Driving lessons the day of your test ?

threein99

Whats peoples opinions on this ? I have my test next Tuesday morning at 9.15, my instructor says he doesnt think lessons before the tests are worth it.

spurious

Depending on the test centre, a lesson before 9.15 might end up quite stressful with rush hour traffic - how about the evening before?

Dutchess

I did it. It depends I think, I have great craic with my instructor so it kind of took the edge off.

gooch2k9

Definitely recommend it, really settles you before the test. I did a lesson at 8am, before the test at 9.15, during the summer so traffic wouldn't be as bad with no schools open. You'd be in the same situation, so I'd say go for it.

matt70iu

threein99 wrote: »

Whats peoples opinions on this ? I have my test next Tuesday morning at 9.15, my instructor says he doesnt think lessons before the tests are worth it.

Ah yeah, I did. My test was at 9.30am so met my instructor at the test centre at 8 and went for a drive. Didn't do a mock test or anything as that would have wound me up before the test.

Did the test and still felt as though I was with my instructor. Passed with a grade 1 and a grade 2, can really help you to relax if you get on with your instructor.

RoryMurphyJnr

I did it, made a complete arse of reversing round a corner but must have got it out of my system as I did it spot on during the test.

Definitely recommend it

threein99

spurious wrote: »

Depending on the test centre, a lesson before 9.15 might end up quite stressful with rush hour traffic - how about the evening before?

Test Centre is in Carlow town, I have a lesson the Friday before, I was just gonna head for a drive myself on the monday evening before it, my logic is if I dont know it then a lesson is not gonna change it at that stage. My instructor says im only 50/50 whether I will pass or not so Im fairly pesimistic as it is.

matt70iu

threein99 wrote: »

Test Centre is in Carlow town, I have a lesson the Friday before, I was just gonna head for a drive myself on the monday evening before it, my logic is if I dont know it then a lesson is not gonna change it at that stage. My instructor says im only 50/50 whether I will pass or not so Im fairly pesimistic as it is.

I would go into the test saying to yourself you're going to pass because you are a good enough driver and you have done the preparation.

Yes, there is luck on the day involved also, but if you believe you will pass, this will greatly improve your chances.

Best of luck and sure let us know how you get on!

robbie_998

for the time of your test - no in my humble opinion

my test was at about 1 in the day so i had a pre-test with my instructor but told me to show up a lil earlier than normal cos he didnt want me to be sitting and driving for 2 hours non stop so after the pre-test we walked to the shop and chit chatted about crap basically. just to stretch the legs and relax with some fresh air before i went into the test center.

he was right.

plus it would've being bad for me to be sitting in a car for 2 hours moving gears and brakes and so on and wouldve being annoying and so on

al_E_kat

My driving instructer wouldn't let me not have a pre-test beforehand, my test was at 8.25am!! Met my instructer at 7! It was torture at the time but really glad I did it as it woke me up a little and got my brain thinking clearly for the real thing (failed the pre-test, passed the real thing with only 2 blues!)

kiersm

I did have a lesson before my test and as others have said it helped me to calm down. I would recommend for you to do a lesson even if only for 30 mins

Don't go into the test pessimistic cos that will do you no favours. You have as much chance as anyone else of passing it.

I rem while doing my test the instructor told me to head back to the test centre without so much as a word about how i was doing etc & i was positive i'd failed but surprisingly i hadn't!!

My sis told me afterwards that she was positive i was going to fail. Which i was very relieved she hadn't told me beforehand

threein99

RoryMurphyJnr wrote: »

I did it, made a complete arse of reversing round a corner but must have got it out of my system as I did it spot on during the test.

Definitely recommend it

My instructor says my turn about and reverse are excellent my observation and postion are good, but its my indecision at roundabouts thats going to fail it for me, theres one roundabout in particular that i keep getting caught out on, hopefully it will be quiet that morning and I can just drive through it

kiersm

You know what you're weaknesses are so have faith in yourself

Let us no how you get on & good luck.

threein99

kiersm wrote: »

You know what you're weaknesses are so have faith in yourself

Let us no how you get on & good luck.

