TV3 - Right now- Caution learner drivers

jumbone

The 17 year old lad getting a 2 litre cavalier for his birthday and his first time driving is a 110 mile trip home from the airport :eek: looks good

silentdisco

did you know we have one of the easiest driving tests in Europe, first of all you dont even have to sit into a car before you get your learner permit!!! And when you do fail your actual test you can drive off in your car..... one word ridiculous!!!

veryangryman

I can only imagine what a pain in the arse it is to learn to drive in other countries with the enforcement of the L-driver unaccompanied laws

In my opinion, this forces alot of people onto the bus/train. Which is ok in such countries where public transport standards are up to scratch.

Needless to say doesnt apply here. I happen to live alongside an inter-uban route which helps alot, but outside of that your fairly screwed in this country.

I challenge anyone over 25 here to say that they didnt learn the most from just one day getting up and thinking "im doing this" and drive off unaccompanied. And what else about it - it is liberating. Breeds self confidence

I of couse mean after having done a few lessons and perhaps a couple of sessions with accompanied driver to get the very basics out of the way.

jumbone

silentdisco wrote: »

Did you know we have one of the easiest driving tests in Europe, first of all you dont even have to sit into a car before you get your learner permit!!! And when you do fail your actual test you can drive off in your car..... one word ridiculous!!!

The programme is English and they give provisionals to people after a theory test too. In america they let 15 year olds drive cars with no licence in a school with loads of kids about the place and call it drivers ed!!!OMGROLFCOPTERZ!!!!ONE!!!!11111!!!1111!!!!eleventy yet people are forever saying on here that we should copy their system - bottom line you have to start somewhere.

keithclancy

silentdisco wrote: »

did you know we have one of the easiest driving tests in Europe, first of all you dont even have to sit into a car before you get your learner permit!!! And when you do fail your actual test you can drive off in your car..... one word ridiculous!!!

No, Ireland has one of the Cheapest forms of getting a license, i.e. in most european countries you have to take a minimum amount of lessons before doing your test.

Netherlands for example runs at about 2200 - 2500 euros
Germany runs at about 3000 - 3500 euros.

daveharnett

keithclancy wrote: »

No, Ireland has one of the Cheapest forms of getting a license, i.e. in most european countries you have to take a minimum amount of lessons before doing your test.

Netherlands for example runs at about 2200 - 2500 euros
Germany runs at about 3000 - 3500 euros.

Are you arguing this as a positive of the Irish system?
Apart entirely from the benefits of increased driver education, I would argue that increasing the investment required to pass the test could help change the perception of driving.

laoishibee

Does anyone know where i can find this to watch online?

ztoical

jumbone wrote: »

The programme is English and they give provisionals to people after a theory test too. In america they let 15 year olds drive cars with no licence in a school with loads of kids about the place and call it drivers ed!!!OMGROLFCOPTERZ!!!!ONE!!!!11111!!!1111!!!!eleventy yet people are forever saying on here that we should copy their system - bottom line you have to start somewhere.

Since when was america part of Europe? There is no "american" system as each state has it's own driving test and while there is alot of common elements between some states driving tests there can also be a massive difference in standards between them. For example in South Dakota you can get a learners permit at 14 [but under 16's can't drive between 10pm and 6 am] and full licence at 16 but in Washington DC you can only get your permit at 16 and you can't a full licence until your 21. Washington state will let you get a permit at 16 but you must hold it for at least 6 months and log 50 hours of practice driving with an instructor. If you have a prefect driving record you can get your full licence at 17 if not you can't have it till 18.

jumbone

ztoical wrote: »

Since when was america part of Europe? There is no "american" system as each state has it's own driving test and while there is alot of common elements between some states driving tests there can also be a massive difference in standards between them. For example in South Dakota you can get a learners permit at 14 [but under 16's can't drive between 10pm and 6 am] and full licence at 16 but in Washington DC you can only get your permit at 16 and you can't a full licence until your 21. Washington state will let you get a permit at 16 but you must hold it for at least 6 months and log 50 hours of practice driving with an instructor. If you have a prefect driving record you can get your full licence at 17 if not you can't have it till 18.

