Kilester Test Route 1

I finally managed to edit the footage and put together the most popular test route in Kilester. As this was my first time recording a test route, nearly every single thing that could of went wrong, did go wrong. The first lap around the track, it never recorded on the dash cam, so I went and bought a new camera, I think it was broken. On the second trip to Kilester Test Centre, when I turned the camera on, the memory card was full. The third attempt, I forgot what I was doing and drove home haha.

Then came the fourth attempt. After getting chased out of the car park by the groundskeeper, I finally got it finished.

Then the real work began. I had to learn how to edit video. I have never been so confused in my whole life. I watched countless hours of YouTube tutorials to learn how to use the software and after a week of this, Kilester Test Route 1 is finished

I decided to record this video at 2pm on a Friday. I know a lot of people fear this time but as you can see there is nothing to worry about. It can be a little tricky around schools but apart from that, its grand.

As you can see from the video, the driving test is the same thing over and over again. All you have to remember is GOSHO every time the tester stops you at the side of the road and MSPSL when you are giving a direction. As long as you can drive in a straight line and in good position and look where you are going with good reaction to hazards and progress the test will seem easier.

Even if you are doing your driving test in a different test center, watch the video and think about what I do when turning right and approaching mini roundabouts. People generally loose marks in these sections for observation. You need to look where you are going.

So I hope you enjoy the video. All I ask from you is that you like the video and subscribe to my channel. I will be covering lots of routes around Dublin so maybe I could do your test center too.

Best of luck

Automatic Driving Lessons In Raheny-Reaction To Hazards

To follow up on my last reaction to hazard blog, I have put together 3 small videos to help explain the reasons why you could be getting marked for reaction to hazards. This is a very important topic when it comes to learning how to drive and I usually cover this in EDT 6 and EDT 7 Sharing The Road.

First of all, what is a hazard? A hazard is something that makes you change speed, change course or change direction and there is also 3 types of hazard, a stationary hazard, a moving hazard and an environmental hazard. 

A stationary hazard that would make you change speed would be a speed bump, a red traffic light or even a zebra crossing. That would be something that doesn’t move but would make you slow or stop. A moving hazard that would make you slow would be a pedestrian crossing the road in front of you, a car pulling out in front of you or anything that is moving in front of you. See my reaction to hazard video below to learn more about this.

Next we will take about a stationary hazard that would make you change course. This could be a parked car on the left, roadworks at the side of the road or overtaking a cyclist or bus. There is a lot of confusion when it comes to signalling around parked cars and there is no exact way of doing this. Some instructors say signal around every car but I think that is a bit much. I usually tell students that if you feel the need to signal around a parked car just do it but more importantly, move out. The trick is reaction now rather than later. Please see my video below where I explain this in more detail.

Another common mistake I see students make is when approaching the broken speed bumps and they are not sure which bump to take. What I generally tell people is that to try take the bump that takes the least amount of steering. We want to avoid swinging in and out to straddle these bumps. Straddle means to drive over the bump with your wheels on each side of the bump. When we straddle the bump, there is no really need to slow down too much. If we go really slowly over these bumps and then we are slow back on the accelerator we could be marked for reaction to hazards and then also progress on the straight. Please see my video below on which speed bump to take.

The third type of hazard I mentioned was environmental. This would be driving in snow or ice, dense fog, heavy rain etc. all these conditions would make you slow down. Imagine driving on a motorway at 120kmph and the road was icy. You could imagine how scary that would be if you were to spin out of control. In bad weather we always want to match our speed to the road conditions. That is a video for another day.

So I hope you like this mini series of reaction to hazards. I make these videos to help as many people as I can. All I ask is that you watch my videos and if you like them, please hit the thumbs up and subscribe. If you have any videos you might like to see, please comment on the youtube page. Thank you

Automatic Driving Lessons Raheny-Reverse Around The Corner

Hey guys and welcome back to our classroom. Today we are going to be talking about the most difficult part of the driving test, the reverse around the corner. When you first try the reverse around the corner, it can be very tricky and you will think that you will never get it, but after a few attempts at it, it will all make sense. Have a look at our whiteboard video below and if you like the content, please like and subscribe and watch until the end.

