Wet Weather Driving

First and foremost: slow down! It takes longer to stop or adjust in wet weather. Stay toward the middle lanes – water tends to pool in the outside lanes. Maintain proper following distance (3 Second Rule). This needs to be increased in wet weather. Drive in the tracks of a car ahead of you.

Don’t follow large trucks or buses too closely. The spray created by their large tires reduces your vision. Take care when passing them as well; if you must pass, do so quickly and safely. Be more alert when driving in wet or slippery conditions. Watch out for brake lights in front of you. Avoid using your brakes; if possible, take your foot off the accelerator to slow down. Turn your headlights on even in a light rain, or in gloomy, foggy or overcast conditions. Not only do they help you see the road, but they’ll help other drivers see you. If your car has daytime running lights you still should put them on, so vehicles behind you can see you better. Before it starts to rain, replace old or brittle wipers.

Avoid off-road driving: it’s hard to judge the actual depth of puddles and you can easily become stuck, even in a 4WD. Never drive beyond the limits of visibility. At night rainy roads become especially treacherous. The glare of oncoming lights, amplified by the rain on your windscreen, can cause temporary loss of visibility while substantially increasing driver fatigue. In rainy conditions pedestrians, livestock, and wildlife are extremely hard to spot and even harder to avoid. Never drive through moving water if you can’t see the ground through it; your car could be swept off the road. When driving through a puddle of uncertain depth, go slow. If it’s deeper than the bottom of your doors, turn around and find another route. Deep water can cause serious damage to a modern car’s electrical system.

Avoid splashing pedestrians. If possible, stay off the road during heavy thunderstorms. Large flashes of lightning can temporarily blind and disorient drivers, and the accompanying high winds and heavy rain can create deadly driving conditions. Slow down! This should be obvious but it also very important. People are so used to driving certain speeds on certain roads that sometimes they forget the need to slow down when inclement weather presents itself.

How do I apply for a learner permit

Before applying for a learner permit, you need to make sure you are eligible to learn to drive in Ireland and have the documentation you require.

Rules

To apply for a learner permit for any vehicle, you must:

• Be normally resident in Ireland. You are considered to be normally resident in Ireland if you usually live here for at least 185 days in each calendar year.
• Meet the age requirement. Before you can apply for a licence to drive a vehicle in Ireland, you must be a certain age. If you are under 16 years of age, you must not use any vehicle in a public place. For more information, see our document on categories of motor vehicles and minimum age of drivers.
• Pass a driver theory test. Before applying for a learner permit, candidates must pass a test of motoring theory appropriate to the category of vehicle (pdf) they wish to be licenced to drive. This rule applies to anyone applying for a first learner permit in any vehicle category. If your learner permit expired five or more years ago, you must pass the theory test again before a new learner permit will be issued. You can read more about the driver theory test.

How to apply online for your first learner permit

If you have a Public Services Card (PSC) and a verified MyGovID account, you can apply for your first learner permit online. To do this, you need:

• To have successfully passed the driver theory test in the category you are applying for in the previous 2 years.
• Proof of your address dated within the last 6 months if your current address differs from the one you provided when you applied for your PSC.
• Proof that you are normally resident in Ireland if your place of birth and nationality are outside the EU/EEA.
• Fully completed eyesight report form dated within 3 months.
• Fully completed medical report form dated within the last 3 months, if required in your case.
• Completed relevant driver certificate of professional competence (CPC), if required.
• Your application fee which can be paid by credit or debit card, Google Pay or Apple Pay. If you are aged 70 years or over you are exempt from paying the fee.

Book or Manage your NCT

Bookings can be made online for all NCTS Test Centres

NCTS has put detailed measures in place, in each test centre to mitigate against the spread of COVID19 and to protect both customers and staff, more information on what you should expect are outlined in the NCTS FAQ‘s.

NCTS has now updated all records for those customers’ vehicles that qualified for the 4 month test extension as announced by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr Shane Ross in April 2021. A vehicle with a test due date on or after 28th March 2020 has now had its test date extended by 4 months.

All Vehicle owners are encouraged to check their new test due date on Check NCT Due Date.

Please note, vehicles first registered on or after 1 August 2016 are not eligible for the 4-month extension

NCTS are reminding customers that if they book a test that is more than 90 days earlier than the test due date, the test will be a voluntary early test and the NCT certificate issued will be valid for 1 or 2 years (depending on the age of the vehicle) from the date of the successful test.  NCTS are asking customers to note carefully the website messages they receive throughout the course of the booking process.

To check when your vehicle is due its NCT please click here

Am I Safe to Drive?

I’M SAFE is an acronym that helps check if we are safe to drive.

If any of your answers are different to the answers below, you should not drive your car or any motorised vehicle. Remember the code I’M SAFE

I= Infection? No, M= Medication? No, S=Sleep? Yes, A=Alcohol? No, F= Food? Yes, E= Emotions? No

Drink Driving in Ireland

Official guidance from the Road Safety Authority and An Garda Síochána says that any amount of alcohol will impair your driving and increase the risk of a collision, making our roads less safe for all road users. The time of your last drink at night will affect when it is safe for you to drive the following day. This means that there could still be alcohol in your system the morning after drinking. In Ireland, almost half of all arrests for driving under the influence of an intoxicant (DUI) take place between midnight and 6am. 1 in 10 DUI arrests are made between 8am and 2pm, with a peak on Sundays.

Try out DrinkAware’s Drinks Calculator to see how many hours it could take for alcohol to leave your system (results show an estimate for education purposes only)

If you are tired or ill, you may not be fit to drive. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that up to 20% of all fatal crashes involve a sleep-deprived driver. Drivers with less than seven hours of sleep dramatically increase their chances of a collision. Sleeping for 5-6 hours doubles your likelihood of crashing compared to those who slept for seven hours or more.

Try to avoid driving when you are not feeling well, and plan long trips carefully to provide time for rest stops every couple of hours. If you begin to feel tired, open a window for fresh air and stop for a cup of coffee or tea. Don’t drive at all if you are very tired, or for at least 15 minutes after waking from sleep.

Remember also that medicines may affect your driving ability. Check with your doctor or pharmacist about any medication you are taking.

CHECK HOW ABOUT YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CONDITION TODAY

How to Remember the Stopping and Breaking Distance of a Car

When learning to drive, one of the biggest things to remember is the stopping and the braking distances of the car you are driving.

To be behind the wheel without knowing or being able to remember the distances can be extremely dangerous, not just to yourself and your passengers, but to others on the road too.