Category Archives: Driving Lessons – Advice

Detector Loops

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Detector Loops with markings

Driving along the road, coming up to a set of traffic lights, for example, have you ever noticed black lines, forming squares or rectangles in the tarmac (circled in red in the above picture) and wondered what they were?
They are called Detector Loops and understanding how they work will help you anticipate whether a traffic light you’re approaching is likey to change against you or help you to activate a filter light if you intend to turn right. They are often found on busy main roads and at junctions with housing estates etc.

After the tarmac is laid, at traffic light controlled junctions, the contractor sawcuts the road surface and installs coils of wire into the groove. The sawcut is then filled with a rubber mastic compound to seal the road surface. These wires are laid under the road surface back to the junction control box which changes the sequence of the traffic lights.

Looking at the above picture, the road running bottom to top is the main road and therefore has priority for traffic flow. Once traffic is freely moving through this junction bottom to top or top to bottom the vehicles will pass over the detector loops (circled in red) sending signals to the control box which keeps the main road lights at green. If traffic moves onto the detector loops on either of the two side roads they too send a signal to the control box saying there’s traffic now waiting. If there is a sufficient gap in traffic on the main road, i.e. no vehicle is moving across the detector loops, the lights on the main road will turn red, allowing the traffic on the side road(s) their chance to go. If no traffic moves onto the detector loops on the right or left the light may never turn red on the main road. This knowledge can now help you to anticipate the chance of a traffic light turning red as you approach. In other words, as you approach the light look to the side roads (if visible) to see if there’s traffic waiting. If so, there’s a possibility the light might turn red against you. If there’s a big enough gap between you and the vehicle in front this possibility is increased. The light could also turn red against you anyway as the light sequences are normally on a timer which can be overridden depending on traffic flow.

Turning Right
Look at the car circled in blue, it is waiting to turn right.
When the light goes green this car should move forward of the stop line and sit in the turning box. This box also contains a detector loop (red arrow pointing to it). However, if the car stays where it is in the picture the control box will not know that someone is sitting in the junction waiting to turn right. This means the the right hand filter light will not come on and the car could miss their turn at the lights. This is something I see on the roads day in, day out. Not moving into the box affects traffic flow and could, if you were sitting your driving test, result in you failing.

This post is for information only. This information does not reduce your responsibility to assess the situation or road/traffic conditions in front of you as you approach junctions.

The Irish Driving Test – Preparation, what happens on the day and other helpful advice

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So the big day has arrived. You’re going to sit your driving test! Here I’ll outline what you can expect and give some useful tips.
PREPARATION is the key to passing your driving test. I cannot stress how important it is to practice your skills and study the Rules of The Road in the weeks and months leading up to your test. The vast majority of people who fail their driving test do so because they haven’t put in enough practice prior to it. It’s like any other test you sit, to pass your Leaving Cert you have to study and the driving test is no different!
I’d estimate that most pupils who come to me having already gained driving experience previously and/or failed a test before take on average 7 hours instruction. This figure does vary depending on individual ability and how easily they find it to shake their bad habits. The few pupils who fail with us may only do 2 or 3 hours preparation.
My advice would always be to get as many lessons as you can afford with a reputable Approved Driving Instructor (ADI). Some people think that they’ll save a few € by cutting back on their lessons. This is often a false economy as they fail their test, cost themselves another €85 test fee and the cost of further lessons.
Remember: FAIL TO PREPARE, PREPARE TO FAIL!
How to Apply
The cost is €85
It may be possible to pick your own date/time for your driving test. If you chose not to you will be added to the waiting list for the test centre you wish to sit your test at. Waiting times are normally around 8 – 10 weeks.
My advice is, if you are not taking lessons when you apply, to start them as soon as you can. This will give an ADI the chance to identify the areas of your driving that need attention and, more importantly, allow you to practice the skills shown to you.
You need to have held a learner permit for at least 6 months and if you got your FIRST learner permit on or after 4th April 2011 have completed the 12 lessons that form The Essential Driver Training (EDT) Programme and have had your 12 lessons uploaded into the RSA’s system by your ADI.
On The Day
I’d always recommend that a pupil takes a lesson the hour before their test. Doing so gets you “in the zone” mentally ready for the test. Everything should be fresh in your mind and it gives your ADI the chance to give some final words of advice and encouragement.
At the end of this lesson you should aim to be back in the test centre roughly 15 minutes before your test time.
Don’t forget your Learner Permit or Logbook where required. Bringing The Logbook isn’t strictly necessary but I’d always advise it just in case!
Once you are seated in the waiting room you’ll be called, by name, by your tester.
When you are sat at the tester’s desk you will be asked to:
  • Show them your Learner Permit. Out of courtesy, if it’s the old type, remove it from the plastic wallet and open it up for them and hand it to them with your photograph facing them.
  • Sign a form to confirm that you are insured for the car you are using on the test.
  • Answer a number of questions on the Rules of the Road and identify some road signs.
From here you will leave the test offices and go out to your car. The tester will then usually ask you to:
  • Open your bonnet and identify 3 items of their choosing and answer any questions they may ask. (Sometimes, usually if it’s raining, they may ask you about tyres and how to check them instead of the under the bonnet checks).
  • Sit in your car, turn on your ignition and operate your signals and press your footbrake. If any bulbs are not working your test will not go ahead and you will lose your fee.
The tester will check your Road Tax, Insurance Disc and NCT Disc. These all must be in date. If they aren’t, your driving test will not proceed and again, you will lose your fee.
The tester will sit in the car beside you and ask you to operate or identify some of the controls of the car such as the wipers, lights, heating controls etc
The Drive
The drive will last approximately 30 mins. You’ll drive in a variety of road conditions for between 8 and 13 kilometres.
The tester will give you instructions/directions in plenty of time. If you don’t hear or don’t understand these instructions ask the tester to repeat them for you.
Your driving will be assessed in the following situations:
  • Moving off
  • Driving in traffic
  • Stopping Reversing around a corner
  • Turning about, to face in the opposite direction
  • Starting on a hill
Aspects of your driving assessed will include:
  • Road positioning
  • Overtaking and passing
  • Anticipation and observation
  • Use of mirrors and signals
  • Progress Speed
  • Compliance with traffic lights, road signs and markings
  • Use of the vehicle controls (accelerator, clutch, gears, brakes and steering)
  • Use of secondary controls such as wipers, de-misters, etc
When you return to the test centre park safely and when you are asked to turn off your engine the test is over.
The Road Safety Authority have produced information on Preparing for your Driving Test 
iDrive’s ADI’s can help you prepare for your driving test. We instruct in Meath covering the Navan Test Routes, Louth covering the Dundalk Test Routes, Dublin covering the Finglas Test Routes, Tallaght Test Routes and Rathgar Routes and in Kildare covering the Naas Test Routes.
To book lessons or for further info text/call Andy on 087 0663947 or email [email protected]
Fail stamp 1

