Reasons for failing the Irish Driving Tes

6. Courtesy

Courtesy and Alighting

Courtesy is a tricky one. The examiner wants to be happy that you will be a courteous driver when you do pass your test. When most people think of being a courteous driver they think of letting people out of side roads or letting people turn right by doing something like flashing your lights as you approach their turning vehicle.

During your test you have to be careful about this because you will get a fault if you beckon someone. This is one of the examples of something that everyone, including good drivers and even testers will do during normal driving that you should never do in your test. Sometimes in every day driving a situation arises in which you will intuitively slow down/stop to let someone out. For example, driving in slow moving traffic and a car on your left coming from a left side road wants to join the line of traffic. Normally you will slow down/stop and wave the emerging car out and he/she will come out and give you a grateful wave (if he/she is polite) and everyone will carry on happy that people are intrinsically good. In your test, however, in this situation everything is the same except you’re not allowed beckon so you slow down/stop and sit there staring ahead or at the emerging driver, with your hands welded to the steering wheel, saying in your head “go on, come out” or looking pleadingly at the driver trying to telepathically give him permission to emerge. Of course the emerging driver is thinking “give me a signal, what the hell is going on?”. So you sit there until the car emerges or doesn’t. Either way it’s not an ideal situation as everyone leaves confused or worse, he doesn’t move, you close the gap, and then he decides to move. Disaster.

The alternative is to ignore him and close the gap and sit there blocking the cars exit like an ignoramus. This isn’t courteous though and you may get a grade 2 fault so the best thing to do is leave a gap and hope the driver emerging guesses what’s going on and emerges to the line of traffic. He/she will probably give you a wave in gratitude and you won’t get a fault for smiling back.

Driving testers are pragmatic though and will overlook a little sensible driving even it drifts outside the letter of the law.

The reason you should not beckon is because you are then strongly implying to the person you’re beckoning to that everything is okay and it is safe to turn or merge. You can’t know this fully, all you know is that you’re not going to move or impede the car your beckoning to but there may be other vehicles around who aren’t privy to your idea. If the car you’re beckoning to emerges and hits a bicycle or motorbike or another car the person driving the beckoned car will think with some, but not much, justification that “well you said it was okay to move”.

Also, when people are beckoned they don’t want to over-rule your generosity and may emerge without making their usual and necessary safety checks just to avoid an awkward situation. No one wants to turn down an act of generosity because if you don’t move when beckoned you are saying, “thank you but no, I know more than you do”. This can lead to accidents and sulking.

So there are perfectly good reasons to discourage beckoning, especially for inexperienced drivers who may not be aware of the big picture. Experienced drivers will of course beckon but economically.

Alighting means getting out of your car. This includes what you do when you stop. You should ensure the handbrake is engaged, the ignition is switched off and ideally you will leave the car in a low gear (this will stop the car rolling away in the event the handbrake doesn’t work properly).

The most important part of alighting is that you check that you’re not going to interfere with any traffic or pedestrians when you open the door. For example if you open the door and hit a cyclist, cause a cyclist to swerve or crash into your door. If you do this you will get a grade 3 fault and you deserve it. You should also ensure your passengers aren’t going to do anything silly. They may not be drivers and therefore not road wise.

This is unlikely to come up as you will be alighting your car back at the test centre but you should still make the appropriate observations.

For more information about courtesy have a look here.

Reasons for failing the Irish Driving Test

7. Signals

 There’s not much mystery involved with signals.

Signals

It’s basic.

You will not get a grade three red mark (instant fail) for signals as, although it’s dangerous to give wrong signals, it is not deemed to be at the top end of seriousness.

You will get a grade 2 mark in the signals box for…

Not giving the correct signal and, this is important, in good time before moving off or overtaking, changing lane, at roundabouts, turning right, turning left and stopping (pulling over).

