Successful - post here

TheQuietBeatle

Passed today! Yes! Definitely one of my proudest moments and a goal achieved for the year.

I'm 28 and stopped driving for years due to nervousness. I was in a serious car accident as a child which affected my confidence.

I had only 2 marks against me. Focus on observation (mirror, signal), road positioning, speed, practice the junctions because there will be many. Do what's comfortable for YOU in the reverse section.

A glass of wine tonight to celebrate!

neonsofa

TheQuietBeatle wrote: »

Passed today! Yes! Definitely one of my proudest moments and a goal achieved for the year.
!

Well done! Such a good feeling! enjoy your wine!

The guy

Third time is the charm, I passed my driving test even after doing a woeful reverse around the corner.

neonsofa

The guy wrote: »

Third time is the charm, I passed my driving test even after doing a woeful reverse around the corner.

Well done! great feeling when you messed up a manouver but still pass- same happened me with the reverse! Congrats

monkeyslayer

Passed first time this morning in Tallaght, to my amazement... I nailed all the technical stuff, all the questions etc, turnabout, corner etc etc, just about cleared a yellow box... its defo a test of nerve as much as anything else imo. The heat in the car was something else, 25+ easily outside, And, having another guy in the back didn't help! I'd passed my two pretests yesterday with flying colors but today my gearing and speed was all over the place compared to 'real life' so got a few marks for that, i was convinced I'd failed when taking an orange filter left off the dual carriageway when suddenly an oncoming car veers right across me almost into my path, I didn't realize he had a green till after and he was flying it... thought that was it, game over, messed up the parking a bit a the end, got back to the desk and couldn't even look at him as he filled out the paperwork. When he asked me sign a certificate of competency, i actually thought he was joking.. jesus the relief... having read the entire unsuccessful thread I'm so glad to be posting in this one

neonsofa

monkeyslayer wrote: »

Passed first time this morning in Tallaght, to my amazement... I nailed all the technical stuff, all the questions etc, turnabout, corner etc etc, just about cleared a yellow box... its defo a test of nerve as much as anything else imo. The heat in the car was something else, 25+ easily outside, And, having another guy in the back didn't help! I'd passed my two pretests yesterday with flying colors but today my gearing and speed was all over the place compared to 'real life' so got a few marks for that, i was convinced I'd failed when taking an orange filter left off the dual carriageway when suddenly an oncoming car veers right across me almost into my path, I didn't realize he had a green till after and he was flying it... thought that was it, game over, messed up the parking a bit a the end, got back to the desk and couldn't even look at him as he filled out the paperwork. When he asked me sign a certificate of competency, i actually thought he was joking.. jesus the relief... having read the entire unsuccessful thread I'm so glad to be posting in this one

What a great story! well done! And in this heat as well! You won't be forgetting in a hurry

KeKe

I passed mine first time on Friday! So happy I could cry. Only a few grade 2s for progress at roundabouts and on a straight. It was a very busy day and with my nerves, the tester said I was being too cautious. This was amazing as only a few months ago, I couldn't drive a petrol car without stalling and didn't know how to change gears properly.

I'm in my late twenties and from the country so it was practically unheard of for someone in my circumstance not to have my test done. Even applying for some jobs they ask for a full clean driving licence! I would get asked a lot when I'm gonna do it which added more pressure. I mention this as it played a big factor in the lead up to the test. I kept deferring and deferring which built up the Driving Test as a monster. My friend just sat me down one day and said book the test, but don't tell anyone as it's not their business and just effing do it! It's a mental game. I was early to the test centre and with the humidity and nerves, it looked like I had went for a swim before the test. The tester was a lovely guy, almost forgot he was there at some stages as he acted and sounded like a GPS! Drove back to the test centre and he had me sit down before he said I passed. Lads, the nerves!

My family and friends were so proud when I showed them that A5(?) piece of paper!!

neonsofa

Well done KeKe!

AidoEirE

Passed mine today in tuam. Only had 4 faults which was fairly insane as i kept thinking the worst before the test.
Had two pretest's last week and did fairly horrible.
Failed 4 times over in one. Wasnt a fan of my instructor or his car so after the second test i thought this guy is not doin it for me. I was booked for this monday with the same guy so i cancelled on the sunday. The guy berated me down the phone saying i wont pass and good luck finding another instructor.
Got insured on the family car, spent about 8 hours practing the route and my faults the next few days and boom!
Youtubed ISM which helped alot.
Got to say it's all a mental thing, as soon as i walked into the office today my brain went full focus.
Brillant feeling when you hear the magic word!!

spurious

AidoEirE wrote: »

The guy berated me down the phone saying i wont pass and good luck finding another instructor.

