How many times did it take you to pass your driving test?

King of Kings · 08-12-2019 8:59am

6 times.
Felt 2 of the fails were better than the pass

corner of hells · 08-12-2019 9:02am

Raconteuse wrote: »

Six. Terrible I know.

Maybe you just like doing driving tests.
Three fails myself, passed on the fourth go.

Huntergonzo · 08-12-2019 9:07am

Passed on the first go, but I was lucky because I did no research as to where the test centre even was, I just turned up at the ISM which luckily happened to be beside the RSA test centre, arrived in the door just as my name was called out.

Done the test, passed it, had the rocky theme song on CD waiting to go to celebrate my victory, drove to work (a river in the middle of nowhere, I used to make maps) and swiftly locked my keys in the boot.

.....a very successful day out :-)

Wibbs · 08-12-2019 9:14am

Failed first time. I was going to just do the test, but my dad reckoned at least one official lesson would stand to me in case of me not doing stuff that was expected in the test(I did find out that doing heel and toe while downshifting raised eyebrows. That's how my dad did it so just grew up with that). So took a lesson with an instructor who was a bit of a nervous nellie and who insisted I'd have a better chance of passing in his car. I didn't. So reapplied almost immediately and passed a month or so later in my own car.

JupiterKid wrote: »

I actually think everyone should have to re-sit their driving test every decade. There are so many bad drivers on the roads you wonder how they could possibly have passed.

+1000.

mikemac2 · 08-12-2019 9:31am

B - twice

A - first time

The motorcycle one got paused halfway through as we passed some roadworks with jackhammers blasting away. I couldn’t hear the tester in the headset, he was following me in the car. I had no idea which direction to take so just drove somewhere quiet to await further instructions. The tester understood, all good and I passed:)

LirW · 08-12-2019 9:36am

My husband passed at 3rd time. Should have been second but he switched his brain off 5 seconds too early and when parking in the carpark of the test center at the end of the second attempt, he had a massive brainfart, didn't break properly and tipped the wall by letting the car roll into it.
He would have passed otherwise.

I Am The Law · 08-12-2019 9:42am

andekwarhola wrote: »

Anybody else just quickly skipping over the wanky first time look at me posts?

Car first time @ 18
Bike first time @ 30

Begrudgary is alive and well in Ireland.

ebbsy · 08-12-2019 9:46am

First time.

But I drove around on a provisional for 12 years before I did it.

What an idiot I was.

Pac1Man · 08-12-2019 9:50am

Pac1Man = Passed on 2nd attempt.

F1 Champ Jenson Button = Passed on 2nd attempt.

∴ Pac1Man = F1 Champ Jenson Button.

Acquiescence · 08-12-2019 9:53am

First time with one grade 2 fault.

I'd happily pay to resit my test at 3-5 year intervals if every other idiot on the road had to aswell.

The overall standard of driving in this country is disgraceful.

Macdarack · 08-12-2019 9:54am

Passed mine 1st time . the day of the test I got a lesson off a chap who used to give lessons, had a quick look of the rules of the road and borrowed a car cause mine was a wreck and had no tax. I didn't know I'd be doing the test that morning because my provisional licence was out of date but my mother picked up a new one I forgot I ordered. Miracle i passed, I'll never forget it.

Wanderer78 · 08-12-2019 9:55am

First, not a hope I'd get through it now

SuperS54 · 08-12-2019 10:39am

Passed it first time, just as well as I was emigrating 2 days later, that was 19 years ago.

08-12-2019 10:41am

Passed it first time, though I was truly a hazard on the road. It was all about clutch control, gear change, the stupidly monikered 3-point turn. Passed test without having a clue about roundabouts and roadcraft. I had first learned to fly an airplane-there were quite a few pilots atthr club who hadn’t learned to drive as you could afford one or the other. It half shocked me that s car was so different to an airplane where you steer with your feet and control throttle with hand. And roughly speaking the aim In the plane was to get faster to get safer, which is sort of opposite to driving where speed limits are in operation.

