Going to test unaccompanied?

Gianangelo

Hi all, I have my test in the coming week and I think I might find it difficult to convince someone to actually drive out to the testing centre and back with me.

Someone told me that driving to the test is a special circumstance and you dont need to be accompanied. Is this true?


Thanks

sentient_6

Gianangelo wrote: »

Someone told me that driving to the test is a special circumstance and you dont need to be accompanied. Is this true?

Don't think so. But do it anyway. The tester wont be standing there waiting for you so isnt going to notice if you are accompanied or not, & even if they did i dont think there is anything they could do. You obviously risk getting caught driving to the centre though.

The day of my own test i had a lesson before the test, & my instructor operated from the test centre, so come test time i was there anyway, if that makes sense. If you arrive early, & the tester later sees your on your own, whats the say your accompaning driver hasn't headed off for a walk into town?

cosmic

Gianangelo wrote: »

Someone told me that driving to the test is a special circumstance and you dont need to be accompanied. Is this true?

This is 100% untrue.

sentient_6

sentient_6 wrote: »

Don't think so. But do it anyway. The tester wont be standing there waiting for you so isnt going to notice if you are accompanied or not, & even if they did i dont think there is anything they could do. You obviously risk getting caught driving to the centre though.

Do not do it anyway. The requirement to have an accompanying driver is there for a reason.
If you cannot find someone then get a driving instructor as a last resort.

Permabear

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Faith+1

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

I really wish the Gardaí would enforce this bloody law like in the Uk and elsewhere. I've seen more drivers getting checked for Insurance/Tax/Nct than for driving on a Learner Permit. My friend has been stopped 6 times at Garda Checkpoints and was never asked about his licence status when he has two L Plates on the car. It's a joke.

monkeyslayer

Doing my test next week and finding it hard to find someone to accompany me to the test center... apart from breaking the law etc etc if i went unaccompanied would i be failed, refused the test?

spurious

monkeyslayer wrote: »

Doing my test next week and finding it hard to find someone to accompany me to the test center... apart from breaking the law etc etc if i went unaccompanied would i be failed, refused the test?

They won't be watching out the window to check how you arrive, so they won't know.
You would be very unlucky to be stopped by a guard on your way to the test.

**if you're in Dublin and very worried about it, I can accompany you if I'm free.

dennyk

Legally, no, if you only have a learner's permit you cannot drive alone at any time.

Practically speaking, the tester may not notice or care. I drove to my test unaccompanied (it was technically legal for me to do so, as I had a valid US license and hadn't been here over a year yet) and the instructor never inquired about where my accompanying driver was. Then again, they might be more concerned about it when it's some Irish teenager showing up alone rather than an older foreign dude.

Even if they do notice (and care), I don't think they can fail you or refuse to test you for that, as it doesn't impact the test directly (they are the accompanying driver during your test itself, of course). Certainly it might make them more inclined to judge you harshly on the test itself, however, if it happens to offend them, and I suppose if they felt particularly strongly about it there's always a chance the local guards might receive a tip about an unaccompanied learner round about the time you're heading home. Plus you might get caught on your own anyway, and that's two of your seven points right there (or four if you didn't have your L plates up, which means you're just one speed camera away from disqualification...), so it's really in your best interest to find someone to accompany you.

Atlantic Dawn

It would be a bad start to your driving career if you were pulled over and done for driving unaccompanied.

monkeyslayer

spurious wrote: »

They won't be watching out the window to check how you arrive, so they won't know.
You would be very unlucky to be stopped by a guard on your way to the test.

**if you're in Dublin and very worried about it, I can accompany you if I'm free.

Thanks for the kind offer, think my 75 year old mother is going to come and go for a little wander up to b&q for a while... I'd actually risk going solo but I'd be the guy they'd fail because of it...

caldew

In the UK the examiner must report an unaccompanied driver to the police, Here in Ireland of course the RSA just ignore it.

The RSA must be aware of the amount of drivers that arrive unaccompanied but with their inaction give the impression they condone it.

neonsofa

caldew wrote: »

In the UK the examiner must report an unaccompanied driver to the police, Here in Ireland of course the RSA just ignore it.

The RSA must be aware of the amount of drivers that arrive unaccompanied but with their inaction give the impression they condone it.

They do send a text to say it is illegal to travel to the test centre unaccompanied. But yeah I agree.

Thelomen Toblackai

They can't fail you or refuse to test you if you break a law on the way to the test centre. As long as the car is roadworthy at the time of the test you'll be tested.

Thelomen Toblackai

caldew wrote: »

In the UK the examiner must report an unaccompanied driver to the police, Here in Ireland of course the RSA just ignore it.

The RSA must be aware of the amount of drivers that arrive unaccompanied but with their inaction give the impression they condone it.

Definitely doesn't give the impression they condone it. They make it quite clear in the communication you must be accompanied at all times on a learner permit.

It's just not too high of the Gards priority list that they'd respond to every report of an unaccompanied learner driver.

Kintarō Hattori

spurious wrote: »

They won't be watching out the window to check how you arrive, so they won't know.
You would be very unlucky to be stopped by a guard on your way to the test.

**if you're in Dublin and very worried about it, I can accompany you if I'm free.

That's just tremendously kind of you.