Gosh how unprofessional.
Well done on proving him wrong.

neonsofa

spurious wrote: »

Gosh how unprofessional.
Well done on proving him wrong.

Absolutely. Well done. I'd say it made it all the more sweet in the end! Not that it excuses it in any way.

AidoEirE

neonsofa wrote: »

Absolutely. Well done. I'd say it made it all the more sweet in the end! Not that it excuses it in any way.

Cheers guys,Yeah so much sweeter definately, the guy can do one. Cant let people put you down, chin up and get on with it

Monaco1989

Had posted in a previous thread looking for advice but thought I'd throw it on here too.

Delighted to say I passed my test today at the first time of asking in Finglas this morning at 8am. I've had tests rescheduled 5 times over the last year, by myself due to injury and by the rsa once, so I felt like today would never come. To say I didn't sleep well would be an understatement but the coffee got me through.

From the beginning the instructor was friendly which immediately relaxed me, think it was 6 minutes from the time I was called in, to sitting in the car having, signed the declaration, answered the questions and looked under the bonnet.

He kept us off the main roads due to rush hour so for those of you familiar with Finglas we were mainly driving around Oakwood/Cedarwood/Pinewood/Willow Park and Hillcrest.

Manoeuvres were fairly straight forward, only one car approached on the reverse. Passed with 6 grade 2s. Chuffed would be an understatement.

partyboy690

Passed today, consider myself incredibly fortunate but I must have done most of the drive very well to actually pass.

I slightly hit a kerb on my out of the centre(bad start eh?) didn't get a mark for it thankfully, it was tight and I had turned left out that way loads of times before without ever hitting it. Just glad I kept going and didn't let it affect me.

I did the reverse around the corner flawlessly first which I reckon saved my skin for the turnabout which I royally screwed up even though I had done it in the exact same place earlier in the day perfectly. I bumped off the kerb but didn't mount it, lost a good few marks for this because of the bump and the observations weren't good enough, bar one mark on a roundabout that's where all my marks were lost.

Also as I was turning left into a carpark I stopped on a cycle track right at the end and I cursed quietly to myself thinking 'well I failed definitely now because of that' didn't even get a grade 2 which surprised me greatly.

The tester must have seen enough on my general driving to warrant a pass, in hindsight I notice now after bumping the kerb he made me pull in loads of times and pull off again and he made me go through the most awkward left turn which you can easily hit a kerb and I didn't hit a kerb any of those times.

In any case I'm delighted to have that out of the way and the tester was dead sound, very professional and if he had failed me I wouldn't have felt aggrieved.

EDIT: And it was my first time too which I'm very happy with!

monkeyslayer

partyboy690 wrote: »

The tester must have seen enough on my general driving to warrant a pass, in hindsight I notice now after bumping the kerb he made me pull in loads of times and pull off again and he made me go through the most awkward left turn which you can easily hit a kerb and I didn't hit a kerb any of those times.

In any case I'm delighted to have that out of the way and the tester was dead sound, very professional and if he had failed me I wouldn't have felt aggrieved.

EDIT: And it was my first time too which I'm very happy with!

Congrats, I have to say I felt exactly the same after passing mine a few weeks ago, I still don't know how I passed despite the major no no no on my test day. I really feel I was passed on a sense of my good driving and competency rather an out and out fail due to the pressure of the test. If I was to give any advice I'd say practice the s**t out of the technical stuff, don't sacrifice marks in advance of the test, more than likely you'll need them.

Ninjavampire

partyboy690 wrote: »

Passed today, consider myself incredibly fortunate but I must have done most of the drive very well to actually pass.

I slightly hit a kerb on my out of the centre(bad start eh?) didn't get a mark for it thankfully, it was tight and I had turned left out that way loads of times before without ever hitting it. Just glad I kept going and didn't let it affect me.

