Can you drive a commercial van on a second provisional?

Sparky · 06-08-2005 10:34pm #1

so ive been on a bike for the last year to get around and now the dad has decided to get me a van but by then im only on my second provisional, but im not sure if i can drive vans on provisionals, so many people have different answers.
id apply for my full test tomorrow if i could but id rather get a bit of experiance in a car/van before i apply, ive biked on the road for a year and a half now so im pretty sure of the rules and people common mistakes, so im not new to the roads if you know what i mean.

ive done about 20hrs of driving tests but that was about 4 months ago, id have a car but only because of the high insurance for my age and licience.

Any info, tips would be brill, thanks

Rabies · 06-08-2005 10:48pm

I had my 1st and 2nd provisional licence and was insured to drive the company vans. Driving for about 3 years on a provisional.
Can't see much of a problem for you.

John R · 06-08-2005 11:39pm

As long as it qualifies as a class B vehicle then yes.

Sparky · 07-08-2005 12:24am

could be an opel combo or something in the simular catagory, wouldnt be anything like a transit or a sprinter.

Silvera · 07-08-2005 12:25am

Correct.

Class B = less than or equal to 3,500kg (c.3.5 tonnes) Gross Vehicle Weight GVW (i.e. weight of vehicle when fully (legally!) loaded).

Silvera.

Sparky · 07-08-2005 12:33am

Silvera wrote:

Correct.

Class B = less than or equal to 3,500kg (c.3.5 tonnes) Gross Vehicle Weight GVW (i.e. weight of vehicle when fully (legally!) loaded).

Silvera.

so im ok then, i suppose this also means i cant drive my dads land cruser also, since its classed as a HGV because of its weight.

county · 07-08-2005 12:33am

as long as there is a passenager with a full DL in the van with you,its the law

Sparky · 07-08-2005 12:52am

county wrote:

as long as there is a passenager with a full DL in the van with you,its the law

not on a second PL ,afaik, yes theres a law on the first one thats why i had to get a bike.

county · 07-08-2005 1:00am

crazy laws in this country,no wonder so many people die on the roads

unkel · 07-08-2005 1:11am

county wrote:

crazy laws in this country

Crazy indeed :mad:

Say you're driving on a provisional license. You are not allowed to drive on your own and have to have a qualified driver with you at all times. Then you fail the test, proving that you aren't suitable to drive on your own, so the law says now you are allowed to drive on your own? WTF?

Can anyone here name the minister responsible for this back then? If you can, I will personally p!ss all over his biography

boardsee · 07-08-2005 9:37am

How is your dads landcruiser classed as a hgv? Its only a landcruiser ya know, i drive my uncles commercial one all the time. Its a jeep not a truck. Its classed same as a van, its under <3500kg sure.

Is it a long wheel base yoke or the short? Maybe the LWB is classed differently???

murphaph · 07-08-2005 10:05am

Sparky_S wrote:

id apply for my full test tomorrow if i could but id rather get a bit of experiance in a car/van before i apply

Apply now Sparky! The wait time is almost a year in many test centres and even if your test came up more suddenly than you'd like, you can defer it twice before you lose your place/fee and have to re-apply. Check driving test.ie for the wait time at your preferred test centre.

boardsee · 07-08-2005 11:07am

Then you fail the test, proving that you aren't suitable to drive on your own

Failing the test doesnt prove you arent suitable to drive on your own. How do you make that out, or are you looking at the test in a black/white, pass/fail only sense. Are you that simple? :rolleyes:

The test is 50/50,,, failing doesnt neccessarily mean your incapable of driving safely or properly. They could fail you for crossing your hands ffs along with a couple other minor trivial things. Hardly a case to say you shouldnt be driving on your own. Are you not going to cross your hands, if theres someone sitting in the passenger seat or something?

lomb · 07-08-2005 11:53am

unkel wrote:

Crazy indeed :mad:

Say you're driving on a provisional license. You are not allowed to drive on your own and have to have a qualified driver with you at all times. Then you fail the test, proving that you aren't suitable to drive on your own, so the law says now you are allowed to drive on your own? WTF?

Can anyone here name the minister responsible for this back then? If you can, I will personally p!ss all over his biography

id agree with u unkel accept for one thing, the waiting list is over a year, not 2 or 3 days like it is in the UK.

Sparky · 07-08-2005 6:49pm

my dad has a SWB 98 land cruiser, and every year he has to do his CRW up a murphys truck centre in ballymount, thats why he says its unreal, hes like a small thing compared to these huge lorries there, afaik the full driver restriction is not applied on a second provisional,
im driving a bike on my provisional to get me by, the insurance company wanted 5,000 off me last year for a car, so i couldnt afford that so im paying 1500 for a bike instead.
plus in my line of work it would be impossible to have a fulldriver with me when i drive because both my parents work, so id be fecked if im paying 5000 just to drive at the weekends.

Sparky · 07-08-2005 6:51pm

Car drivers (category B) with a provisional licence must be accompanied at all times by, and under the supervision of, a person with a current full driving licence to drive a car. (The only exception to this, is where the driver holds a second provisonal driving licence to drive a car).

im on a first now, ill be on a second in oct, hence why im driving a bike

RicardoSmith · 07-08-2005 7:16pm

boardsee wrote:

Failing the test doesnt prove you arent suitable to drive on your own. How do you make that out, or are you looking at the test in a black/white, pass/fail only sense. Are you that simple? :rolleyes:

The test is 50/50,,, failing doesnt neccessarily mean your incapable of driving safely or properly. They could fail you for crossing your hands ffs along with a couple other minor trivial things. Hardly a case to say you shouldnt be driving on your own. Are you not going to cross your hands, if theres someone sitting in the passenger seat or something?

Well its obvious isn't it... :rolleyes:

Hes assuming that if you have a 2nd provisional, you've failed your test while on your first provisional. However you don't have to have done the test to get the 2nd provisional licence, only to get the third one. AFAIK. But that just being pedantic, the point hes making is valid.

If you can't get the trivial stuff right, through lack of concentration, or lack of discipline, I would say you can't drive properly or safely. In fact theres lots of people who've been driving for years who aren't. To be honest I think its a farce that any provisional driver is allowed to drive on their own.

Sparky · 07-08-2005 7:38pm

well im only going to be driving to gain experience, and yes i will have a full driver with me on occasions, but id rather not brake the law by doin this on a first provisional, i am going to get driving lessons in this car aswell, and im going to apply for the test in sept.
Im not going to be driving just for the sake of driving, but it will be a need in my line of work in a yr or so.
Ive seen first provisional drivers drive without full drivers and i think there mad, id never attempt it.

RicardoSmith · 07-08-2005 8:03pm

Sad truth is you'd be very unluckey to be caught, the guards rarely stop and check for it. Why not apply for the test now?

Sparky · 07-08-2005 8:12pm

RicardoSmith wrote:

Sad truth is you'd be very unluckey to be caught, the guards rarely stop and check for it. Why not apply for the test now?

was thinking i should since it takes a while for them to get back to ya, so ill pick up a form in the local station and fill er in.

Can you drive a commercial van on a second provisional?

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