A few questions!

Kirnsy

Right so got the car/insurance/prov. license/tax all in order on the 4th of November 2008 and got going at the driving. I have progressed quickly and i have had a number of lessons with an excellent instructor. After the last one (beginning of Jan) he told me i knew all the essentials (maneuvers included) and that i should practise away until before the test when he;d give me a few test runs.

Now all is well, driving away (accompanied ) happily. ive improved a huge amount and am quite confident in most situations.

so, my few questions are these -

should i apply for a test now that i hope to be doing as early as possible in may?? or can i even? ( i posted on the queries and timmywex said i could but just to be certain!)

what is the average waiting time?(churchtown (in dublin) TC would be my closest)

will these new changes (certain amount of lessons and new price on tests) that are being proposed apply to me?

and is there anything i should be practising in particular in the next two months?!

all help much appreciated and if i have posted in the wrong thread / place please merge.

thanks:)

banquo

The waiting times for all centres are on drivingtest.ie, snoop around, they're there somewhere along with pass-rate percentages.
I'd imagine that you'd be as well off applying for the full because you need to have the provo 6 months before you can do the test and seeing as how the waiting times are lengthy enough, you'd probably be eligible to do it.
Okay, so you definitely need to just go through that 'Rules of the Road' book for the initial part of the test where they ask you questions on the different signs you see.
Reversing around a corner can be tricky enough especially when you're put on the spot so ace this; Practise using the hand-break and putting it into neutral every time you're at lights; Round-abouts, another tricky thing when you're on the spot, i failed twice for not proceeding in time; turning right, very important to check your mirrors CONSTANTLY, no lie, kind of seems like they want you to look everywhere except in front of you.
SO yeah, should be no problem at all. You're instructor if they're worth their salt will have you knowing how to do these blindfolded when the time comes.
Also, you're probably better off to keep getting lessons although not everyone agrees with this.

PS BELT UP!! Mucho important

Kirnsy

thanks banquo i see that churchtown has an average 9 week waiting list so i will apply at the beginning of march i think.

much appreciated advice bout practising. i've covered the manouvres with the instructer but they are a bit rusty so i'll be getting to grips with them.

thanks again much appreciated


PS - if there is one thing this learner does - its BELTING UP :cool:

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

brian076

banquo wrote: »

Practise using the hand-break and putting it into neutral every time you're at lights; , very important to check your mirrors CONSTANTLY, no lie, kind of seems like they want you to look everywhere except in front of you.

I'd be inclined to ignore the above advice. While it's recommended to apply the handbrake when you're going to be stopped for a while, it's not necessary to be in neutral especially if you're 1st in line at the lights. Whether it's good driving practice or not, you will not be marked on your test if you hold the car on the footbrake while in gear, once the car is under control. I'm not advocating that you do this, but it's one of the misconceptions people have that they have to go into neutral and apply the handbrake every time they stop.

On the subject of mirrors, testers are not looking for you to be constantly turning your head to check all mirrors, in fact a lot of people fail their test for doing this, as they're not paying attention to what's going on ahead of them, and get marked for "Reaction to Hazard". Use your mirrors effectively, a quick glance in the rear view mirror every 5-10 seconds, and either door mirror before changing direction, and occasionally all 3 mirrors depending on the traffic situation. Remember your MSM routine, and use your mirrors for DOS (Direction, Overtaking, Stopping)

DriveSkill

banquo wrote: »

very important to check your mirrors CONSTANTLY, no lie, kind of seems like they want you to look everywhere except in front of you.

That is not correct, it is true that you should check your mirrors but it must be at the appropriate times!! dont just check your mirrors for no reason. It is possible to pick up faults for overuse of your mirrors, the most important place to be looking is in the direction that the car is moving.

I'm sure your instructor has taught you the basics of Mirror-Signal-Maneouver (it can be expanded and enhanced but that is the basic 'system'). You should use that all of the time.

If you are driving along a straight road then check your mirror approximately every 10secs as a general rule - if the traffic is busy or multiple lanes etc you may need to do it more often to keep aware of the situation around you.

By the sounds of it you have made good progress so I see no reason not to apply for the test.

Good luck!

fiona-f

Just to say that the driving test time online for Churchtown is completely misleading - I applied in November and was eventually given a test date five months from then!

Definitely apply now, and on the "comments" section you can state that you will have your six months up on X date and request that you are not scheduled before then. If the test date comes up and you don't feel ready, you can cancel and rejoin the waiting list I think twice without having to pay the fee again (as long as you give two weeks' notice of the cancellation). Plus if you apply today, you'll pay today's fee; who knows when it will rise!

Edited to add: another advantage to applying now is that changes to the conditions will usually not affect you if you are already in the system. So if a new rule brought in tomorrow says that minimum number of lessons is required before you can sit the test, normal public sector practice would be that this would not apply to people who have already applied for the test before the change came in.

Dexter2008

Just a quick note - there is a question in the application where u have to select the days when you are not available. If you select all days as available, chances are good that you might be getting a test in SGS Deans grange or SGS Dun laoghaire; and if you stay too close to churchtown, you might get your center as RSA churchtown or RSA rathgar (it seems for administrative purposes, both centres are considered one).
It takes a good eight weeks before you hear from them after applying, no matter where your test is. And after that, atleast two weeks before you can take your test.
So go ahead and apply.

Snuggle Bunny

The very basic would be MSM (mirror,signal,manouevre) but you should look into your blindspots too.Also if, for example, you where turning left you would have to look into your left exterior mirror before the manouevre. The correct way to use your mirrors is mirror-road. In no particular order,inside mirror-road,left mirror-road, you get the idea. Try not to think of it as something the tester will be looking for.Its the safest way to drive.:) Waiting times have creeped up again.

DrivingInfo

I think we can help.
I do think as you test gets closer you should get lessons form a good Driving Instructor so that he/she can check your driving, that goes without saying.
I have put a lot of information on drivingtesttips.ie so that people can get help that they need.

See the video tutorials and get in contact with an instructor as the time comes.

Best Wishes
www.DrivingTestTips.ie

emilyj

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the waiting lists, from what I hear the RSA don't have an accurate way of checking this. When I was doing my test in Churchtown I waited about 15 weeks, but I was talking to a guy in the waiting room who'd been waiting 8 months