Cheers, I'm going to try go into it as confident as I can hopefully that will be enough, I see some people on here talking about breathing techniques to relax them before hand ? Anyone got any info on that ? might aswell give it a go :cool:

Dutchess

Just sit down and breathe in slowly through your nose, hold the breath for a few seconds and breathe out through your mouth. Remember to breathe into your belly rather than your chest. Try to make breathing out longer than breathing in. Just repeat at regular intervals until you feel better. Maybe try to visualise yourself passing the test and being calm and confident. Especially focus on sailing through that one roundabout no bother.

Rothmans

threein99 wrote: »

My instructor says my turn about and reverse are excellent my observation and postion are good, but its my indecision at roundabouts thats going to fail it for me, theres one roundabout in particular that i keep getting caught out on, hopefully it will be quiet that morning and I can just drive through it

Bah, roundabouts in Carlow are the killers. There must be 15-20 of them in the town. Twas roundabouts that failed me. I'll give you one piece of advice. Just because someone goes into the inside lane, do not assume that they are going to turn right (like they're fecking well supposed to!). You should give them plenty of room if they want to cut out of the roundabout early, otherwise you'll have to slow down suddenly, (which earned me a red ) ) This is what failed me.

In short, when it comes to roundabouts, assume that the other drivers don't know how to use them properly ( which is half true anyway, because half of drivers in Carlow don't use them correctly).

Out of a matter of interest, which roundabout are you having trouble on. I failed on the one just down from Lidl btw.

threein99

Rothmans wrote: »

Bah, roundabouts in Carlow are the killers. There must be 15-20 of them in the town. Twas roundabouts that failed me. I'll give you one piece of advice. Just because someone goes into the inside lane, do not assume that they are going to turn right (like they're fecking well supposed to!). You should give them plenty of room if they want to cut out of the roundabout early, otherwise you'll have to slow down suddenly, (which earned me a red ) ) This is what failed me.

In short, when it comes to roundabouts, assume that the other drivers don't know how to use them properly ( which is half true anyway, because half of drivers in Carlow don't use them correctly).

Out of a matter of interest, which roundabout are you having trouble on. I failed on the one just down from Lidl btw.

Awh thats a balls of a way to fail, I find on the smaller roundabouts its almost a free for all, indicators mean nothing.

The one im struggling on is the small one at the back of the fair green, especially when im coming down staplestown road towards the fair green, the entrance to it is on a hill so you have to concentrate on not rolling back and keeping an eye out to the right for traffic, the fact its so narrow makes it impossible to tell what way people are going to go because theres really just the one lane.

Heres a link to the my most hated roundabout http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=co+carlow&hl=en&ll=52.835868,-6.920869&spn=0.000883,0.002642&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=7.090606,21.643066&z=19&layer=c&cbll=52.835889,-6.920635&panoid=d-Ty5ZAzkyHdC0eOM8k9Xg&cbp=12,261.56,,0,19.1

Rothmans

threein99 wrote: »

Awh thats a balls of a way to fail, I find on the smaller roundabouts its almost a free for all, indicators mean nothing.

The one im struggling on is the small one at the back of the fair green, especially when im coming down staplestown road towards the fair green, the entrance to it is on a hill so you have to concentrate on not rolling back and keeping an eye out to the right for traffic, the fact its so narrow makes it impossible to tell what way people are going to go because theres really just the one lane.

Heres a link to the my most hated roundabout http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=co+carlow&hl=en&ll=52.835868,-6.920869&spn=0.000883,0.002642&sll=53.401034,-8.307638&sspn=7.090606,21.643066&z=19&layer=c&cbll=52.835889,-6.920635&panoid=d-Ty5ZAzkyHdC0eOM8k9Xg&cbp=12,261.56,,0,19.1

That one's a bit of a pain alright. My instructor says your always meant to stop at that roundabout because your view to the right is always obscured because its such a small roundabout, and there are buildings in your way. Additionally, there are pelican crossings ( for which the lights are broken :rolleyes:) on three of the four exits which doesn't make things easy. On that roundabout, its better to be safe than sorry. You shuold firstly lokk towards the pedestrian crossings to make sure there's nobody waiting at them. Than proceed to the yield line and STOP, ensure that there is no traffic to your right, then move off.

Oh yeah and one more tip. Don't exaggerate your mirror checks. I got no faults for observation, and I didn't exaggerate at all.

