To practice driving on on own?

[Fanfeckintastic]

This is just a thought so I'm fully prepared to be told it's unreasonable.

I'm a learner driver in Ireland, I've done my 12 edt (essential driving training) lessons plus about ten practice ones with instructor and a few with my dad.

Would I be totally unreasonable to practice on my own at really quiet times like very early weekend mornings or very late evenings? I really feel I need practice more than anything else and it's just not always feasible to be accompanied by a fully licensed driver.

Did any of you practice on your own? A lot of my learner driver friends drive unaccompanied daily but it is illegal and I'm not usually a mad stickler for each and every rule, I just feel a bit differently about driving but I don't know how else I'll get the experience to pass my test.

did it used to be legal? Yes it changed about 5-6 years ago.

Ahh good old wiki - The reason for the high number of people driving under a Provisional Licence under the old system was because a Provisional Licence holder could drive unaccompanied after obtaining their second Provisional Licence, and many drivers chose this route rather than going through the full testing process. This is system was very unusual - Most countries' provisional/learner licences require a fully qualified driver to accompany a learner
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_licence_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

Just remembering the license amnesty in Ireland - when everyone on a provisional license was automatically granted a full license without doing a test. That's one way of clearing a backlog.

Thankyou another, I was busy googling it but am too slow!

I don't recommend it but I did it many times, got me through my test first time, but I have never believed in following all the rules all the time so make your own decision. Some people are far too law abiding for me, where have all the rebels gone!!

Please don't op, you could hurt yourself or someone else. The law is there for a reason.

YAB well beyond merely U.

I'm confused. If, until recently, it was legal in Ireland to drive unaccompanied without taking a test...why have a test at all and why did anybody bother taking it??

Don't do it, OP. Just don't.

For cheaper insurance, ability to rent a car when abroad, allowed to drive on motorways etc littleJohnnydory (love the name by the way!) And also, a lot never bothered taking the test. Many people I know have been driving for up to a decade on a learners permit, it's only lately some of them are even taking the test.

About 18 years ago I spent 10 weeks in Ireland. Thank you for explaining why driving there was so bloody terrifying.

Befriend a farmer?

I'm irish, I drove on my provisional as did all my friends and family, I passed my test when I was still only 17 so not for too long but that was over 10 years ago! They've clamped down a lot on provisional drivers on their own so don't think I'd chance it now but hopefully you get a cancellation date and some shiny new n plates soon!!

Just remembering the license amnesty in Ireland - when everyone on a provisional license was automatically granted a full license without doing a test. That's one way of clearing a backlog.

When I worked in a garage, we had two sisters (think Miss Tibbs and Gatsby from Fawlty Towers). They had never passed a test as they learned to drive during the war, and were just given a license . Never had an accident though.

There was a window after Suez when tests were suspended and people got full licences for the asking - my DM was one of them.

I've driven all over the UK in urban and very rural areas but the general driving standard in ROI stopped me moving over there, it's beyond nerve-racking because you have absolutely no idea what any other road user will do at any time.

Once I crested a blind summit to be confronted with 2 cyclists riding 2 abreast on my side of the road directly towards me, to this day I've no idea how I didn't hit at least one.
Entering and changing lanes on their motorways is more akin to dodgems.
If you are on a major road and approaching a crossroads, the people on the minor roads each side do not give way, they just cross anyway.
Most T-junctions and their roadsigns are on a 90 degree bend, there are no signs to tell you a junction is coming up until you are literally on it.
Parking in a marked space doesn't ever appear to have been taught, nor does how to navigate a roundabout.

It's a wonderful country and I love the people but I am very, very apprehensive about driving over there.

Just read this thread. I always wanted to visit Ireland but won't be now, not with all the unqualified drivers that are apparently driving around. Won't risk it.

Patsy the rebels have probably thought better of risking death or, even worse, killing other people on the road. But then, my brother was killed on the road when he was 27, so I am probably more sensitive than others. If you had been through that then maybe you would have thought twice about 'being a rebel'. By all means rebel but don't put other people's lives at risk.
Some of the attitudes on this thread have made me really angry so I will go now.

If you were allowed to drive on your own without a license then what would the point of a license be?

The point of a provisional licence is to allow someone to drive so they can get enough experience to pass the test for a full licence. A provisional licence is only valid for a limited time so that people do have to get their driving up to the standard required by the test. It's not clear to me why the law should require them to be accompanied, as far as I can remember when I had a provisional licence (not in the UK or Ireland) it was not a requirement. I don't think having someone else with me would have made me drive any better than I did.

Obviously we have uninsured and unqualified drivers in England - but the usual consensus is that they are selfish, dangerous arseholes who badly need to hit a tree.

are you REALLY saying that driving unqualified and unaccompanied is considered ok in Ireland, given that it appears to be illegal?

never been there but have spent a lot of time in NZ where until recently the driving age was 15. The Kiwis kill each other on the roads at 4 times the British rate.

Lax driving rules kill. Ignoring the rules that are there also kills.

Terrible idea. Learner driver driving unsupervised and therefore uninsured, you're being entirely unreasonable and if caught could get into some serious trouble.

I did this once when I was young and learning. My parents were away and I decided I'd take the car to the bottom of the road and practice reversing round the corner.

I got in, drove 50 metres and stopped. Far too terrifying and illegal. Not worth it.

are you REALLY saying that driving unqualified and unaccompanied is considered ok in Ireland, given that it appears to be illegal?

In my experience, yes. And the deaths from driving per capita in Ireland are broadly the same as in the UK, as pointed out up thread.

I do think that there's a more lax attitude in Ireland to legal requirements than in the UK - a nod and a wink approach - that you see in many aspects of Irish life. Formal civic culture isn't as deeply embedded; unsurprising, perhaps, in a post-colonial state.

I'm in the north and on the rare occasions I have to go down south I'm shocked at the standard of driving, it really is a whole other country down there. A guy I knew who lived in the middle of mountains in the Republic phoned an ambulance one snowy night because his mate had injured his leg. The emergency services said they weren't driving all the way out there, just drive yourself, 'but I'm really drunk' to which they replied 'ah, just take it easy then.'
It's a scary place to drive even with 15 years driving experience, never mind illegally, minimal experience and no licence..