During your test, the tester will ask you to pull in and stop on the left. They will usually give you all the information that you will be moving off from a parked position, driving past the turn and pulling in and stopping. Then you will reverse backwards around the corner. The tester used to get out of the car for this during COVID times but they might stay in the car now, especially with winter on the way. You will be expected the reverse back in a straight line, keeping reasonably close to the footpath and keep reversing back until they say stop.

Step one is to move off from a parked position using GOSHO, then drive past the turn and left mirror, left signal and pull in on the left. Then handbrake up, into neutral and cancel your signal.  Always try to park straight and reasonably close to the path.

Step two is then to move off from a parked position but this one is a little different. We go into reverse gear, do our big look around, this time we don’t use our indicator because our reverse lights are on. This is our indication to everyone that we are going backwards. Then we take our handbrake down, one more look over our right shoulder and reverse slowly backwards. We don’t need to be on the accelerator at this point. On the clutch is fast enough. If you feel that you are going to fast, dip (press) the clutch in to take the speed out of it. As we reverse back in a straight line, we need to look out our back window, at our left mirror and also ahead and into the right mirror. The trick here is to make sure that you are straight in your left mirror first before you look around. Reverse back to where your back wheels meets where the kerb starts to bend and stop.

Now it is time for steering. When your back wheels are where the kerb starts to bend that’s when I usually do a half a steering wheel to the left. This usually gives you really nice position for the first part of the turn. If your position looks like it is reasonably close to the footpath the best thing to do is hold the steering wheel in that position. If your position looks good in your left mirror, then we can check our blind spot. We need to check this 3 or 4 times as we reverse around the corner. Also trying to look out our back window occasionally too. 

As you look in your left mirror, if you feel the kerb is getting away from, stop, take another small steer to the left. It would be the same thing as if you were you driving forward around the turn. The trick here is action now. If you feel are a getting further from the path, steer to the left straight away. The longer you leave it the wider you will go.

As you come around and we can see the kerb straighten up in our left mirror, that’s when we need to start undoing our steering. What I usually tell my students is to keep the left steer on and when we are parallel with the kerb, stop, straighten the wheel and reverse back in a straight line. The tester will usually bring you back 3 car lengths.

So that’s it. The reverse around the corner. Really hard to explain by text but I hope you understand the concept a little bit more. If you like the content please hit that like button and subscribe and watch the video until the end. Thanks  

Automatic Driving Lessons Raheny-Reaction To Hazards

I hope you are enjoying the Learner Driver Classroom and you are benefitting from the videos. In our next video we will be talking about reaction to hazards. This is something I cover in EDT 6 and it is a very important lesson. During your EDTs, if your instructor doesn’t talk about this in detail, I find people pick up a lot of marks for this. Only after I explain reaction to hazards to my students, does it make sense when you are driving. See my video below

First of all, I have to define what a hazard is. A hazard is anything that makes you change speed, change course or change direction and there are 3 different types of hazard.

1. Stationary (doesn’t move)
2. Moving
3. Environmental

A stationary hazard that would make you change speed would be a speed bump, a traffic light or even a narrow gap. A moving hazard that would make you change speed would be a pedestrian crossing the road in front of you or a vehicle turning in front of you. An environmental hazard that would make you change speed would be dense fog, snow or ice, rain or even darkness.

A stationary hazard that would make you change course would be a car parked on the left or any type of object that would make you move around it. A moving hazard that would make you change course would be a cyclist or bus pulling in/out.

A stationary hazard that would make you change direction would be a turn, roundabout or a mini roundabout. 

The trick with reaction to hazards is that it’s better to act now rather than later. How we do this is by scanning the road ahead and looking out for potential hazards. If you know there is a speed bump ahead, we mustn’t race up to the bump, brake harshly when we get to the bump and make it a rough drive. This is your driving test, everything has to be smooth.

It is the same when we see a car parked on the left. We don’t want to race up to a car parked on the left, instead, we want to see the parked car ahead, mirror, signal and move early, provided it is safe to do so. I will be posting a video about when to signal around parked cars another day so stay tuned for that one.

It is the same with an environmental hazard. Imagine driving on a national road and the speed limit being 100kmph and it was icy outside, that would not be very safe. Although, you wouldn’t do your driving test in icy conditions, you could do it in heavy rain and the tester would expect you to ease off a slightly. Remember it is double the following distance when driving in wet weather compared to driving in dry weather and a much greater stopping distance.

