provisional license

shane0312

I have a provisional license and am insured as a named driver on my mam's car. Could someone tell me whether or not my insurance is void if I Drive on my own without someone with a full license in the car with me?

Citizen_Erased

If on the license beside cars in restrictions there are the numbers 999 then you cannot by law drive without a qualified driver any way

seamus

No, it's not void unless the insurance policy says it is.

You are liable to prosecution though.

Funkstard

Everyone does it. None of my friends have ever been told to stop driving when the mofo's stopped them and they were by themselves in the car

jhegarty

shane0312 wrote:

I have a provisional license and am insured as a named driver on my mam's car. Could someone tell me whether or not my insurance is void if I Drive on my own without someone with a full license in the car with me?

your insurance is fine...

but the cops could take you to court (they won't, but they could)....

CTU_Agent

jhegarty wrote:

your insurance is fine...

but the cops could take you to court (they won't, but they could)....

I was taken to court for this very same thing...some insurance companies make you sign a form in the beginning saying you wont drive unaccompanied etc...besides that its against the law and dangerous...

Nuttzz

CTU_Agent wrote:

...dangerous...

How exactly? What is a passanger with a full licence going to do to avoid a crash, other than give some advice?

Citizen_Erased

Make sure they signal properly , dont go up a one way system , get lost in traffic calming , judging distances at junctions , changing lanes at roundabouts etc.. - such a long list that a qualified driver can help on

CTU_Agent

Nuttzz wrote:

How exactly? What is a passanger with a full licence going to do to avoid a crash, other than give some advice?

Thats how!! :rolleyes:

CTU_Agent

Funkstard wrote:

Everyone does it.

Oh everyone does it.... Well that must be ok then! :mad:

Nuttzz

like that happens...everyone loves a back seat driver.

Make sure they signal properly , dont go up a one way system , get lost in traffic calming , judging distances at junctions , changing lanes at roundabouts etc.. - such a long list that a qualified driver can help on

thats what driving instructors are for, not your mother you got her licence through the provisional licence amnesty years ago......

Citizen_Erased

So now your saying the prov license should be changed so you can only go outdriving with qualified instructors?

Nuttzz

from www.drivingtest.ie

Average For All Centres 54.0% (pass rate) 39.3 (waiting time in weeks)

Loughrea has a waiting time of 14 weeks
Dungravan has a waiting time of 61 weeks

commited

The easy and proper answer to this is don't drive on your own.
It's illegal and it's disgusting that someone can hop in a car over here with no driving experience and drive on their own, without even fearing that they will be caught. I'd love to see a clamp down on this and learners who drive on the motorway.
Your parents should be responsible enough not to let you drive unaccompanied.

fletch

Nuttzz wrote:

from www.drivingtest.ie

Average For All Centres 54.0% (pass rate) 39.3 (waiting time in weeks)

Loughrea has a waiting time of 14 weeks
Dungravan has a waiting time of 61 weeks

I can't stop laughin at the maps to the test centres on a goverment official website....it looks like a kid doodling in MS paint
Check out the map to finglas

sceptre

Citizen_Erased wrote:

So now your saying the prov license should be changed so you can only go outdriving with qualified instructors?

I don't think anyone said anything of the sort but now that you mention it, I'd happily support this at least during an initial period. And re-testing every few years while we're at it.

Nuttzz

commited wrote:

Your parents should be responsible enough not to let you drive unaccompanied.

mmmm not every learner driver is a kid...I have a 35 year old friend who is just learning to drive. His 70 year old mother will be a great help to him when he's out driving...

Citizen_Erased

Doesnt matter what your age , your as much a beginner as an 18 year old and just as liable to an accident.

Nuttzz

Citizen_Erased wrote:

Doesnt matter what your age , your as much a beginner as an 18 year old and just as liable to an accident.

I agree with you, I was just pointing out that not every L driver is a 17-18 year old living at home

interesting and mildly related article

http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/140clarkson/01/

commited

Nuttzz wrote:

mmmm not every learner driver is a kid...I have a 35 year old friend who is just learning to drive. His 70 year old mother will be a great help to him when he's out driving...

I realise that, but is he insured under his mothers name?

commited

dawballz wrote:

It's a ridiculous law.