Failed your driving test? – What to do next.

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Failing your driving test can certainly be a bitter pill to swallow but it isn’t the end of the world!!

If your driving test doesn’t go the way you hoped it’s really important that you don’t become too disheartened however how annoyed, frustrated, disappointed you feel.

At iDrive Ireland we absolutely believe the correct thing to do is to go over the driving faults that the tester gave you with your Approved Driving Instructor (ADI), take the advice offered on board and begin working on correcting them immediately. The next thing you should do is apply straight away to resit your driving test. The earliest you can resit the test after failing is 3 weeks, unless you provide evidence that you are leaving the country within that period. The worst thing you can do is put it on the long finger!!

Over the last 3 years as an ADI I have met countless learner drivers who have come to me having failed the test countless times, up to 7 times in some cases! Their stories are almost identical:

  1. Sit the driving test.
  2. Fail.
  3. Wait a year to 18 months and then rebook the test.
  4. Call an ADI a week before the test and take a driving lesson or two.
  5. Fail again.
  6. Return to Step 3.
It’s a vicious circle that leads to frustration, loss of confidence and conspiracy theories.
It’s also a false economy. Learners who attempt to pass the driving test using this method can often end up costing themselves a fortune. A pupil who fails 4 tests will have paid € 340.00 in test fees alone!! That’s a huge amount of money in the current climate and if you deduct the cost of one test from that total the balance would get you 10 lessons in many cases.
While you are waiting for your retest to come round you should continue lessons with your ADI. He or she will be able to advise you where you are going right and wrong and assist you in eliminating the errors you made in your previous test(s).
Preparation is the key to success in the driving test. Of that there is no doubt. Practice makes perfect may be a cliché but it is so true. If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail! It’s important you make an appointment with an ADI at least 10 days before your driving test date. This will give you time to postpone the test if you are not ready.
When a customer calls us at iDrive Ireland and advises us they have a driving test coming up we always advise that they take a 2 hour Pretest as soon as possible. This gives us time to assess their driving formally and gives them precious time to work on improving their driving.
On the pretest we will direct the pupil around a driving test route and mark them in the same way the driving tester would. We try to make the pretest as realistic as the actual test. Once we return to the test centre we go over their driving faults advising where and why the faults occurred and more importantly how to go about correcting them. We then go back out over the test route, this time giving full instruction and valuable advice.
It really is a hugely successful method. In 3 years almost 200 people have passed their test with us. Many of them passed first time or their first test after taking lessons with us having previously failed. You can see many of them on our Facebook album
iDrive’s ADI’s can help you prepare for your driver theory test as well as your practical driving test. We instruct in Meath covering the Navan Test Routes and Louth covering the Dundalk Test Routes
To book lessons, ask for advice or for further info text/call Andy on 087 0663947 or email us.