I am aware of that - my post was slightly tongue-in-cheek... !!!OMGROLFCOPTERZ!!!!ONE!!!!11111!!!1111!!!!eleventy:rolleyes:

I was implying that that silentdisco was sensationalising the shortfalls of our system; i.e. people without full licences will always be driving in public (whether rightly or wrongly) with varying levels of supervision and training. In my example I took the same view of the American system as many here would advocate some some of Drivers' Ed in TY yet it can also be described as allowing 14 year old children to drive in a built up area full of other children (WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN) - in other words as 'spin' if you'll pardon the pun. Indeed if the system didn't allow for this then people would be able to to get a FULL LICENCE without ever driving on the road which in my opinion is a lot worse than getting a LEARNER PERMIT without ever having sat in a car. To take my point a step further - would you prefer people being able to et behind the wheel before they even have a learner permit - that's ludicrous! People have to start somewhere ffs. Maybe you'd rather all you had to do was have a photo taken and fill out a form? The theory test is an adequate way of testing knowledge of the ROTR and basic idea of controls of a car.

And no I don't know if this is available online. TV3 do have a catch up service but you may be too late to catch it there if you havent tried already
I would be interested in your idea of an ideal system.

ztoical

jumbone wrote: »

I was implying that that silentdisco was sensationalising the shortfalls of our system; i.e. people without full licences will always be driving in public (whether rightly or wrongly) with varying levels of supervision and training. In my example I took the same view of the American system as many here would advocate some some of Drivers' Ed in TY yet it can also be described as allowing 14 year old children to drive in a built up area full of other children (WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN) - in other words as 'spin' if you'll pardon the pun. Indeed if the system didn't allow for this then people would be able to to get a FULL LICENCE without ever driving on the road which in my opinion is a lot worse than getting a LEARNER PERMIT without ever having sat in a car. To take my point a step further - would you prefer people being able to et behind the wheel before they even have a learner permit - that's ludicrous! People have to start somewhere ffs. Maybe you'd rather all you had to do was have a photo taken and fill out a form? The theory test is an adequate way of testing knowledge of the ROTR and basic idea of controls of a car.

And no I don't know if this is available online. TV3 do have a catch up service but you may be too late to catch it there if you havent tried already
I would be interested in your idea of an ideal system.

Don't live in Ireland at the mo so can't watch anything on TV3 website. The image of american drivers ed classes in schools is more of a tv creation then an actual reality. Most drivers ed classes are classroom based and focus on topics like drink driving [happy module topics like Nature of Alcohol-Related Crash Problems] and other fun modules...they are for credit towards graduation after all and getting a licence is not the main focus. Any in car driving is no different to people taking lessons with driving instructors here in a dual car during class hours when other students are in class and not out on the streets for you to run over...unlike my driving test which took place mid week at lunch hour and the center of town was full of students just throwing themselves in front of the car :rolleyes:

There is no ideal system, there are certain things that work better in certain areas and you'll never cover everything. The Sweedish test covers alot but there is a section focused on driving on snow/ice which yes would have helped alot this past winter in ireland but could you argue the cost of having people take a weekend course when we don't normally get such extreme weather? In an ideal world yes but the cost will always be a factor. In Germany you have to do a basic first aid course which would be great not just for driving but just in general but again cost and access for people who are working/in college to go take such a course would be an issue.

kippy

silentdisco wrote: »

did you know we have one of the easiest driving tests in Europe, first of all you dont even have to sit into a car before you get your learner permit!!! And when you do fail your actual test you can drive off in your car..... one word ridiculous!!!

Sometimes however, no matter how "tough" the driving tests, you cannot legislate for idiots.

shogunpower

laoishibee wrote: »

Does anyone know where i can find this to watch online?

you dug up an old thread making me scramble to my tv to switch it to tv3 to be utterly dissapointed:(

Full_TiltKeith

shogunpower wrote: »

you dug up an old thread making me scramble to my tv to switch it to tv3 to be utterly dissapointed:(

+1 disappointed

Faith+1

Guys check out Youtube. Just type in Britains Worst Drivers and you'll be able to watch the Itv show from a few years back.

laoishibee

Sorry lads for digging it up!

Looked everywhere for it, No such luck so gonna check out youtube again, Sound!

keithclancy

daveharnett wrote: »

Are you arguing this as a positive of the Irish system?
Apart entirely from the benefits of increased driver education, I would argue that increasing the investment required to pass the test could help change the perception of driving.

Neither a positive or a negative, but merely that the process is more expensive however the test is not harder or easier, if you do the lessons you'll pass, the percentage of people that fail is quite small after 24 lessons.