Loaning a car for the test...

Nuttzz

So my friends american licence is worthless here and he sits the driving test here at the end of the month, he wants to borrow my Alfa GT for his test, he has no problem driving it and i'd trust him completely. But I wonder if the tester may have an "attitude" that he turns up in a flashy car and be harder on him, or should I give him Mrs N's 01 merc? or should he just fork out for a car from a driving school, no doubt they will want to sell add on lessons, pretests etc

Stark

He'll be tested on his driving, not his car.

Nuttzz wrote:

or should he just fork out for a car from a driving school, no doubt they will want to sell add on lessons, pretests etc

Yup. An instructor will only rent you their car when they feel you've a reasonable standard of driving. Shouldn't he be getting some kind of pre-test lessons anyway though?

Nuttzz

After 15 years driving accident free in the US he feels he doesnt need one, I'll loan him the car and let you know how he gets on

Alanstrainor

Nuttzz wrote: »

After 15 years driving accident free in the US he feels he doesnt need one, I'll loan him the car and let you know how he gets on

Hmmmm, although he might think he's a good driver, and he might be brilliant. It's a whole different story for doing a test though, there's "driving" and there's driving for a test. He might have loads of small bad habits that he has picked up over the years, I'm just saying it might be worth his while to get 1 pretest and see how that goes. It's be pretty silly not to imo. If he passes that pretest no bother then he's grand, if not he'll get the pointers he needs. Given the waiting times for the test i'd imagine passing first time would be a priority.

SuB-Zero_Ire

i passed my test last week and i've been drivin no probs for they last 2years and only got around to doin the test now! the test is totally different to driving normally. when ur driving u no wats happenin around you and wat ur doin but in the test u hav to be able to show the tester that. u should do a pre-test and he should pic up all ur habits which u wouldnt even realise ur doin!

Wishbone Ash

SuB-Zero_Ire wrote: »

i passed my test last week and i've been drivin no probs for they last 2years and only got around to doin the test now! the test is totally different to driving normally. when ur driving u no wats happenin around you and wat ur doin but in the test u hav to be able to show the tester that. u should do a pre-test and he should pic up all ur habits which u wouldnt even realise ur doin!

This ain't Bebo Sub Zero - drop the TXT SPK rubbish!

SeanW

he should definately get lessons here because there's a very profound difference between "normal" driving and "test standard" driving. For example in normal driving no-one cares how you drive so long as you do so safely and with respect for the Rules of the Road. But on a test, you have to have a very high driving standard, knowing exactly what they (the testers) want in terms of steering, gears, mirror checks, positioning, special maneuvres etc. Stuff that absolutely noone will give a rats rear end about once he has his certificate of competency.

Getting his license in America with an American driving test may have had some differences to what he should expect here - you can "hand over hand" steer there (I think) but that would fail you fast here. Manual vs. automatic etc.

Even in the UK there are, the MSMM (Mirror Signal Mirror Maneuvre) procedure - which is a staple requirement for passing an Irish test - is reduced to MSM Mirror Signal Maneuvre according to one British learning to drive website I saw.

The bottom line is that if your friend's driving is up to Irish test standard and the tester is reasonably sound, he will pass. If not, he won't.

Nuttzz

i totally agree but you can lead a horse to water etc etc

as an aside are test times not comming down? i heared 12 weeks mentioned somewhere

chris85

OP, dont forget your mate has been driving on the wrong (right) side of the road in America so he may be a great driver and by all means give him the car but a pretest may help him.

By the way, can i borrow your Alfa GT??

Permabear

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Alanstrainor

+1 to most of what donegalfella said, it was actually quite intersting, i always wondered what the american driving test was like, and now that i know, OH MY GOD! I thought Ireland was bad enough for having an "easy" test, But that's ridiculous.

donegalfella wrote: »

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:rolleyes:

Stark

donegalfella wrote:

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Nonsense. All nonsense. It's like the old wives' tale that a tester is less likely to pass a young male driver, when the stats show that this demographic has the highest pass rate.

Wishbone Ash

Stark wrote: »

Nonsense. All nonsense. It's like the old wives' tale that a tester is less likely to pass a young male driver, when the stats show that this demographic has the highest pass rate.

+1 Young males are more likely to pass than any other category.

When the examiner sees an Alfa, he'll probably be more worried about whether it will make it around the test route! :pac: :pac:



(Sorry Nuttzz, I couldn't resist! )

Permabear

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Stark

I'm saying that in general, rumours of testers passing or failing people based on prejudices are nonsense. Like that thing about the instructor's car is a load of codswallop. His standard of driving will show whether or not he's done the preparation. The car he shows up in is irrelevant.

Permabear

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prodigal_son

donegalfella wrote: »

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Either that, or genetically men are 5% better drivers than women.

I believe the geographic failure rates are down to certain towns and villages just being more difficult to drive in. Some places just five minutes apart have such different routes that one goes through busy streets and blind intersections, while the other goes through closed estates and only one or two main roads.

Obviously one will have a higher pass rate, no?

Stark

It would be more cause for concern if pass rates were identical across all centres.

Permabear

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RoseBlossom

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Hmmmm, although he might think he's a good driver, and he might be brilliant. It's a whole different story for doing a test though, there's "driving" and there's driving for a test. He might have loads of small bad habits that he has picked up over the years, I'm just saying it might be worth his while to get 1 pretest and see how that goes. It's be pretty silly not to imo.

I agree. Also, there could be different rules of the road over here - for example, I've heard that in some countries you can turn on a red light (e.g. if you drive on the right-hand side you can make a right-hand turn when the lights are red and it's safe, as you are not crossing any lanes of traffic). You would fail immediately on that over here.

Has he done much driving over here at all (e.g. in a rental)?

prodigal_son

donegalfella wrote: »

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Well The deansgrange test centre is two minutes away from the Dun Laghaoire test centre, One is known to use a busy dual carriageway, with one or two trickyish blind turns, the other sticks to residential estates mainly with no real hard spots.

I think that, because its a test, one thing can throw you off and cause you to make a bunch of silly little mistakes, and I personally think that people who get sent to the dun laghaoire one, have a slightly better chance of passing.

Im just offering an alternative reason as to why these things happen.

When i passed, they fully explained the one error i made to me, and there was a few people there who were having their errors explained to them, when and where they happened, so I wouldnt brand them all as monsters.

Everyone i know who has failed, knew and accepted the reasons why they failed, so i would think that the majority of the time, the test goes by unbiased.

Of course, there are unreasonable people out there who can ruin your day or your week, foe no reason, but its best not to let these people win.

Permabear

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Nuttzz

Nuttzz wrote: »

So my friends american licence is worthless here and he sits the driving test here at the end of the month, he wants to borrow my Alfa GT for his test, he has no problem driving it and i'd trust him completely. But I wonder if the tester may have an "attitude" that he turns up in a flashy car and be harder on him, or should I give him Mrs N's 01 merc? or should he just fork out for a car from a driving school, no doubt they will want to sell add on lessons, pretests etc

well i gave him the car last night and he drove it around a bit with me, and he passed in tallaght this morning, not a SINGLE fault either, i'll never hear the bleedin end of it

Stark

He passed with an American accent? But how could that be? :eek:

Nuttzz

he's got ones of these half irish half yank accents,

"so i woz talking on me cell phone in the gas station"

Stark

Just slipped under the testers' xenophobic radars so