I did the reverse around the corner flawlessly first which I reckon saved my skin for the turnabout which I royally screwed up even though I had done it in the exact same place earlier in the day perfectly. I bumped off the kerb but didn't mount it, lost a good few marks for this because of the bump and the observations weren't good enough, bar one mark on a roundabout that's where all my marks were lost.

Also as I was turning left into a carpark I stopped on a cycle track right at the end and I cursed quietly to myself thinking 'well I failed definitely now because of that' didn't even get a grade 2 which surprised me greatly.

The tester must have seen enough on my general driving to warrant a pass, in hindsight I notice now after bumping the kerb he made me pull in loads of times and pull off again and he made me go through the most awkward left turn which you can easily hit a kerb and I didn't hit a kerb any of those times.

In any case I'm delighted to have that out of the way and the tester was dead sound, very professional and if he had failed me I wouldn't have felt aggrieved.

EDIT: And it was my first time too which I'm very happy with!

Congrats on passing!

Your experience confuses me though, as many people have been failed for touching the kerb at all, let alone twice. Definitely says something to the inconsistency in giving faults between testers.

Extrasupervery

These last few reports are confusing and do point to some inconsistency, but make me feel better! I'm going out this evening to practice the turnaround and reverse around the corner until residents of the housing estate I'm in get freaked out and report me

partyboy690

Ninjavampire wrote: »

Congrats on passing!

Your experience confuses me though, as many people have been failed for touching the kerb at all, let alone twice. Definitely says something to the inconsistency in giving faults between testers.

Yeah I know right, I thought I was doomed but I nailed the theory and driving controls and pretty much nailed everything else bar that one roundabout and the turnabout. I did look into it and touching the kerb is not a grade 3 fault unless your lack of observation missed a hazard like a pedestrian. Mounting the kerb is often a fail however, I barely grazed it on the turnabout. I did slightly mount it leaving the test centre but it was definitely a very very tight left and there was some leniency. A stricter tester could have failed me for either though. I got no other marks for lack of observation, lack of progress, bad controls etc... so I reckon the good mood of the examiner combined with that passed me plus he saw I was a ball of nerves.

EDIT: Also it wasn't a footpath kerb I hit leaving the test centre it was a kerb for some shrubbery which probably helped.

iguana

Passed today in Limerick, Castlemungret with 4 grade 2s and a grade 1. I was crazy nervous but had the nicest tester imaginable. I'm actually still so wound up that I haven't managed to relax and be happy about it yet but hopefully I'll wake up delighted tomorrow.

neonsofa

iguana wrote: »

Passed today in Limerick, Castlemungret with 4 grade 2s and a grade 1. I was crazy nervous but had the nicest tester imaginable. I'm actually still so wound up that I haven't managed to relax and be happy about it yet but hopefully I'll wake up delighted tomorrow.

Aw iguana I saw your name pop up on this thread and was hoping it was because you had passed your own test!! Well done! I read a lot of your posts on the forum in preparation for my own test. Well done!!

iguana

Thanks. I was so nervous going in and then we did a completely new route which made me a complete wreck. My instructor had warned me on my pre-test this morning that he had heard the routes were changing but I was hoping we'd still do one of the more usual routes that I was confident on. The thing is my driving is good but I think that in a lot of ways, passing the test is a completely different skill. I do hill starts most days. I do a more complicated version of a 3-point turn every day on my driveway so I never have to reverse across the cycle lane outside. I managed really well only on Tuesday when the car in front of me blew a tyre on a national road and the split tyre flew straight back at me. But the test is another matter. It's a real pressure cooker where you are so conscious of how easy it is to fail that your driving in the test might be no indication of your ability on the road. And the waiting situation here where it's now taking an average of 21 weeks to get a test date really adds to the stress because knowing you'll have to wait nearly 6 months to try again is very different from thinking that you can try again next month if you screw up. (And to make matters worse, my insurance is up at the end of the month and failing would have meant a higher premium.)