Why is it? Why should someone be able to hop into a car with absolutely no knowledge and drive a car on their own with no formal instruction?
As far as I know, every other European country is the same. The makes a RIDICULOUS amount of sense. You arent qualified to drive on your own, thus you shouldn't.

commited

dawballz wrote:

Umm driver theory test doesn't count then, no?

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

You cant read a book and know how to drive.

astec123

The point is that a qualified driver has had proper practice, and in theory drives the car as per the requirements of the test, so they know how to drive, a provis driver is a noob and has no skill or knowledge. I accept it seems silly but its the law. I know of racing drivers that have no licence to drive a car etc. But the law is there to protect you and everyone else. The idea of the fully licenced driver is based upon the fact that if is required the noob can switch if they cannot hack it. No driver is perfect, I remember my instructor took me home after the first lesson and did everything wrong, but the idea of the co-pilot is to be there to assist you. I totally disagree with the 2nd year of a provis licence where the licencee can drive freely, but then the 3rd year they are back to basics, it makes no sense.

The laws are there, obey them, little more, complain, campaign etc, but dont risk my life or yours. Simple really.

Guy:Incognito

dawballz wrote:

It's a ridiculous law.

No, it's a perfectly good law, the law that akllows provisional licensed drivers to drive a car outside of actually learning to drive (being thought) is th eridiculous law.

Guy:Incognito

dawballz wrote:

Umm driver theory test doesn't count then, no?

And heres me reading the soccer forum everyday, and guess what, no £50,000 a week contract from Liverpool has dropped through the door yet. Do these people not realise I've been reading about football for years so it would stand to reason I'm great at it. :rolleyes:

commited

dawballz wrote:

Yeah, and someone can't just tell you how to drive either.
Practice makes perfect.

And you can practice with a fully qualified driver with you. If you have no fully qualified driver available, then you can pay for lessons like the rest of us.

astec123 wrote:

I totally disagree with the 2nd year of a provis licence where the licencee can drive freely, but then the 3rd year they are back to basics, it makes no sense.

The laws are there, obey them, little more, complain, campaign etc, but dont risk my life or yours. Simple really.

Agree on both points.

jhegarty

commited wrote:

And you can practice with a fully qualified driver with you. If you have no fully qualified driver available, then you can pay for lessons like the rest of us.


Agree on both points.

how man lessons should you have in the 12 months you are waiting for your test... and by the way you just paid €4,500 for your insurance that year too....

Nuttzz

Both my parents got their driving licences without doing any test, my mother had a "complete" full licence, she was licenced to drive motorbike and HGV's despite never driving one. So if I had of applied for my provisional HGV licence years ago my mother could have could have been my "qualified" driver.

/edit: the law has since changed and she doesnt have a hgv licence anymore

Simple solutions that I see would be to replace a useless subject like religion in our schools and replace it with driver education, and make sitting your test a part of the leaving cert.

whippet

to the OP, if your girlfriend want's to go to mcdonalds she should walk, bus, taxi or a lift ... or if she really wants to drive .. pass the test. My 15 year old cousin would love to be able to drive to school, but I don't her him complaining that it is a stupid law that requires him to have a license to drive.

To be in a position to drive unaccompanied needs to be earned and you have to prove that you are capable of doing it, there are too many dangers and lives at risk by incompetant drivers.

The amount you spend on driving lessons is reflected on how good a driver you are and how quickly you learn, whereby huge initial insurnace premiums (wrightly or wrongly) are a reflection of the risk that is associated with a driver who has not shown the competancy of passing a simple driving test.

Driving should be seen as an honour not a right.

OMcGovern

I think it's madness that someone can drive to their driving test.... completely fail it... showing that they're still not ready to drive competantly on our roads.
Then they are entitled to drive their car home........

Tis madness I say.... madness.

What about old people who cling on to their licenses until their eyesight fails ?
Do you reckon their should be a driver retest at age 65, 70, 75 etc ?
Or are we tolerating slow, awkward, and mildly dangerous old drivers for humane reasons, rather than safety reasons ?

regards,
Owen

thatkindofgirl

Nuttzz wrote:

mmmm not every learner driver is a kid...I have a 35 year old friend who is just learning to drive. His 70 year old mother will be a great help to him when he's out driving...

Hire a driving instructor then. It's not really that complicated. :rolleyes: