coolmoose wrote:

working for me ...try revisiting www.drivingtest.ie

Does it work when you click begin application?

coolmoose

yep! just applied for my D test, was meaning to do it anyway! seriously, its working fine. begin application opens up in another window, make sure you don't have pop-ups blocked.

its a javascript executed window also, so check your internet security settings and make sure that you have permissions allowed to execute javascripts (Tools>internet Options>Security>Custom Level; down at bottom you'll see options for scripting.) hope this helps!

Red Hand

Hi, OP.

My test came into my mind yesterday for some reason. Whatever you do, make sure your car is working perfectly. There is nothing worse than a car going at snails pace in a built-up area, speeding up with a jerk and then letting out a gun-shot from the exhaust pipe. Ive been trying to block that memory for about a year or two now, but what I remember of that abortive attempt was of people getting cricks in their necks as they turned to see me coming, the female driving instructor in the passenger seat with a pasted smile on her face as she waved regally like the Queen, telling me out of clenched teeth to pull over and let her off.

I didnt pass that day for some reason.

bush

coolmoose wrote:

yep! just applied for my D test, was meaning to do it anyway! seriously, its working fine. begin application opens up in another window, make sure you don't have pop-ups blocked.

its a javascript executed window also, so check your internet security settings and make sure that you have permissions allowed to execute javascripts (Tools>internet Options>Security>Custom Level; down at bottom you'll see options for scripting.) hope this helps!

The pop up comes up alright but it gives me an error message with no explanation why. This is with opera and internet explorer.


About the test, I got a robot disguised as a man for my test. He marked me down on observation loads of times. What do they want me to do, look around for 5 mins before I pull off. He did me for observation pulling off in the car park even though it was clearly safe.