You will also receive a grade 2 fault if you don’t cancel the signal. 90 % of the time the signal will cancel itself in good time with the turn of the wheel but this isn’t foolproof so be sure to check that the signal has been cancelled by checking the green flashing light on the dashboard and/or checking the position of the indicator stalk. This is especially important on gentle turns as often the self cancelling mechanism doesn’t work in these situations.

You will receive a grade 2 fault if you give a misleading signal, that means indicating right while turning left or indicating left or right and going straight. This is often the result of leaving the indicator on from the last turn. This also applies to indicating early. For example, if you are turning left and you indicate left before you have passed the previous left turn. This could come up when there are two left turns close together. Wait till you pass the first left turn (the one your not taking) before you indicate left.

Roundabouts are very signal intensive.

A brief recap.

If you’re going left, indicate left on approach to the roundabout.

If you’re going straight on, indicate when you pass the first exit. you will probably not get a mark against you for not indicating at all if you’re going straight on.

If you’re going right, usually but not always the third exit, indicate right and then left as you pass the previous exit.

A good way to think of it is imagine the roundabout is not there and how would you indicate if it was just a junction ?

At the beginning of your test or sometime during your test you will be asked to demonstrate hand signals. You’ll need these if for some reason your indicators don’t work and of course to understand what other road users, including good cyclists, are trying to indicate when they use hand signals.

It’s hard to get a fault on the hand signals as you need to get three wrong to get a grade 2 fault so don’t lose sleep over these. The tricky ones are indicating you’re turning left to a policeman in front of you, you do this one by placing the right hand across chest pointing left. A lot of people make the mistake of using the left hand pointing left but if you had a passenger your hand would be in their face and you might have a fight.

Another tricky one is slowing down; you stick your hand out the window but with your palm facing towards the ground and wave your hand up and down gracefully. If you’re beckoning someone to pass you out your hand should be at a right angle to the ground. The reason for this is it’s hard to see the difference between a circular gesture and a up and down gesture from a distance.

And interesting difference between England and Ireland is that in the English test you can get a fault for indicating when not necessary or when there’s no one to indicate to. The Irish is system is better as how can you know or be sure no one’s looking. You never know who’s benefitting from your indication, for cyclists and motorbikes it’s essential they know the intention of bigger vehicles and in good time.

For more information on driving signals try this section of Irish RSA (Road Safety Authority). Hand signals.

Reasons for failing the Irish Driving Test

 6. Clearance/Overtake

Clearance/overtake, this isn’t one of the big reasons why candidates fail the Irish Driving Test. Any mistakes you make overtaking can also be marked under observation, mirrors, speed or signals.

Clearance means that when you’re passing any obstacle ahead of you on the road you do it carefully and safely.

Most pedestrians will be on the footpath in cities but not always. On country roads you will find pedestrians in all sorts of places but mostly walking or running on the edge of the road. In theory all pedestrians should be walking towards the on coming traffic so they can also react to the hazard but this isn’t always the reality. So when you see a pedestrian you should check your mirrors, indicate  and pass the pedestrian leaving at least a metre between your vehicle and the pedestrian. Check the left mirror to ensure you’ve passed and cleared safely. Always be attentive to sudden movements, especially if the pedestrian has his/her back to you and may not have seen you.

Cyclists are more complicated to deal with. Before you decide to pass the cyclist you must decide if it is safe to do so. Factors to consider are ; is the road ahead clear with enough space to give the cyclists at least a metre to spare. Is there anything approaching ? Are you near a corner ? More advanced motorists will check to see if there are any hazards that may affect the cyclist and cause him to move out suddenly, things like pot holes, rubbish on the road, drains etc. You should also be aware the cyclist might indicate and pull out to your lane but more likely will not indicate. Always expect something to happen. Although cyclists can be annoying, I know I can be an annoying cyclist, it does not mean you should drive aggressively though as they are extremely vulnerable road users. If you hit them they are likely to be seriously injured at least. 5 were killed in 2010 and thousands injured. In a collision between a car and bicycle there’s only one winner.

In some countries there is a law which states that it is a crime to pass a cyclist with anything less than 1.5 metre clearance.

The next three sections in this section of the driving test marking sheet, stationary vehicle, other traffic, other objects should be treated the same. Check your surroundings, have a look at your blind spot, indicate when you know you won’t alarm anyone and begin your manoeuvre. You should have anticipated the hazard early so you can take up your road position early and avoid any sudden movements. When you think you’ve cleared the obstacle check your left mirror to confirm and drive on as normal.

Overtake safely applies to overtaking cars on the road. It’s not really a position you want to find yourself in during a test although if you do it well it will demonstrate you’re a competent and assertive driver.

The candidate should check all the mirrors before beginning the maneuver and only then indicate and begin to overtake. When the overtaking maneuver is finished it is very important to check in the inside mirror that the obstacle/car/bicycle is successfully cleared. Remember to begin pulling out well before you arrive at the rear so you movement is gentle and the car being passed knows what’s going on. You can’t guarantee the person being overtaking knows you’re there but you can look for signals like is he/she checking in the mirror ? Has he/she altered road position ?

To learn more about overtaking safely go to http://www.smartdriving.co.uk/

Reasons for failing the Irish Driving Test

 4. Hazards

Although hazards only get one little column on the driving test marking sheet do not underestimate the importance of recognising and reacting to hazards

Mistakes and the Irish Driving Test

Some people fail their driving tests on a series of minor mistakes. If a candidate makes the same mistake 4 times they will fail. For example if you change lanes 4 times and you don’t look in your mirrors you will get a blue mark on the mirrors section, changing lanes, 4 times.

So during your test you may feel you have done okay and maybe you will be surprised that the tester failed you but it will have been obvious to the examiner that although you may be a good driver you are missing one important aspect of your observation.

What happens though if you make a howler of a mistake and you get one of these red, disqualifying mistakes ?

I was talking to a girl yesterday who had recently failed her driving test, let’s call her Tina. Tina was understandably nervous, it was her second attempt and she was concentrating very hard on her positioning as she had done badly in this area during the previous test. She was concentrating so hard that she failed to notice a red pedestrian light until she was driving right through it. She knew and the tester knew that she was going to fail and there was still most of the test left to go through.

So how should you deal with that ? The answer is of course to continue driving to the best of your ability for the rest of the test. Many people who have made mistakes that they know are red marks report initially being very disappointed but then the pressure is off.  You’re sure you’ve failed so you relax a bit and then do the perfect drive for the rest of the test. That’s annoying too.

So at worst the rest of the test is good practice for you in the tense atmosphere of a driving test, at best, the tester just might be convinced that you are actually a fantastic driver and it was nerves that caused the mistake.

I did hear a story recently of a candidate doing the driving test in an articulated truck. In this test you have to reverse around two corners and it’s very tricky, especially the off side reverse (that’s when the corner is on the passenger side). The tester gets out of the truck to observe you doing the manoeuvre. The guy in question made a mess of the turn two times and knew his game was up so he drove off back to base leaving the tester standing on the corner with no way home. It may even have been raining.

I wouldn’t advise this. They know who you are and I guess the next time this guy does his test he’ll have to do very well to pass.

If you’re the type who get very flustered and finds it hard to focus you can always try a bit of meditation.

Zen and the art of the Irish Driving Test - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation

Top ten reasons for failing the Irish Driving Test

 2. Use of mirrors

The number two reason candidates fail the Irish Driving test is mirrors or more precisely, not using mirrors. This is crucial to passing your test and the examiner will know very quickly if the candidate has a good understanding of mirrors and how to use them. It’s hard to fake good use of mirrors so practice is the key. For a long time the advice given was to move your head exaggeratedly so the tester would be sure you’re looking in the mirrors. These days there are reports of testers failing students tests because of this. It is easy to understand why that might annoy the tester.

Mirrors section on the driving test marking sheet.

Moving off – Observation is very important throughout the whole test and no less so when moving off. At the beginning of your test it also gives you an opportunity to demonstrate good use of mirrors. It’s a chance to show the tester you know what you’re doing.  I covered this in the previous blog on observation but here’s a reminder: check all your mirrors before you do anything then concentrate on the rear view mirror and the right wing mirror. You’re checking to see if there’s anyone around that you may alarm before you indicate your intention, this includes cars and cyclists. When you’re happy your indication won’t startle anyone go ahead and indicate. Check rear view mirror again and right wing mirror and of course don’t forget a glance over your right shoulder to check the blind spot. If all is well pull out. When you’re out on the straight have a quick check in all mirrors to see that everything is tranquil behind you.

On the Straight – When driving on the straight you cannot have too much information about what’s going on around you so you’re looking ahead, obviously but you’re also checking all around you including behind you using all three mirrors available to you so you get a complete picture. Every couple seconds have glance in your mirrors to keep the picture up to date. What are you looking for? You’re looking for anything that may become a hazard or even a factor to you. You might see someone approaching very fast and need to react to that, you might see a crazed cyclist trying to get passed you (let him/her) or a motorbike. Ideally and mostly you’ll see all is well behind you but that’s well worth knowing too.

Overtaking – Overtaking is similar to moving off. Check mirrors to make sure that you won’t alarm anyone when you indicate, when you’re happy with that indicate and check mirrors again especially the right wing mirror and the rear view mirror and begin to overtake. Keep checking the mirrors during the manoeuvre. When you have passed the obstacle (hazard, bike, car etc) it is very important, using the left wing mirror, to check you have safely cleared the obstacle and therefore you’re not pulling in too early. Cyclists can speed up, cars can act the maggot and accelerate so stay aware. When you’re happy you’re clear pull back in to the appropriate lane and once again check all is well behind you using all the mirrors.

Changing lanes – Changing lanes is much the same as overtaking. You need to be sure you have the space to move into the lane you’re aiming for. You don’t want to impede anyone already in the lane. Check the rear view mirror, left wing mirror if heading into the left lane and right wing mirror if you’re heading into the right lane.

At roundabouts – Roundabouts are all about position. If you get your position right everything becomes easier. So assuming you have approached in the correct position and you’re turning left. Have look in your rear view mirror to make sure nothing strange is occurring then check your left wing mirror to make sure there are no eejits creeping up on your inside. Begin the turn if all is clear and it’s important to check your rear view mirror and your right wing mirror to make sure there’s no one attempting a wide left turn on your outside (it happens). When you’re back on the straight have another glance in all mirrors to make sure all is well behind you.

If you’re going straight on once again position is key, you want to know if there’s anything on your left (there shouldn’t be room if your position is correct) and if there’s anything on your right. If there is someone on your right try to be sure they’re not aiming for the same exit as you by looking for any signals. At this point you’re using all the mirrors and looking around too. Begin the left turn having indicated of course and don’t forget to check left wing mirror again to see no one is on your inside.

If you’re taking the third or any exit after 12:00 you will also be moving across a lane if you have positioned yourself correctly. If all the other drivers on the roundabout are good drivers this lane will be empty but how often does that happen so check carefully your rear view mirror and left wing mirror before you begin to indicate, when you’re sure you’re exit is clear and you’ve passed the pervious exit switch your indicator which should be indicating right to indicate left and exit carefully. As always when you’re clear of the roundabout make sure all is well behind you with a glance in all mirrors.

Turning right – The most important mirror check on turning right is the right wing mirror as you’re about to make the turn. Why ? You’re checking to see that no one is trying to overtake you on the right. This can happen if they haven’t seen your indicator or if you haven’t indicated at all which of course will never happen. It is especially dangerous if a car is attempting to pass you on the right as you are beginning to turn right as the car will be travelling at speed and the car will either have to hit you or pull directly onto the wrong side of the road. You should also check your rear view mirror for a general picture of what’s going on behind you and a glance at the left wing mirror to make sure no one is sneaking around on your left to attempt to turn right. This can happen where there is a right filter light with a queue – some selfish and bad drivers will try to sneak into the right turn position on your right to jump the queue. You may feel like ramming them but this is never a good idea. Defensive driving is the key but back to mirrors, it’s best to know who’s there even if you hate them.

Turning Left – The key mirror for this is the left wing mirror. Why ? As you turn left you slow down but also you usually get closer to the edge of the road towards the kerb. This is a serious hazard to young or bad cyclists who will not anticipate this hazard and creep up on your left inside. You may be cross with them, you may want to shout at them but they still don’t deserve to be crashed into so be aware of them.

Slowing, Stopping – To slow down or stop you need to know it is safe to do so. How do you establish this ? Look in your mirrors, all of them. You’re checking that slowing won’t impede or create a hazard for anyone. You don’t want to stop suddenly if there’s a speeding loony behind you or if someone is very close to your rear. If you’re pulling in to the left or the right you obviously want to check the wing mirror on the side you intend to pull into. Do this more than once as other road users can come out of anywhere.

In conclusion – your mirrors are crucial for safe driving. To drive safely you must have a complete picture of all that is going on around you. Conditions change by the second and that’s why you need to keep looking. You should never be surprised by something coming alongside your left or right or appearing in your mirror because if you’re using your mirrors properly you’ll already know who’s there and have made an estimation of what they’re likely to do but still be prepared for something unexpected.

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Top ten reasons for failing the Irish Driving Test

1. Observation.

The number one reason candidates fail the Irish driving test is observation. The driving tester has a marking sheet that he/she places a mark against every time he sees an error being made. The observation category is split into seven sub categories.

The green marks indicate minor faults/not serious.. you can get as many green marks as you want – they have no effect on the test outcome and aren’t counted.

The blue marks are more serious. They indicate potential risk/danger such as breaking speed limit, stopping too close to the car in front etc. You are allowed a maximum of 8 blue marks. 9 and you fail.

The red marks are instant fails. Things like breaking a red light, driving up on the footpath, not giving way to pedestrians etc. One red mark and you fail instantly.

Moving off – the candidate should check in all the mirrors before beginning to move off but also and most importantly the blind spot, this should be done just before moving the car. To check the blind spot you MUST look through the window over your right shoulder. The blind spot is the area that you cannot see using your mirrors or looking straight ahead.

Overtaking – includes passing a parked vehicle or any hazard on the road. It also includes cyclists. The candidate should check all the mirrors before beginning the maneuver and only then begin to overtake. When the overtaking maneuver is finished it is very important to check in the inside mirror that the obstacle/car/bicycle is successfully cleared.

Changing lane – to change lane to a right hand lane you must check all mirrors but especially the rear view mirror and right wing mirror before moving off the straight. A glance over your right shoulder to check the blind spot is also important.

At Cross Junction – look in all directions, slowing if necessary. Even if the junction is traffic light controlled. Remember a green light doesn’t mean steam ahead it means proceed with caution.

At Roundabouts – A roundabout should be treated like a cross junction in many ways but remember to get your positioning right. If well positioned, observation should be straightforward, if you’ve put yourself in the wrong position you’ll have more work to do with your observations.

Turning Right– One of the common reasons candidates get marked down here is forgetting to look into the junction they’re turning into. This is important to see if there are any hazards to deal with. Of course you must observe all around you including your right wing mirror for any crazies who might try to pass you as you turn right. You’re looking for cyclists too.

Turning Left – You’ll be looking to the right here, into the road you’re turning into and remember to be vigilant even if there are traffic lights. Very important to have a look at the left wing mirror to check for reckless or bad cyclists creeping up on your inside on the corner. They might annoy you but they’re vulnerable and should be given space.

If you do make a mess of observations and impede or restrict another road user because you didn’t see them or went for a gap that wasn’t there you’ll probably get a mark on the Observation part of the marking sheet and another in the Right Of Way section and it may be in the red section.

You may also get a mark in the Observation section if your windows are dirty, steamed up or blocked in some way so you should know how to clear the windows properly especially if they become steamed up which is common in rainy Ireland. That means knowing how to use the air heating and blowing system.

For more information have a look at some videos on youtube – make sure to search under driving safety www.youtube.com

Irish Driving License.

Every year many learners in Ireland do their driving test, most of those tested are in search of their first driving license, the rest are made up of recent immigrants to Ireland and people who have been ordered by the courts to re-sit the test due to a drink driving conviction. The pass rates for car tests is 50.7 %. Meaning one in two people will fail their test. See www.rsa.ie for more details.

Some statistics from Irish roads.

279,877 Irish drivers are on learner permits.
212 people died on Irish roads in 2010, down from 238 in 2009.
The 212 who died consisted of 44 pedestrians, 5 cyclists, 91 drivers, 55 passengers and 17 bikers.
38% of deaths were aged under 25
Sunday was the most dangerous day of the week with 54 deaths
43% of road deaths happened at the weekend.
The hours between 18:00 and 20:00 were the most dangerous, with 27 deaths (13%)
The average monthly fatality rate was 18 in 2010 compared to 20 in 2009 and 23 in 2008
The safest month of the year was December when 10 deaths occurred.
This is also the safest month on record.
Safest county – Longford (2 road deaths)
Most dangerous county – Dublin (21 Road deaths)
It’s not all about population density though, there were 19 road deaths in Donegal in 2010.

Some statistics from European roads..

35,000 people die on Europe’s roads year (nearly 100 per day)
Denmark is the country where you’re least likely to be killed.
Slovenia, closely followed by Greece is where you’re most likely to be killed.

Driving instruction in Ireland.

Until the 30th April 2009 anyone could give driving lessons or a driving courses to learner drivers without the need to demonstrate any previous training or driving aptitude which meant there was a very inconsistent level of training and consequently some very erratic driving on Irish roads which is reflected on our annual road casualties figures – http://tiny.cc/birg5 . Since that date driving instructors and people offering driving lessons or driving courses must have first qualified as Authorised Driving Instructors (ADI’s) through the Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA). Once qualified the driving instructors join a national register of authorised driving instructors and are permitted to teach the art of driving as part of an established school or independently. These driving instructors are examined by the RSA regularly to ensure the highest driving standards are being maintained.

The new register of driving instructors is designed to ensure that all new learner drivers are receiving a very high quality of driving instruction. Under the old system there was a tendency to instruct drivers with the information required to pass the test, the new guidelines and development of the register of authorised driving instructors are an attempt to arm learner drivers with the skill and techniques required to drive safely and considerately for life thereby making roads safer, not only for fellow drivers but for all users of the Irish road network which includes vulnerable road users like pedestrians, cyclists and motorbike riders.

On April 4th 2011 the RSA introduced legislation that requires any candidate doing their driving test to have undergone a minimum of 12 hours instruction with an authorised driving instructor in an attempt to ensure that the essential skills have been passed on to the candidate in a formal setting with an appropriately trained instructor. This is in line with legislation in other EU member states although not yet introduced in the UK. In France for example the minimum is 20 hours.

Our goal at driving courses Ireland is to train our pupils to the highest level of safe, defensive driving. We do this by offering one to one training focusing on the needs of the individual. Working together we can identify weak areas and build on strengths to bring the pupil up to and beyond the level required for the Irish driving test. Our goal is to produce confident, conscientious drivers who will take the skills they have developed with them throughout their driving lives and keep themselves and other road users safe.