Your Attitude to Driving and the Driving Test: Irish Test Tips

Attitude is best summed up by a review of what you have done so far, to reach a certain standard in your driving. Have you taken advice from friends, relatives or acquaintances or have you taken the whole thing much more seriously and picked up the phone and booked lessons with a Professional Driving School?

A Professional School will equip you with the skills needed to survive, stay safe and enjoy trouble-free Motoring. Passing the Driving Test will be achievable providing you learn to drive first. Preparing for a Driving Test should only commence when you have reached a certain level of Driving Skill and will be so much easier than doing it the other way round. A Driving Test Pass is only the beginning of your Driving career not the end!
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There are several every day driving skills that are essential for safe motoring but which are not tested on a Driving Test. Would you ignore these because they will not be encountered on your Test? I hope not.

What are they?

(1) Driving on Country Roads.

(2) Driving on the Carriageway at full speed.

(3) Driving at Night.

(4) Driving in adverse Weather conditions.

(5) Emergency Stop.

(6) Reverse around a right hand corner.

(7) Reverse Parking into a tight space.

(8) Driving in log-jammed Rush hour Traffic.

A number of these manoeuvres are currently included on the U.K. Driving Test and will one day form part of the Irish Driving Test when we finally come up to European Standards.

Attitude to the Driving Test.

There are many myths and legends surrounding the Driving Test; lets examine some of them The right attitude for a new beginner Driver should be a non confrontational one and a realisation that you the Driver are responsible for the result, be it positive or negative.

Examiners do not have a quota of passes or fails to be achieved. Yes they are human and subject to outside influences such as first impressions, as we all are. It is just as easy for a candidate to create a poor first impression as it is to achieve a good one so why not do your homework and give yourself a head start over those candidates who don't take the Test seriously enough.
Tip! When the winters are back, there are certain pre-requisites to be kept in mind to set out the new term “Winter Road Safety”. Similar to the driving tips, laws; this constitutes the safety measures adopted to cope with snow or icy driving conditions.

An Examiner is not looking for perfection but a reasonably high degree of competence allied to good action and reaction times in all situations. If you have not taken the trouble to familiarise yourself with all the various hotspots which may be temporary or permanent, scattered throughout the general Test Route area then it is very likely that here is where you will come a cropper. "Oh but I only made that one error because I didn't know the new road layout was about to be implemented, and it wasn't there yesterday ".This type of mistake in an unusual situation leads to numerous grade three faults on Driving Tests and as we know one grade three is a disqualification. Grade three type difficult situations are commonplace in every day driving and if strict marking was not in force then there would be many more first time Test Passes but many more Write-Offs with the attendant misery.

Obviously nerves can play a big part on the day and some candidates are better at controlling these emotions than others. If you can reduce this stress by telling yourself that it will not be the end of the World if you don't pass this time then you will probably be more relaxed and will drive much better. Remember it is you who has to do your homework and be confident that you can do all manoeuvres, not the Examiner. With this confidence will come competence and you will do a much better job on the day.
Tip! Apart from these generic “drive safely” rules, there are some specific safe driving tips, which you need to adhere to in order to steer your vehicle in the right course. Accordingly, a safety tip for bad weather conditions will be to slow down.

Not enough homework, not enough practise and not enough lessons all conspire to produce an unsatisfactory result. Taking lessons two weeks before your Test just won't prepare you sufficiently to be successful and to build up that level of confidence that is needed.

Take care and Take lessons. Driving Schools are not there to fleece; you they are there to help you achieve a satisfactory level of Driving Skill and to enable you to arrive alive!

Robin Piggott is a Driving Instructor in Ireland who brings four decades of experience to his Astral Driving School based in Limerick. His newly refurbed web site due to launch in a day or two can be found at http://www.astraldrivingschool.com Here you can find a treasure trove of everything for the Learner Driver and also pages for the visitor who is contemplating Touring Ireland by Car.

In the meantime why not visit the exsiting site at http://www.astralmotoring.ie and pick up your free seven part mini-course on "Passing ther Driving Test First Time".

Braking Moments - Maintenance and some Driving Tips

The brakes are used to slow down or stop the car. This is one of the most important parts of the car. Any brake failures can cause accident which may lead to serious property damage. A proper maintenance of the brakes is a must to avoid any accidents.

Everyday before using your car it is important to check your brakes especially the level of the fluid. It is necessary to clean your brakes weekly and check also the brake pads if they are still in good condition. Try also checking those hoses and other linings of your brakes for leaks. When driving always bring a bottle of brake fluid just in case of emergency and try to check your gauge panel to see if the brake warning light is lit. Always test your brakes when driving once in a while.

The first thing to consider while driving especially at high speed is your brakes; since brakes are mechanical it is prone to any failures especially when it is not maintained. If everything is too complicated especially brake repairs or adjustments try consulting your trusted mechanic to fix those problems, these may prevent you from spending too much for repairs.

If your brakes are malfunctioning like sudden loss of pressure on the pedal while driving, try to pull over and don't hesitate to continue driving, try to pull your parking brake slowly; this may help reduce the speed of the vehicle. Use engine brake to slow you down. It may damage the gears in the transmission but you're safe. Never turn off your engine instead try to pump the pedal because it might build some pressure. If you don't have any choice try to hit the bushes or sacrifice your vehicle by letting the side of the vehicle hit the wall to stop.
Tip! This article will deal with golf driving tips to help you correct this problem that is hampering many golfers and greatly hindering them from making any progress.

Alvin D. Agomaa For Free Classifieds online visitOz Free Cars July 14, 2006