The driving test in Ireland… fact or fiction? An instructors view

The driving test here in Ireland has grown to epic stature and is now a more popular topic than the latest Harry Potter movie or Spy Blockbuster.

As with any exam, written, oral, or practical, the reasons for failure can be attributed to any natural or unnatural phenomenon you can think of.

Anything but the truth!

The myths and horror stories surrounding the driving test are the stuff of legend, growing exponentially with each passing day as new legions (no, armies!) of driving test candidates exchange their experiences with anyone who be willing to listen.

There is a very willing Public since one in ten of the population in Ireland they are learner drivers with a provisional licence!

Yes… Nearly one in five of those people you see behind the wheel are learner drivers. That’s twenty percent of total vehicle traffic in Ireland, excluding commercial vehicles.

Why, with these numbers, should there be a new television channel dedicated to the subject, wouldn’t you agree? Certainly the level of media coverage has been increasing in recent times, perhaps due to the proximity of next year’s general elections.

Learning the ropes from someone who’s been there, done that, whether successfully or not, is a very valuable use of your time and could even be entertaining in a pinch. However, and here’s the crux of the matter…listening to woe stories or the usual litany of excuses spewed out by most unsuccessful candidates won’t help you much. In fact, they won’t help you at all!

Because? Because there is no shortcut to Driving Test Success, although the average Learner Driver in Ireland seems to believe there is.

Let’s take a look at some fiction…

There must be a magic potion that surely should be available without a prescription?

It would contain the following benefits (besides being easy to swallow!)

(a) An inalienable right to sit behind the wheel.

(b) A complete side effect of “get rid of your driving instructor and forget about driving lessons.”

(c) Instructions on how to start and move your car on the road after purchase (essential).

(d) In the dosage instructions there should also be an extensive phrasebook with helpful and character-enhancing quotes to impress all your friends. This would be something along the lines of:-

(e) “A whole load of nonsense”

(f) “A government racket to make money.”

(g) “A racket to make money in Driving School”

(h) “Take lessons from your sister, brother, next door neighbor and you’ll be fine”

(i) “All test drives are useless and would not recognize a good driver even if they collided with one”

There are no shortcuts to passing the driving test in Ireland.

Now a selection of facts.

(1) While it is a sample of some of the skills needed to survive and stay alive, the driving test is only the beginning of a driving career and the beginning of the learning experience.

(2) The driving test continues to evolve and with each new addition to the test curriculum, it becomes more difficult to pass.

(3) If it is getting harder to pass the driving test, then more study and preparation should be faced, not less.

(4) Taking the driving test before you have learned not only the basics, but also more advanced techniques will lead to disappointment…often more than once.

(5) The number of Candidates who simply do not show up for the Driving Test has a large impact on increasing the waiting list for an appointment.

(6) No Shows are sometimes as high as ten percent at Driving Test Centers.

(7) The new test centers on the east coast of Ireland and the inland couple organizing the privately contracted year-long drive-through tests will only keep the waiting list from growing. This move to a year-long privatization of additional driving tests will not achieve the comparable reduction in waiting time for a test of just a few weeks, as in the UK.

(8) The growth in the number of new drivers appearing on the driving scene in Ireland, due to demographics and immigration, will make test date reduction times a major hurdle for years to come.

(9) The many new laws that are coming will have a beneficial effect over time, but not overnight. The registration and accreditation oversight of driving schools will bring a new dimension to the whole area of ​​learning to drive in Ireland as European standards are adopted.

(10) There is currently no driving education culture in Ireland and the vast majority of novice drivers do not take professional lessons, which of course has led to a skill level that is well below average.

(11) The fact that the vast majority of drivers in Ireland are below the average and below the European standard has naturally led to one of the worst positions on the accident ranking table.

(12) All adult drivers and parents in Ireland can contribute to improving the attitude of new drivers from the moment they place a passenger in their car, be it child or adult. There is a need for parental awareness that is missing. Parents can influence the behavior of any child from a very early age

It is obvious, even to the casual observer from any other European country or more distant land, that the solution to low driving standards in Ireland lies in Driver education formally structured, monitored and applied.

There is a good chance that any young driver, with the right training and encouragement, will become a competent and safe driver and, having achieved a reasonable level of understanding, will navigate their way through the driving test in Ireland.