Watch the video above for a detailed description on reaction to hazards and also how to deal with certain hazards. You have to be thinking in advance when driving. I see it so often that students go into a trance while driving. Its all about staying alert and anticipating what is happening ahead. 

If you are enjoying the content so far, please hit the like button and also subscribe to my channel. There is so much content on my channel and there is so much to come. Also, try to get your sponsor to watch the videos too. This will help you during your lessons as you will be on the safe page. Best of luck to you 

Automatic Car Rental in Raheny-Turning Right Yellow Box Junction

** Watch all the video guys to see how to win the limited edition prize**

Hey guys, welcome back to our Learner Driver Classroom. Todays lesson is an important one. Everyday I hear of someone failing their driving test for not knowing how to do these junctions correctly. There is a lot of information in this video so be sure to watch the video more than once. Also, like and subscribe and answer the question in the video on Youtube to win the prize.

The video above explains the correct way to tackle these bigger junctions with the yellow box. Knowing how to read the traffic lights is very important so lets explain the lights first.

Obviously, when we see a red traffic light, we generally stop at the first line you see. As we wait for a green light, we could be checking a mirror every few seconds but also keeping an eye on your traffic light. Once that light goes green, we check our left mirror then our right mirror, handbrake down and off you go.

If we see a green circle light with no directional arrow, this means that we can proceed straight and turn left if its safe to do so. We can also turn right here provided there is no on coming traffic. If there is oncoming traffic, we drive into the yellow box, look to the right and try to stop with the front of your car in line with the centre line. Once we are stopped here, we are looking ahead for a gap to appear in the oncoming traffic and also looking to the right onto the new road. When we see a safe suitable gap, we can proceed with caution. Check out the video below to see how we explain turning right. 

If you are first in the que, its very important we move up into the middle of the junction. Failure to move up into the middle will result in a grade 3 fault in your exam. It can be ok for the second car to wait behind the line on the smaller junctions. You don’t want to get caught stopped in a pedestrian crossing. If the first car moves off the junction and the light is still green, then the second car can move up to the middle.

When you are in the middle of the junction, your main job is to get off the junction. Don’t worry about the traffic lights at this stage. If they change to amber, that means the oncoming traffic should also see and amber light and they should start slowing. Once you see them slowing down and preparing to stop, that’s when you get going.

If we see a green directional arrow to the right, we should be ok to proceed with caution in the same direction as the green arrow.

If we see a green arrow for straight only, it is very important that we wait behind the line if we are turning right. If you move up into the middle of the junction at this light, this will also result in a grade 3.

Remember guys, if you are enjoying the content, please like and subscribe to my channel. Also if you want to win the limited edition prize, be sure to type the correct answer into the comment section on YouTube. Also, if you have any questions, please type them into Youtube and I can respond there. Best of luck

Automatic Driving Lessons in Raheny-Mini Roundabouts

Welcome back to your Learner Driver Classroom. In our last session, we spoke about tackling roundabouts. Roundabouts are an everyday part of driving in Ireland. They can be confusing when you are learning how to drive and with a little practice, they get easier. If you haven’t seen the video on roundabouts, click the link below to see more.

Now lets talk about mini roundabouts. Students generally find the mini roundabouts even more confusing than the bigger roundabouts. The same general rules apply, the only difference is that they are much smaller, so you might need to ease off the accelerator slightly.

If you are taking the first exit to the left, it is the exact same as a normal roundabout. We MSPSL on approach. We mirror, signal left, keep our position in on the left, slow and into 2nd gear, off the clutch and L for look out to the right. If there are no cars coming from the right, keep going slowly in 2nd. That is usually easy enough. 

Going straight through is where people usually have difficulty. The way we take these is similar to normal roundabouts except there is no need to drive all the way around the outside of the mini roundabout. There is not enough space for that and it can be very confusing for other road users. The trick here is easy. We use our MSPSL on approach, the only difference is we don’t signal on approach because we are driving straight through. So we check our mirrors, keep our position into the left, slow, 2nd off the clutch and observation ahead and to the right. If there are no cars coming from the right keep going. Once we are on the mini roundabout, look in the direction you are driving. Once we steer around the mini roundabout, then we can mirror left then signal to the left. Very important we don’t sacrifice good steering to check your mirror and then signal left. The video below explains more.