Extrasupervery

Well done iguana! Can't believe there is a 21 week wait in some centres...that seems ridiculous!

iguana

It's crazy. I was looking at the waiting lists online and some places are up to 27 weeks. It's nuts. If it took you 3 or 4 attempts to pass, it could take a couple of years to get a licence. If it was the 70s I'd say they'd just call another amnesty. As it is, I have a suspicion that it's a huge part of why so many Learner Permit holders just drive around by themselves, even taking their L plates off and using the motorway. Wait six months, fail due to nerves, wait another six months, fail or maybe you can't make the test due to a sick child, etc. Know it will be another 6 months before you can try again. Just think 'feck it' and start driving as if you had a licence already. Justify it by knowing it's wrong but so is the system. Mostly get away with it because the guards rarely care and insurance companies are still paying out when unaccompanied learners are at fault in an accident.

iguana

iguana wrote: »

It's crazy. I was looking at the waiting lists online and some places are up to 27 weeks. It's nuts. If it took you 3 or 4 attempts to pass, it could take a couple of years to get a licence. If it was the 70s I'd say they'd just call another amnesty. As it is, I have a suspicion that it's a huge part of why so many Learner Permit holders just drive around by themselves, even taking their L plates off and using the motorway. Wait six months, fail due to nerves, wait another six months, fail or maybe you can't make the test due to a sick child, etc. Know it will be another 6 months before you can try again. Just think 'feck it' and start driving as if you had a licence already. Justify it by knowing it's wrong but so is the system. Mostly get away with it because the guards rarely care and insurance companies are still paying out when unaccompanied learners are at fault in an accident.

As well as that when you play by the rules you feel more ****ed over than those who don't. I could take the piss and drive around on the learner's permit but I don't. Meanwhile I see people commuting every day without a full licence. Working on a college campus also means seeing an awful lot of people with L plates driving around with impunity. I really wish the Gardai would set up a checkpoint once in a while.

neonsofa

[Deleted User] wrote: »

As well as that when you play by the rules you feel more ****ed over than those who don't. I could take the piss and drive around on the learner's permit but I don't. Meanwhile I see people commuting every day without a full licence. Working on a college campus also means seeing an awful lot of people with L plates driving around with impunity. I really wish the Gardai would set up a checkpoint once in a while.

Even worse is all the people actually telling you to do the same, scoffing when you tell them it's actually illegal. The amount of people rolling their eyes at me when I wouldn't drive on my own- including an instructor!!

liamog

neonsofa wrote: »

Even worse is all the people actually telling you to do the same, scoffing when you tell them it's actually illegal. The amount of people rolling their eyes at me when I wouldn't drive on my own- including an instructor!!

I've applied for my test and told the instructor I'd book a pre test with him two weeks before.

He suggested I should drive out to him to do the pre-test on my own.
No chance mate.

neonsofa

liamog wrote: »

I've applied for my test and told the instructor I'd book a pre test with him two weeks before.

He suggested I should drive out to him to do the pre-test on my own.
No chance mate.

Same as mine. And I had gone with mine cause the previous one was becoming more and more irritated at me, one reason being that I wouldn't drive to him. Cowboys.

playedalive

I passed my Driving Test in Tallaght yesterday morning on a last minute cancellation I rang up for last Monday. I am so thrilled and just can't believe it as I had only been driving regularly with my sponsor in preparation for the last minute test as my instructor was not free. I only started driving last year properly (Though I had obtained the learner permit back when it was called a Provisional ). I had failed 3 times previously on Grade 2s since having gone for tests since October last year. After my third driving test I was so gutted and upset. My confidence was gone. I had thought I had made great improvements and got more experience in driving (corrected gear faults, position, reaction to hazards that failed me the first two times) but then I failed on progression ten times over. I was so close to just saying driving was not for me as I had gone through so many instructors and it seemed that no matter how I improved, there was always some new fault that was never corrected and the instructors were telling me I was ready...So I changed Instructors again based on word of mouth for good feedback for students passing in Tallaght and I changed centres also, which opened up my experience of different roads. Found I managed to get fresh eyes on my driving, good perspective on the test and drive on new roads like dual carriageways that I hadn't experienced previously. That way, my driving skills just got better.

I went from 11 grade 2s to 5 grade 2s, which were only one on certain isolated incidences instead of one particular aspect of my driving (like progression) which was failing me previously, so my driving seems pretty balanced out at least, for which I am thankful.

Tl;DR: Passed fourth time as an anxious wreck who tried everything and every instructor possible. If I can impart any wisdom, don't give up. If you really want it, don't give up.

bigmc23

Passed on my second attempt in churchtown today with 2 * grade 2s. Remembering GOSHO for taking off from stationery and MSMM for making turns is key!

Passed on my second attempt today. I never have to look in my mirrors again! :pac: