PASSED TEST 1ST TIME

Vita · 26 May 2010 at 10:17

Freefaller said:
Congrats! Take it easy and be observant and never assume. You probably know all this though. It's a great feeling isn't it?

Oh and 2 lessons here

Lol 2 lessons eh, lucky man. I think it's the instructor, sometimes they just want to make money off of you, and the both instructors I got did the same thing as, you're not ready and so forth. It's difficult finding a good instructor these days.

XeNoN89 · 26 May 2010 at 10:46

Good job, and 27 is not a lot these days. I done nearly 50! but i had some bad luck, failed my test first time because i touched the curb on parallel parking(!), so had to continue lessons while waiting for my second test, then the test centre closed down and so had to rebook again somewhere else, which was PACKED and had a really long wait, which ment i had to do way more lessons than i should have.

Wossi · 26 May 2010 at 11:06

Congrats, now you'll be getting people who took 2 or more goes saying they are the better driver. Someone I knew used to say this to me a lot, couldn't figure out how we would a better driver than me when it took him 3 goes to pass.

Hunders · 26 May 2010 at 11:07

Nice one. It took me 5 tries until I passed! Hahaha

Knubje · 26 May 2010 at 11:44

Congratulations! Be very careful for the next three months as this is the period you are likely to buckle most.

27 lessons is alright, I know people who have done more and less and not passed first time!

kefkef · 26 May 2010 at 12:20

Freefaller said:
Oh and 2 lessons here

Same here, if you count the lesson/test on the day. 1 proper lesson after my 17th b'day then had to wait 4 weeks for the test date and had to book a lesson/test slot.

Though if you count up the amount of driving prior to my 17th b'day it was quite a lot, spending every holiday growing up on a farm in rural Ireland, as soon as you can touch the pedals in a tractor you were expected to earn your keep (plus it's every lads dream to drive tractors at a young age), so that's 2/3 weeks driving for the silage harvest around may/june, then 8/9 weeks in the summer for corn and again over Xmas for general farm stuff. Was quite surreal getting waves from the Garda driving a tractor/trailer through the local village at the age of 13.

Freefaller · 26 May 2010 at 12:37

Indeed, I spent a lot of time driving on private land, and knew how to drive, just had to pass the test on how to do it on the road as per the test requirements. I also did a couple of months of learner driving on the road to get a feel of the others on the road, rather than the empty areas I used to drive and practice!

Happy · 26 May 2010 at 18:10

Congrats, it's a great feeling

Kev_19 · 26 May 2010 at 20:09

kefkef said:
Same here, if you count the lesson/test on the day. 1 proper lesson after my 17th b'day then had to wait 4 weeks for the test date and had to book a lesson/test slot.

Though if you count up the amount of driving prior to my 17th b'day it was quite a lot, spending every holiday growing up on a farm in rural Ireland, as soon as you can touch the pedals in a tractor you were expected to earn your keep (plus it's every lads dream to drive tractors at a young age), so that's 2/3 weeks driving for the silage harvest around may/june, then 8/9 weeks in the summer for corn and again over Xmas for general farm stuff. Was quite surreal getting waves from the Garda driving a tractor/trailer through the local village at the age of 13.

Ireland is such a joke of a country really. As soon as you turn 16 you can apply for tractor licence. Just a theory test and you have it. So if you wanted you can be driving a tractor pulling an artic trailer with a gross weight of 42 tonnes. What a great little country we have over here

Gashman · 27 May 2010 at 21:17

dbmzk1 said:
Anyone know which insurance companies are best for first time drivers? I'm 24.

try admiral, they were cheapest for me, passed test first time when i was 23 and 6 months. bought a mint condition fiat punto 1.2 sporting off dads friends daughter not long after passing, hoping me insurance will go down a fair bit when it comes to renewing, hopefully full year with no claims, no trouble with police or anything. how much should one expect insurance to drop, i will be half way between 24/25 when it comes to doing it?

adamau5 · 27 May 2010 at 21:27

Matt7613 said:
I passed in 8 lessons, 5 minors, hesitation and mirrors iirc. But I know several of my friends who had 70+ lessons so 27 isn't that much really.

i take it your a farmer (from the sig), so you have probably been driving tractors since you were 10, reversing front wheel steer four wheel trailors (nightmare to reverse)...... driving really isnt that hard when you already have so many years behind a wheel, you just have to learn the rules of the road. Many people struggle for many lessons learning to move the car, something you didnt have to do (by my big assumption).

I too was a farm boy, learning to drive a car was pretty simple.

D18241 · 27 May 2010 at 21:27

Yateszy said:
I went with Bell they were the cheapest I could find. Try getting a quote on their website. Depends a lot on your postcode.

Bell was a joke for me... step dad rang up about a quote for me and they quoted £2700 for a car then i went online and it was only £1800

Fuzz · 27 May 2010 at 21:36

Adam W said:
i take it your a farmer (from the sig), so you have probably been driving tractors since you were 10, reversing front wheel steer four wheel trailors (nightmare to reverse)...... driving really isnt that hard when you already have so many years behind a wheel, you just have to learn the rules of the road. Many people struggle for many lessons learning to move the car, something you didnt have to do (by my big assumption).

I too was a farm boy, learning to drive a car was pretty simple.

That's me.

I was driving as soon as I was strong enough to press the pedals. (before that I was just doing the steering

2 lessons taken, first one he said, you're ready for your test, I just want to see you're using your mirrors more so I'll book you another one. grrrr
Passed with one question about street lighting distance apart wrong and it was noted I broke a 30 mph speed limit at one point.

The Girlfriend however has had 50 lessons (before I was around) and is still neither considered good enough to be put forwards for a test by the instructor or feels confident enough behind the wheel herself. :rolleyes:

She wants ME to give her some lessons. :eek:

Lesson one...
TAKE THE BUS!

ChrisJSY · 27 May 2010 at 21:55

I think those who are very technically minded and understand how a car works and operate before stepping in one have been good at passing with minimal lessons.
Like me and my friends. I believe it can help when you know what happens when you do certain things, as well as the physics.

It's an honest wonder how some people pass their tests, there's a kid in our college who completely cocked his clutch in 6 months(amongst other things). I can imagine some bad drivers not understanding what a clutch even does.

Like those stories of people holding their car on an incline slipping the clutch so much smoke starts appearing, my friend was witness as a passenger to someone who did this and didn't even bat an eyelid until he was told the driver it was his best interest to stop doing that.

Ahleckz · 27 May 2010 at 23:33

Congrats, can I have your car?
Had 17 lessons, nothing else by family and the like.
Haven't driven a car since I passed in August. I'm a bit worried that I've forgotten it all when I finally get round to getting a car. Think I'll book in for a lesson when I get round to getting a car to make sure I'm still safe on the road.