Oh, and finally, don't forget to check your blindspot when moving off from a stationary position after doing the maneouvres.

Finally, when you are moving off ( when in traffic), check all three mirrors. There is NO NEED to check your blindspot in this situation as is often suggested here. Its only when moving off onto the road (eg from the side of the road, or from a parking position) that you check your blindspot. (And when on motorway, but thats not relevant here).

I'm sure your instructor will have gone through this with you already, but thats just my two cents.

Oh, and the best of luck. Don't forget to get back to us to tell us how you got on

EDIT: There's actually pedestrian crossings on ALL of the exits :eek:, just after seeing that on your link.

threein99

Rothmans wrote: »

That one's a bit of a pain alright. My instructor says your always meant to stop at that roundabout because your view to the right is always obscured because its such a small roundabout, and there are buildings in your way. Additionally, there are pelican crossings ( for which the lights are broken :rolleyes:) on three of the four exits which doesn't make things easy. On that roundabout, its better to be safe than sorry. You shuold firstly lokk towards the pedestrian crossings to make sure there's nobody waiting at them. Than proceed to the yield line and STOP, ensure that there is no traffic to your right, then move off.

Oh yeah and one more tip. Don't exaggerate your mirror checks. I got no faults for observation, and I didn't exaggerate at all.

Oh, and finally, don't forget to check your blindspot when moving off from a stationary position after doing the maneouvres.

Finally, when you are moving off ( when in traffic), check all three mirrors. There is NO NEED to check your blindspot in this situation as is often suggested here. Its only when moving off onto the road (eg from the side of the road, or from a parking position) that you check your blindspot. (And when on motorway, but thats not relevant here).

I'm sure your instructor will have gone through this with you already, but thats just my two cents.

Oh, and the best of luck. Don't forget to get back to us to tell us how you got on

EDIT: There's actually pedestrian crossings on ALL of the exits :eek:, just after seeing that on your link.

It's the roundabout from hell, whoever designed it deserves a severe kick in the arse.

Who did you get your lessons off ?

My instructor says that my manuveres are good, as is observation and postion but its hesitation on roundabouts thats will fail me, been trying to drive through that roundabout at the busiest times possible the last few days to try speed up my reaction times getting off it, when im at that exit and stopped im in first with the clutch in, and when i think i might have a chance to get out I ease out the clutch till it bites then get on the accelerator, I just dont have that technique down to a tee yet so Im sluggish to move off.

Rothmans

threein99 wrote: »

It's the roundabout from hell, whoever designed it deserves a severe kick in the arse.

Who did you get your lessons off ?

I got my lessons off <SNIP>, great instructor. What about yourself?

My instructor says that my manuveres are good, as is observation and postion but its hesitation on roundabouts thats will fail me, been trying to drive through that roundabout at the busiest times possible the last few days to try speed up my reaction times getting off it, when im at that exit and stopped im in first with the clutch in, and when i think i might have a chance to get out I ease out the clutch till it bites then get on the accelerator, I just dont have that technique down to a tee yet so Im sluggish to move off.

Yeah, what I do is ease my foot off the clutch and ease down on the accelerator just before the biting point. If I waited until I hit the biting point, I'd be afraid that I'd cut out on the roundabout. But if your way suits you I'd stick with it because its not wrong and I wouldn't go changing my technique just before the test.

Remember though, its impossible to coast in 1st gear and reverse, so there's no fear of keeping your foot on the clutch for too long in 1st gear

threein99

Rothmans wrote: »

I got my lessons off <SNIP>, great instructor. What about yourself?



Yeah, what I do is ease my foot off the clutch and ease down on the accelerator just before the biting point. If I waited until I hit the biting point, I'd be afraid that I'd cut out on the roundabout. But if your way suits you I'd stick with it because its not wrong and I wouldn't go changing my technique just before the test.

Remember though, its impossible to coast in 1st gear and reverse, so there's no fear of keeping your foot on the clutch for too long in 1st gear

<SNIP>

LizT

I had my test at nine fifteen and I had a lesson before hand. It felt reassuring and I had absolutely everything where I needed it.

MascotDec85

I'd always recommend my pupils have a lesson before their test. It gets you in the zone and has everything fresh in your mind immediately before heading out on test. It's also great for getting the mistakes out of the way