Nowadays there is less need to drive s clutched car as they will be obsolete in the future. A good safe hybrid is the way to go for a learner. A second-hand model would be suitable. My own car has a camera which reads the situation ahead and applies brakes in a situation where the driver is too late in reaction. It reads road signs and lets you know the speed limit if you hadn’t observed it yourself.

Years before I learned to drive my father had me changing the wheels about in his old Ford Consul/Grenada, spraying the leads, checking and changing oil, adjusting spark plugs, so I knew exactly how to keep my first car (a Metro)going well when I got it. Never ever failed to start in the coldest weather when the other cars on the road were paralysed. My Dad had kept his going like that too, and would get the neighbour's car going for him if it hiccuped.

Wibbs · 08-12-2019 10:54am

Deleted User wrote: »

Nowadays there is less need to drive s clutched car as they will be obsolete in the future. A good safe hybrid is the way to go for a learner. A second-hand model would be suitable. My own car has a camera which reads the situation ahead and applies brakes in a situation where the driver is too late in reaction. It reads road signs and lets you know the speed limit if you hadn’t observed it yourself.

I'd agree re the manual gearbox, but there's no such thing as a "safe hybrid", or any car for that matter, though too damned many people seem to believe this to some degree. Too many think because their car has a high NCAP rating, more airbags than Dail Eireann, late braking sensors and the like that they can almost absolve themselves of personal attention to the road and road conditions and it gives them a false sense of security. If it's a huge 4X4 add extra daft points. I see this on a scarily regular basis on the roads where people are going hell for leather in their mobile gin palace tech boxes oblivious to road conditions. If someone is relying on their car to read road signs for speed limits I dunno what to think TBH. Do these things help reduce some muppetry on the roads from the dopey? Sure and that's a good thing, but I would prefer to remove the dopey from the roads in the first place.

Trigger Happy · 08-12-2019 10:56am

I took two attempts pass my car driving test and one for the motorbike. Would not be wanting to do either ever again.
I had to do another test in the US when I lived there to get my US driving permit.

Strumms · 08-12-2019 11:03am

Acquiescence wrote: »

I'd happily pay to resit my test at 3-5 year intervals if every other idiot on the road had to aswell.

The overall standard of driving in this country is disgraceful.

I think it would be a good idea but perhaps a logistical nightmare to get enough testers to test both new drivers and recurrent checks on the likes of me and you.

The overall standard IS crap. I don’t blame the lack of recurrent training I blame the lack of enforcement by the Gardai on the roads. .. .

I related what you can expect recently when I was in a car driven by a relative which was pulled and she was given points for the first time in her blemish free 16 year driving career.... car in front goes though a junction after being stopped at a red, THEN decided it didn’t know where it was going, left, right or straight, jammed on and stopped in the middle of a busy junction.. light turns amber then red, we are three quarters way over the line... next blue lights... an attitude from auschwitz, roaring and shouting about road safety.... I inform him that if they had a key concern about road safety he’d be talking to the driver of the car who was the root cause of the problem... who illegally stopped in the middle of the busy junction, might as well have been talking to something behind glass in a fûcking zoo... pig ignorant and hard of thinking is the polite way of putting it and probably putting the state at about €40,000 into the hole for this ‘service’.

Meanwhile ‘Actual’ not up to scratch driving is ignored, obviously defective vehicles with lights not working, bald tyres etc, IGNORED.

threetrees · 08-12-2019 11:04am

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

1. But I shouldn’t have passed.

Me too. I passed first time over 20 years ago and I'm not sure how I managed it but I wasn't arguing!

We really are at a crossroads (get it?) in terms of traditional manual cars and hybrid/electric cars. I'd say there's a good portion of new drivers now with automatic only licences, seeing no need for manuals.

