beginner to pass in 1 month??

tadhgrrr

so im a 28 year old male on a 2nd provisional (got the 1st one when i was 18 to get into dodgy country nightclubs!) and I have a scheduled test date for 15th December. I haven't driven a car in about 9 years but I have clocked up about 7000km of motorbike driving in west africa where Ive encountered quite a few stressful traffic situations etc so my road confidence is reasonably high.

Im moving to Canada in January so Ive only one shot at the test. I have access to a car and wont be working until I leave so I'll have plenty of time to practise and plan on taking about 10 lessons in this time.

How possible/probable dyou think passing the test is under these conditions?

cheers
-t

DrivingInfo

tadhgrrr wrote: »

so im a 28 year old male on a 2nd provisional (got the 1st one when i was 18 to get into dodgy country nightclubs!) and I have a scheduled test date for 15th December. I haven't driven a car in about 9 years but I have clocked up about 7000km of motorbike driving in west africa where Ive encountered quite a few stressful traffic situations etc so my road confidence is reasonably high.

Im moving to Canada in January so Ive only one shot at the test. I have access to a car and wont be working until I leave so I'll have plenty of time to practise and plan on taking about 10 lessons in this time.

How possible/probable dyou think passing the test is under these conditions?

cheers
-t

Very possible!!!
IF you put the work in... You will need as much information as you can get but you will need to put it into practice.

So start learning, Get a Qualified Driving Instructor, Consider as many lessons as the Instructor advises and PRACTICE as much as you can.

Regards

Alanstrainor

Yes it is doable. I know someone who did similar. As drivinginfo says, you'll need to practise and do a number of lessons to do it.
Is your 2nd provisional expired? Or are you on a 2nd learner permit? As the last of the "provisional licenses" would have expired last month iirc.

tadhgrrr

eh im on a learner permit...my first I guess...although I had a provisional already. Does anyone know if Im legally allowed to drive unaccompanied in this situation?

Mr. Presentable

You're not. But it hasn't stopped thousands of others.

Alanstrainor

tadhgrrr wrote: »

eh im on a learner permit...my first I guess...although I had a provisional already. Does anyone know if Im legally allowed to drive unaccompanied in this situation?

You're not legally allowed to drive unaccompanied, no matter how many Learner Permits you've had. You must also be accompanied by someone who has held their unrestricted B license for 2 years or more.

Just a note to anyone posting on this thread. Advocating anyone to break the law, or saying "ah sure you'll be grand", is against the charter.

ztoical

tadhgrrr wrote: »

eh im on a learner permit...my first I guess...although I had a provisional already. Does anyone know if Im legally allowed to drive unaccompanied in this situation?

If you haven't driven in over 9 years how long ago did your first provisional expire? Did you have to sit the theory test to get your learners permit? If your provisional had expired less the 5 years ago and you didn't have to take the theory test your on second premit. If had expired more then 5 years ago and you had to take the theory test then your starting all over again and it counts as a 1st permit in which case you should just double check how long you've had it cus you need to wait 6 months from when it's first issued before you can sit the test.

tadhgrrr

cheers for looking out for me guys! im ok though. im on my first learner permit, sat the theory test to get it but that was just over a year ago now so im good to go. also i presume the test booking system wouldnt let you through if your driver number was from a permit <6months old! -t

Alanstrainor

tadhgrrr wrote: »

cheers for looking out for me guys! im ok though. im on my first learner permit, sat the theory test to get it but that was just over a year ago now so im good to go. also i presume the test booking system wouldnt let you through if your driver number was from a permit <6months old! -t

Well you can apply whenever you like, however you can only SIT the test after having your license for 6 months.

tadhgrrr

no i understand...i have my learners permit for over a year now

Mcloke

I did I took lessons 4.5 years ago and "was ready for my test" according to my driving instructor back then but it took 7 months to get a test and by the time it came around I had stopped driving due to life stuff and didn't feel ready anymore. Went on to do tiny spells of driving on and off since then and had to re-apply for my test in order to get my third provisional...having gone on to cancel the test twice, I got my third test date and had to take it or forfeit my fee so I decided to make an effort to both take and pass my test.
I had about 8 lessons and practised everyday....driving to and from work (not on my own) which gave me 60-70km a day before any extra practice. My instructor told me that the only thing that would fail my test was if I let my nerves get the better of me and I passed with 3 grade two's It takes time and effort but it is not an impossible task
Good Luck

Nasty_Girl

Alanstrainor wrote: »

As the last of the "provisional licenses" would have expired last month iirc.

Sorry to butt in but what do you mean by that?

I have a provisional licence (my second) and it's due to expire in April,
Do I need to change it now?

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Alanstrainor

Nasty_Girl wrote: »

Sorry to butt in but what do you mean by that?

I have a provisional licence (my second) and it's due to expire in April,
Do I need to change it now?

As DonegalFella said, you have a Learner Permit, and not a Provisional license. The last of the "provisional licenses" that were issued would have expired in October.

Nasty_Girl

You're so right,
I don't know why I was conviced it was a provisional licence lol!!

Thanks

tadhgrrr

had my first lesson today...when i sat into the car and told the instructor how much experience I had and that my test was on Dec 15 he pretty much said..."No way is this possible". This kinda burst my bubble a little but then I explained that I had loads of time to give over to practising etc.

Started driving and showed that I was fairly competent and road confident and after a few minutes he was like "OK you're good...we can make a cut off the test...no guarantees but after 6 or 7 lessons I'll have you ready"...just what I wanted to hear.

Now I just have to practise and then some!

Mcloke

tadhgrrr wrote: »

had my first lesson today...when i sat into the car and told the instructor how much experience I had and that my test was on Dec 15 he pretty much said..."No way is this possible". This kinda burst my bubble a little but then I explained that I had loads of time to give over to practising etc.

Started driving and showed that I was fairly competent and road confident and after a few minutes he was like "OK you're good...we can make a cut off the test...no guarantees but after 6 or 7 lessons I'll have you ready"...just what I wanted to hear.

Now I just have to practise and then some!

Don't let that put you off...my instructor said something similar and I did it. Put in the practise and hopefully it will work out for you...after all you have nothing to lose by giving it a decent shot
Good Luck

Alanstrainor

I remember when i did my lessons, after the fifth, my instructor said "Right, you'd be ready for a test tomorrow, apply asap, the quicker you do a test the better".
And i suppose he's right in some ways, the longer you leave it to do the test, the more bad habits you're likely to pick up. But when you consider you're learning a skill that you are going to use for the rest of your life, it probably shouldn't be the thing you do as fast as possible.

Mcloke

I think as long as you realise that you are still learning even after you past your test you are in pretty much the same boat as the learner who takes longer to apply for a test. I had my PL for 4.5 years before actually taking a test and for me I just avoided doing the practice I needed to firm up my driving skills. When I knew I had a test in a month, I did all the practice I could fit in which gave me the ability to do my test and pass (3 grade 2's). My driving is decent even if I say so myself but I haven't forgotten that I recently passed and I have plenty left to learn...

tadhgrrr

yeah good point...I definitely know that Im not going to become anywhere near a complete driver in one month. all i want to do it pass the test...thats it! i'm well aware that ill still have lots to learn after that but I only have one shot at it as im moving to Canada in January for the year.

3 lessons in now (9 days in total driving) and getting more confident, able to get around the fairly busy test routes without too much bother...now its just practise practise etc etc!