Driving Test Hell!

dceire

I applyed to take a driving test for the M licence about a year ago. Last month I got notification that the test would take place Thursday 17th Feb. Great!

So off I go to take my test on this day, I arrive nice and early and then am called into the office to sit the oral part of the exam. Once thats complete I hed out to my bike to do the next part of the exam. When I reach the bike my tester turns to me and says that he cannot carry out the test because my licence is not sufficent to ride my bike? I have a 49cc moped, im insured to ride it, I've taxed it so if I dont have the right licence how the hell can I get tax & insurance on it?

He gave me a sheet of paper containing a refrence number and details about the test, then he said that I would have to get an A1 licence and then re-apply for my test.

The provisional licence application form states that a bike in the M catagory must be under 50cc(which mine is) and/or have a speed capability of not more than 45kmh(mine can do 50mph but I have it from new and never removed any restrictors)
The A1 catagory states that the bike must be between 51 & 125cc which mine isnt.

Can some one please clear this up for me because from what im reading my bike dose'nt fall into any catagory!
How long do i have to wait? another year?
Do I have to pay for another test despite the fact I paid for my last one an was'nt tested?

omb0wyn5ehpij9

The tester is talking crap, your bike is a 49cc moped so the M licence is correct for you. I would get onto the department of tranport on monday and demand that you re-sit the test asap (i.e. in the next 2 weeks) and that you should not pay for it this time either!

spockety

If your bike can do 50mph it does not belong in the M category.
The tester was perfectly right, you need an A1 license for it. The A1 license is for bikes/scooters up to 125cc or 11kw. Whoever told you it needs to be above 51cc is talking ****e.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

No spockety, the tester was right. The guy had not started the driving part of the test and he would not have told the tester what speed the bike would do so how would he know the bike did 50mph? Dceire is in the right here and if i were him i would have ripped shreads off them by now

spockety

How is he in the right? He is riding a bike capable of doing 50mph even though the M license says it shouldn't go faster than 45KPH!
How the tester knows it does 50mph or not is completely irrelevant. Hell, maybe he asked the guy how fast it can go and he said "I can get 50 out of it, cool or what!?"

Fact is, even if by psychic intuition the tester knew that the bike was good for more than 45kph, it can't be ridden on an M license!

Why the hell would anyone want an M license anyway? I didn't even think it was possible to get an M license on it's own at any rate. Get the A1, you can do the test on the same bike..

omb0wyn5ehpij9

What is the point in doing the A1 test on a moped? That means that he cant even drive geared bikes then. If he is going to stay on the moped and has no intention of getting a bigger bike, there is no point in going to any extra hassle of getting an A1 licence and then doing the test. He may aswell just do the M test.

From his post, I would be fairly sure that he didnt turn around to the tester and tell him his bike could exceed 45kph. He also said that the tester said his licence is not sufficient to ride his moped, he did not give a reason why. He must give a reason why.

And if you want to be picky about details, if his bike can exceed 45kph, then his insurance is also void so why dont you tell him to ring the insurance company and inform them of this so they can rape us people on bikes even more!!!!

dceire

spockety wrote:

How is he in the right? He is riding a bike capable of doing 50mph even though the M license says it shouldn't go faster than 45KPH!
How the tester knows it does 50mph or not is completely irrelevant. Hell, maybe he asked the guy how fast it can go and he said "I can get 50 out of it, cool or what!?"

Fact is, even if by psychic intuition the tester knew that the bike was good for more than 45kph, it can't be ridden on an M license!

Why the hell would anyone want an M license anyway? I didn't even think it was possible to get an M license on it's own at any rate. Get the A1, you can do the test on the same bike..

I did a pre-test lesson before I took the test and my instructor told me just to say that the bike only went 45kmh and keep my speed below 45. The tester did ask about the speed & i said that it was restricted to 45kmh but he still said that it did'nt qualify. Fine, i've absaloutly no problim doing the A1 test Im just pissed off that this was allowed to happen and dont feel like waiting another year + pay the fee again just to do a test on a scooter.

The only reason I was taking the M test was to try and get some money back off my insurance.

The aplication form for the A1 licence stales a motorcycle between 51cc & 125cc and/or a speed capability of more than 45kmh and a power outage not exciding 11kw

spockety

BrynW wrote:

What is the point in doing the A1 test on a moped? That means that he cant even drive geared bikes then. If he is going to stay on the moped and has no intention of getting a bigger bike, there is no point in going to any extra hassle of getting an A1 licence and then doing the test. He may aswell just do the M test.

What? The license categories have absolutely nothing to do with 'geared bikes'! It is all down to engine size, engine power output, and in the case of the M category, speed. He can do the A1 test on a moped, and still go on to purchase and ride any bike/moped up to 125cc or 11kW. The M license was originally only available with a full car license, the fact that there is now a provisional M license category must be fairly recent.

BrynW wrote:

From his post, I would be fairly sure that he didnt turn around to the tester and tell him his bike could exceed 45kph. He also said that the tester said his licence is not sufficient to ride his moped, he did not give a reason why. He must give a reason why.

To be honest I didn't even realise there was a test for the M license at all, I thought when you got your full car license an M license just came along with it. He should have asked the tester why his vehicle wasn't suitable. But either way, it is not an M category bike he has got, it is an A or A1 category bike.

BrynW wrote:

And if you want to be picky about details, if his bike can exceed 45kph, then his insurance is also void so why dont you tell him to ring the insurance company and inform them of this so they can rape us people on bikes even more!!!!

His insurance is about as void as provisional license car drivers who drive alone even though they're not supposed to.

And FYI, I am one of 'us people on bikes', have been for years, have paid nearly 10 grand to insurers over the last 7 years without ever making a claim. Currently paying a ridiculous 850 euro TPO on a 600cc bandit despite having 5 years no claims bonus.

J.

spockety

dceire wrote:

I did a pre-test lesson before I took the test and my instructor told me just to say that the bike only went 45kmh and keep my speed below 45. The tester did ask about the speed & i said that it was restricted to 45kmh but he still said that it did'nt qualify. Fine, i've absaloutly no problim doing the A1 test Im just pissed off that this was allowed to happen and dont feel like waiting another year + pay the fee again just to do a test on a scooter.

The only reason I was taking the M test was to try and get some money back off my insurance.

The aplication form for the A1 licence stales a motorcycle between 51cc & 125cc and/or a speed capability of more than 45kmh and a power outage not exciding 11kw

I understand you wanting to get a full license for cheaper insurance, that's cool, and it's pretty crap that this has happened to you, but you can't honestly say you were on a category M bike when you went to take the test.

What did the tester actually say to you when you asked why it didn't qualify?

As for the A1 being over 51cc..
http://www.oasis.gov.ie/transport/motoring/categories_of_motor_vehicles_and_minimum_age_of_drivers_in_ireland.html

If that is true, then it is very new!

spockety

Ok from looking at the dublin city corporation web site where you can download forms for licenses, the M license is up to and INCLUDING 50cc. The A1 is indeed 51 - 125. There is no gap in between.

However, the A1 license is 51-125cc *AND/OR* a speed greater than 45kph.

So it can be UNDER 51cc and still qualify if it goes over 45kph, which yours does.
Though judging by the same form it says the M license is also an AND/OR when it comes to being 50cc and under OR 45kph, so perhaps it seems it actually does qualify!

Me thinks you should contact the department of transport for clarification, or better still join MAG Ireland and get them to clarify it for you.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

What? The license categories have absolutely nothing to do with 'geared bikes'! It is all down to engine size, engine power output, and in the case of the M category, speed. He can do the A1 test on a moped, and still go on to purchase and ride any bike/moped up to 125cc or 11kW. The M license was originally only available with a full car license, the fact that there is now a provisional M license category must be fairly recent.