08-12-2019 11:05am

andekwarhola wrote: »

Anybody else just quickly skipping over the wanky first time look at me posts?

Only you, inadequate second-timer!

I passed first time. My last year in school one of our teachers used to give us lessons in the basics around the school grounds which was a great head start.

Then when I finished secondary I was given a gift of a four day full-time course in Wales with a test on day five. I passed, but I didn't drive unaccompanied for a long time as I might have had the skills to pass, but I didn't have the experience to be safe.

Still waters · 08-12-2019 11:11am

Twice in the car
First time in the rigid
First time in the artic

cj maxx · 08-12-2019 11:14am

3 for the car.
1st time completely not up to it.
2nd time a car pulled straight across a lane nearly causing a crash. Completely their fault but it completely knocked me. Also only back home after a few years in America and I had to be careful turning on to roads that I didn't turn on the right hand side !
3rd time I scraped it.
Lorry test . 1st time

Accepting Cookies · 08-12-2019 11:24am

I took it 8 years ago, I failed the first time because of 'coasting' and a couple other things adding up. I've had a license in another country for 20 years and having learned on a clutch I suppose I had certain habits that weren't going to change. Husband likes to brag he passed his test on the first go but the instructor fell asleep and woke up when my husband parked back at the centre, ha ha!

A lot of people seem to drive at their own speeds, regardless of what's posted. They're either flying over the speed limit, or they drive at their own pace well under the limit, holding up a long line of cars. Then often times you get someone who's just flipped and tries to pass in a fit of rage in a questionable part of the road. I always hold my breath and feel so stressed out. :-s

Benicetomonty · 08-12-2019 11:28am

3rd time. Nailed the hill start, still think thats what swung it for me. Coasting like crazy ever since.

Tired Gardener · 08-12-2019 11:29am

Passed my Car driving test first time in Ireland, prior to that I had rode motorbikes on and off for about 10 years in the UK. I honestly think that helped me pass first time as the roads over here are a doddle compared to other there.

Accepting Cookies · 08-12-2019 11:33am

Oh, and mobile phones usage while driving is an absolute epidemic. Had to wait forever to leave the shop yesterday while an older lady did a 6 point reverse and turn out of her parking spot because she only had one free hand to use, the other one holding up the phone to her face. :mad:

I never drive ANYWHERE without seeing at least a handful of people on phones while driving, even texting. Cars, lorries, tractors, they all do it. I'd argue most people just put on a show while doing driving test, then drive in real life in a complete opposite manner. The only road rule enforcement I've ever seen is the odd speed van, which people spot way off or know where they tend to be so never get caught out.

Colliewollie · 08-12-2019 11:34am

Passed it the first time at the age of 17. My instructor told me I wouldn't pass and that I needed more lessons (maybe looking for more money)!

Born and raised on a farm and my uncle taught me to drive and operate different types of machinery so I had confidence before the test.

Still learning as I get older, including driving here in Spain.. Some of the driving here is absolutely ridiculous.

Eggs For Dinner · 08-12-2019 11:40am

Passed first time in the 80's. Had been driving for a few years on a provisional licence, as was the style at the time

spurious · 08-12-2019 11:47am

Raconteuse wrote: »

Six. Terrible I know.

Six here too.
5 times failed in Raheny, got a cancellation within a very short time and passed in Finglas no problems whatsoever.

I NEVER text, or make/take calls while driving (I'm really not that important that it can't wait til a suitable place to stop). I know what the middle lane is for and know how to merge. These things alone seem to separate me from the majority of drivers. Maybe six times tested isn't a bad idea.

facehugger99 · 08-12-2019 11:47am

First time, a few weeks after turning 17.

I'm a genuinely excellent driver, sometime think I should have tuned professional, - but there's no enough money being a driving instructor.

Bob Harris · 08-12-2019 11:51am

Failed the first time, thought I'd passed.
Passed the second time, thought I'd failed.

How many times did it take you to pass your driving test?

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