Is appealing the driving test decision worth it?

booooring!

And it's actually 50 in most large housing estates so that's what you failed on

ash1511

booooring! wrote: »

And it's actually 50 in most large housing estates so that's what you failed on

Hah.. There is no way I would have got through my lessons had I been driving close to 50 in the estates :pac:

booooring!

ash1511 wrote: »

Hah.. There is no way I would have got through my lessons had I been driving close to 50 in the estates :pac:

Then get a different instructor.

my3cents

OP from what you have said it my well be that "not making due progress" or whatever they call it is your main issue. For some reason not driving at the speed limit rather than treating it as a maximum limit is a major issue for both driving instructors and examiners.

I can remember for a long time while my wife was learning she would tell me that I was driving too slow and if she was to drive that slowly during lessons her instructor would get on to her to speed up.

I don't agree with driving like that and drive according to the road conditions, parked cars in an estate and narrow winding country roads would for example definitely have me driving well below the actual speed limit. On your test however it seems you have to treat the speed limits as recommended speeds.

ash1511

booooring! wrote: »

Then get a different instructor.

Did that - no use

ash1511

my3cents wrote: »

OP from what you have said it my well be that "not making due progress" or whatever they call it is your main issue. For some reason not driving at the speed limit rather than treating it as a maximum limit is a major issue for both driving instructors and examiners.

I can remember for a long time while my wife was learning she would tell me that I was driving too slow and if she was to drive that slowly during lessons her instructor would get on to her to speed up.

I don't agree with driving like that and drive according to the road conditions, parked cars in an estate and narrow winding country roads would for example definitely have me driving well below the actual speed limit. On your test however it seems you have to treat the speed limits as recommended speeds.

Trust me this was the 1st time anyone prompted me for driving too slow. I'm always within the limits. I never cross them. You are right, the parked cars and roadworks slowed me down but maybe I should have run everything down just to be close to 50. Wonder if i would have cleared the test then!

Austria!

I stayed in 3rd at about 30-40 in estates when I was doing my test and didn't get any faults for progress.

booooring!

ash1511 wrote: »

Did that - no use

You should be in third gear possibly fourth

ash1511

I've always stayed in the 2nd gear in my previous 2 tests and none of the examiners considered it as a fault. My instructors have also told me to stay in the 2nd gear inside an estate.

James Forde

ash1511 wrote: »

I've always stayed in the 2nd gear in my previous 2 tests and none of the examiners considered it as a fault. My instructors have also told me to stay in the 2nd gear inside an estate.

What speed are you travelling at?

booooring!

ash1511 wrote: »

Trust me this was the 1st time anyone prompted me for driving too slow. I'm always within the limits. I never cross them. You are right, the parked cars and roadworks slowed me down but maybe I should have run everything down just to be close to 50. Wonder if i would have cleared the test then!

Its the driving test, for some reason they want you to close to the speed limit at all times if you have a clear path. Just the way it is.

If your in second gear on a straight road your wrong and thats why you failed for not keeping up with the speed limit. Do your 45 Km/H and ideally should be in fourth gear . You'll pass with flying colors next time!

ash1511

James Forde wrote: »

What speed are you travelling at?

20-30 inside the estate. 2nd gear throughout. 1st gear when taking turns.

booooring!

ash1511 wrote: »

Trust me this was the 1st time anyone prompted me for driving too slow. I'm always within the limits. I never cross them. You are right, the parked cars and roadworks slowed me down but maybe I should have run everything down just to be close to 50. Wonder if i would have cleared the test then!

You should be able to perfectly control the car at 50 and ideally in fourth gear. If you don't keep up with the speed limit you fail your test. Obviously you look out for hazards ahead and slow down then if needed.

ash1511 wrote: »

20-30 inside the estate. 2nd gear throughout. 1st gear when taking turns.

That is way way too slow to be driving inside an estate. Again should be up near 50 or if there is a sign specifying 30 then do 30. And 1st gear while moving taking turns?

my3cents

ash1511 wrote: »

I've always stayed in the 2nd gear in my previous 2 tests and none of the examiners considered it as a fault. My instructors have also told me to stay in the 2nd gear inside an estate.

That sounds like the problem. The examiner may not even know exactly what speed you are going but he can tell what gear you are in and if you aren't actually maneuvering then 2nd gear is not a gear to be going anywhere if there is no other traffic to slow you down.

afaik most instructors try to get people to go up through the gears quicker than really necessary but that is what is required for the test.

savagethegoat

ash1511 wrote: »

Got 4 green and blue each on 'progress on the straight'. He said I was too slow. I know I wasnt. I was always under the speed limit (3km/hr less than the limit). Changing lanes 1 blue. Reaction to hazard 1 blue.

under the limit.....you said it yourself. sounds to me like you need to zip up to the actual limit, it's really all you failed on

ash1511

savagethegoat wrote: »

under the limit.....you said it yourself. sounds to me like you need to zip up to the actual limit, it's really all you failed on

So you mean I should have stayed at 50 in a 50 limit road? I would have failed 'coz this examiner would have thought I'm over 50!

ash1511

Austria! wrote: »

I stayed in 3rd at about 30-40 in estates when I was doing my test and didn't get any faults for progress.

I've always been in 2nd in all my previous tests and lessons. No one told me to move it up a level if you can. These examiners do what they think is right.

ash1511

booooring! wrote: »

Its the driving test, for some reason they want you to close to the speed limit at all times if you have a clear path. Just the way it is.

If your in second gear on a straight road your wrong and thats why you failed for not keeping up with the speed limit. Do your 45 Km/H and ideally should be in fourth gear . You'll pass with flying colors next time!

Sorry but I meant I was in 2nd in the estate where cars were parked on the road and the roads had bumps. On the straight major roads I was always around 45-48 in a 50 limit

savagethegoat

ash1511 wrote: »

So you mean I should have stayed at 50 in a 50 limit road? I would have failed 'coz this examiner would have thought I'm over 50!

but you failed because you were under 50! You can't second guess that the guy may misread your speedo. 45 to 48 on a main road is too slow and they take into account you getting to the 50, you need to purposefully accelerate to the limit and stay on it.

booooring!

ash1511 wrote: »

Sorry but I meant I was in 2nd in the estate where cars were parked on the road and the roads had bumps. On the straight major roads I was always around 45-48 in a 50 limit

Still should be higher than second gear, third gear at least! and keeping a nice speed

amlingr

My wife failed her test because she drove to "slow" over speed bumps and the next time she failed because she was to "fast"... what a bunch of old farts. There should be an independent third person in the car, like the driving instructor, to watch over this madness.

savagethegoat

I suspect that would be too slow between the bumps rather than over them and I agree 2nd is too low to be progressing in

letsseehere14

ash1511 wrote:

20-30 inside the estate. 2nd gear throughout. 1st gear when taking turns.

20-30 kph or mph?
1st gear taking turns? There you go, fail right there, fail on progression. You'd have had to slow down to a crawl/stop completely to smoothly transition back down to first to take a turn.

letsseehere14

amlingr wrote:

My wife failed her test because she drove to "slow" over speed bumps and the next time she failed because she was to "fast"... what a bunch of old farts. There should be an independent third person in the car, like the driving instructor, to watch over this madness.

Please tell me you're being sarcastic. So at every driving test there should be an examiner for the driver and another examiner for the examiner!! So the qualified driving examiner will be under constant supervision ....yea, that'll work a treat. why not drop the middle man and just let the independent observer test you so? Oh wait. That'll just be what happens right now, 1 tester.

amlingr

letsseehere14 wrote: »

Please tell me you're being sarcastic. So at every driving test there should be an examiner for the driver and another examiner for the examiner!! So the qualified driving examiner will be under constant supervision ....yea, that'll work a treat. why not drop the middle man and just let the independent observer test you so? Oh wait. That'll just be what happens right now, 1 tester.

I am not sarcastic, its standard practice in Germany for example and just because somebody was having a subjective opinion about speed on a speed bump and the then you try to adjust your driving and the next guy thinks differently about it and lets you fail again is not funny. Its actually 170€ for both tests. I am afraid that the system is flawed. I don't mind if you fail a test for a real error but what difference does it make if you go over a speed-bump with 35 or 45 km/ph in a 50 zone... absolutely none...

Owryan

Was always told 1st gear was only for moving off from a stationary position. 2nd gear for making turns and then straight into 3rd if safe to do so.

Slow down to 2nd gear going over speed bumps and then progress back to 3rd, repeat for each speed bump.

Had 3 different instructors and each had their own ideas. But above was how they all taught m and i passed first time.

Seems to me the op is unwilling to accept any blame for failing. IMO taking a turn in 1st gar while travelling is a def mark down.

ash1511

ash1511 wrote: »

Hi,

I've failed my driving test (for the 3rd time) today. I'm feeling miserable now. Have been driving since years (in other countries and had a full licence).

Thanks in advance

If you have a full licence from another Country, can you not just exchange it for an Irish one without having to do the test?

amlingr

Deleted User wrote: »

If you have a full licence from another Country, can you not just exchange it for an Irish one without having to do the test?

If its an European Driving Licence its valid here as well without changing it. just in case. Was just stopped yesterday in a routine traffic check and my 23 year old German licence passed the test ;-)

ash1511

letsseehere14 wrote: »

20-30 kph or mph?
1st gear taking turns? There you go, fail right there, fail on progression. You'd have had to slow down to a crawl/stop completely to smoothly transition back down to first to take a turn.

Yeah that's what I did. I was in the 2nd gear throughout and smoothly dropped to the 1st to take turns .. 20-30kph

ash1511

amlingr wrote: »

If its an European Driving Licence its valid here as well without changing it. just in case. Was just stopped yesterday in a routine traffic check and my 23 year old German licence passed the test ;-)

That's non eu