I havent been on a moped for two years so i wouldnt know too much about moped licences, but when i was on it, i was told from more than a few different sources that if you did your test on an automatic bike that your licence would be restricted to automatic bikes, and personally i think this should be the way.

And FYI, I am one of 'us people on bikes', have been for years, have paid nearly 10 grand to insurers over the last 7 years without ever making a claim. Currently paying a ridiculous 850 euro TPO on a 600cc bandit despite having 5 years no claims bonus.

Here mate, im not looking for a fight here, i didnt mean for my last post to come across as being smart and if it did, i apologise!

I wish i had only paid 10 grand to insurers in the last 7 years! I have paid that in the last 4 years, without making a claim or crashing, and i also have a full licence. And im only a cbr 250 at present

dceire

spockety wrote:

What? The license categories have absolutely nothing to do with 'geared bikes'! It is all down to engine size, engine power output, and in the case of the M category, speed. He can do the A1 test on a moped, and still go on to purchase and ride any bike/moped up to 125cc or 11kW. The M license was originally only available with a full car license, the fact that there is now a provisional M license category must be fairly recent.

No, I think he's right, when I went to do my pre-test lesson there was a guy in doing his A licence test on a 250 Majesty. When he passed it my instructor said to him that all thats left now is to do the test again in a geared bike! I could be wrong about this but I think thats how it works, its deffinately the case with the car licence.

His insurance is about as void as provisional license car drivers who drive alone even though they're not supposed to.

After reading the conditions of the M licence to death I realise that my bike voilates it but trough no fault of my own. I am not one of these yobs that race around city streets without regard for themselves or any other road users. I havent had any restrictors removed or added any power-pipes, I've had the bike from new and it always did 50mph, I did'nt realise that I was voilating any insurance policys. My bike should not be available if it can be insured as a scooter despite the fact it can excide the maximum speed for scooters.

OLDYELLAR

When i did my scooter test I have a 50cc bla bla , so the guy goes how fast will it go , I said in or around 50 mile an hour next thing he tells me you have the wrong license you should have an M not an A1 , so i go mental , i was really nervous and had the rules of the road backwards goin in so i say to him excuse me should it not be M if its under 45 I get 50 out of it so hence A1 , he got real thick with me an finally admits to being in the wrong , TWAT! Fails me anyway for aparently hesitating too much at roundabouts , full box of x`s for it , Tests are such a money racket , anyway rant over , I think the guy here was right though if your ped does over 45 you should technically have an A1 license for it , strange it wasnt picked up before though that twas the wrong licence,also max engine capacity for an M license is 50cc and defo states in the rules o the road it shouldnt do more than 45 sorry .

OLDYELLAR

Oh and yea yere right there if you do the test on an automatic its only valid for automatics , the guy told me before i left if i did pass it would`nt count on a geared bike , pile a crap , ! :rolleyes:

Stephen

Eh that's perfectly logical. Driving a bike with gears is a hell of a lot different than driving a moped where its just stop and go. The same thing applies to car tests - if you pass your test in an automatic car you will not be licenced to drive manual cars until you do the test again in a manual car.

seamus

spockety wrote:

His insurance is about as void as provisional license car drivers who drive alone even though they're not supposed to.

Anyone who drives a vehicle unaccompanied is covered completely (Third party) unless their insurance specifically says otherwise.

In this case, the tester was technically right, and the OP has been driving uninsured. As spockety points out, the "AND/OR" is critical here. I would consider the actual driving licence to be gospel on this point - it says that A1 covers <= 125cc or 11kW. Any vehicle falling into category M, also falls into A1, but if it falls just outside of M, it's A1. Most insurance certs will specify "This certificate is valid.....if the insured....holds a valid licence for the category of vehicle being insured".

Was he right? Yep. Is it fair? Maybe. Ordinary mopeds shouldn't do > 45kph IMO. I've driven one. they're too light for 50mph, it's horribly dangerous.