The video above explains taking the third exit or to the right in much more detail than I can here. The main things to take into account is the speed at which you drive around a mini roundabout. Some mini roundabouts are extremely narrow, so sometimes it is ok to drive around them in 1st gear.

As always, we do our MSPSL on approach. We mirror, signal to the right. Then we position our car over towards the centre line. Then we slow, into 2nd, off the clutch and observation ahead and to the right. If there are no cars coming from the right, we can keep it moving. If its narrow, slow it down and use first gear. Try use the accelerator lightly or not at all. Try roll around the mini roundabout. We want our steering to be perfect. And remember, when we pass exit 2, left mirror, left signal and exit in on the left. It is not the end of the world if you touch the road markings a small bit, just try to avoid them as best you can 

Make sure you stay until the end of the video because I explain why so many people pick up grade 2s for observation at the roundabout. 

Also, I never mentioned it in the video but if you are going straight through a mini roundabout and it is straight through, first exit, we left mirror, left signal on approach. Keep our position in on the left, slow and look to the right.  

That’s it. Another classroom done and dusted. If you are enjoying the content please smash up the like button and subscribe to my channel. Stay tuned for more content and cool giveaways soon. Safe driving all

Automatic Car Rental Kilester/Raheny-Roundabouts

Welcome back to our Learner Driver Classroom. In our last videos, we were talking about turning left and right and emerging from junctions turning left and right. We also spoke about using MSPSL. MSPSL is really useful when we are learning how to drive. We use it for turning but also for roundabouts. So in our next classroom, I think its best we dive straight into roundabouts.

When you are learning how to drive, roundabouts are probably the most daunting aspect of the lessons. They cause so much confusion for new drivers. There is so much to take into consideration. That is why MSPSL is so important here. It gives us a system to follow and it makes everything easier when we get to the roundabout. Check out the video below 

The trick with the roundabout is that when we approach, we try to think of the roundabout like a clock, and that we always approach from 6. If we are taking the first half of the roundabout or from 6 on the clock around to 12, we usually approach the roundabout in the left lane or if it was a single lane, we would drive in our normal position, in on the left. Once we get onto the roundabout we would then drive around the outside of the roundabout and try to exit the roundabout in good position, in on the left.

If you are asked to take any exit past 12 or to the right, we would then position the car as though we were taking a right turn. We would use MSPSL as if we were turning right. (check out my video on turning right right to see more on this) Once we are on the roundabout, we stay on the inside lane until we get to the exit before the one we want to take, then we left mirror, left signal and try to exit in on the left.  

The next really important thing we have to talk about is the observation. If you remember from your theory test test, all traffic coming from the right and traffic already on the roundabout have right of way. You have to demonstrate to the tester that you know this. This is where MSPSL comes in so handy. Once we mirror, signal, position, slow and now its time to look. We need to be looking ahead but also turning our head and looking out to the right. If, when we turn our head and we see another road user coming from the right, we should stop.

However, if we get to the roundabout and there is no traffic coming from the right or already on the roundabout, we are ok to keep the car moving. There is no need to stop. Once we are on the roundabout, usually we keep going. As you drive around the roundabout there could be other road users  wanting to join the roundabout ahead. Remember that you have right of way now because when they look to the right, they will see you and have to stop for you. Sometimes it can happen that someone will pull out in front of you, in this ease we just ease off the accelerator, try avoid any harsh braking, especially on the roundabout.

Watch the video above for a full explanation and be sure to watch it several times to really get a good understanding of it. If you can get your sponsor to sit through it too, that would be a great help also.

And if you are enjoying the content, please like and comment and subscribe to my channel. There will be giveaways very soon so all the people that are actively liking the videos etc. will be in with a chance to win 

Automatic Driving Lessons Raheny- Turning Right T Junction

Welcome back to our Learner Driver Classroom. I hope you are enjoying the content so far and we still have so much to cover. So far, we have covered turning left from a major to a minor road, turning right from a major to a minor road, and turning left emerging from a T junction. The last topic to cover on turning is turning right, emerging from a T junction.

During our last sessions, we cover the importance of MSPSL. As soon as you hear the direction, whether it be turning left or right, we have to start applying the steps. We always Mirror-Signal-Position-Slow-Look. If we follow these steps one after another, it should be easy enough when you reach the junction.

When you hear right, straight away you check your inside mirror and then right mirror, then we signal to the right. Once we signal, only then can we start moving over towards the centre line and once we are in position, we drive straight up to the junction. When we are in position, that’s when we slow. We always slow with the brake first and when we are driving slow enough, we clutch in, come in to 2nd gear and slowly off the clutch and we drive up to the junction in a straight line, keeping light pressure on the brake. Before the car wants to cut out, we clutch in, roll it into 1st gear and L is for look. This is when we look right and left onto the road we wish to join. If we see cars coming from either side, we stop

In the video above, we go through two different types of scenarios. The first scenario is a straight forward right turn at a T junction with no hazards to deal with. In the second half of the video, we talk about what to do when there is parked cars that could give you bad position. A lot of people get grade 2 marks for position because they don’t come back onto their side of the road. It will make more sense when you watch the video above.

Another thing I actually forgot the mention in the video was that when we turn right from a T junction, we are actually crossing two lanes of traffic, so it is very important we slow it down and come into first gear. It can be a scary experience flying out of a T junction, at speed and in second gear. Just remember, “if you don’t know, don’t go.” In other words, if you can see, stop.

It is also important to mention that we try not to steer right from the junction. We always want to drive forward first, then look to the right and then steer. Steering too soon would cut the corner and we end up driving on the wrong side of the road for a short period of time. When we do this it also gives us poor position when we try to straighten up.

All will be explained in the video above. It is hard to picture this when reading it but hopefully the whiteboard makes it easier for you to understand.

If you are enjoying the content and you are learning something from the classroom, please like some of the videos and subscribe to the channel, so much more to come. Thank you so much

Automatic Driving Lessons Raheny- Turning Left T Junction

Welcome back to our Learner Driver Classroom. I hope you liked the previous 2 videos and they are only going to get better from here. In our first video, we talked about turning left from a major onto a minor road. In our second video we explained turning right from a major road onto a minor road. These can be challenging, so be patient with yourself and take notes from the previous videos and try to implement the steps.

In our next video, we explain turning left at a T junction. As always, we use MSPSL on approach. The main difference here when we get to the junction is the observation. When we get to the junction this is when we need to look right and left. We do this because the traffic on the road we want to join has right of way. If we look to the right and we see another road user, we must stop!

There is two types of T junction. 

1. Open junction
2. Closed junction

The term “open junction” is used to describe a junction when we can see right and left on approach. It wouldn’t happen too often, especially in built up areas and it is when there would be a small green area or field on both sides of the road. This makes it really easy for us to see right and left long before we reach the junction. If we know the way the clear, we are ok to continue on slowly, in 2nd gear after looking right and left.

A closed junction is what we normally see in built up areas and housing estates. What we mean by the term closed junctions is that visibility is poor and we can not see left or right on approach. In this scenario we have to be very cautious when we try to join the new road. I explain in the video below how to do this. If we approach a closed junction, we don’t want to fly out here in 2nd gear. It is too fast and if you see a car at the last moment, its a very abrupt stop. In the way I explain on the video is that we control the speed of the car with the brake, if, when we get to the top of the road we still cant see, we clutch in, position the car around the bend into the left, roll the car into first gear as we look right and left and if it is safe to do so, only then can we continue on. If we see a car coming, its really easy all you have to do is press harder on the brake. It is very hard to explain in words so watch the video below.

Another big difference with approaching T junctions compared to standard right and left turns is road markings and road signs. When we reach the junction there could be a stop sign, a yield sign or no sign. There could also be road markings such as a stop line, a broken white line for a yield line or no road markings at all. This can get very confusing. There could be a stop sign with no line or there could be a stop line with no sign so learning your road markings is very important. You could also see the new speed limit sign for the new road you will be joining. ( I usually cover this in EDT 4)

So that’s it. watch the video above a few times and visualize yourself doing it even before you start driving. It can be tricky at first dropping the car into first but once you get the hang of it, it will be easy.

If you are enjoying the classroom, please like and subscribe to my channel. There will be loads of content coming soon. Next up is everybody’s favourite – Roundabouts. Video will be released on Thursday. 

If you passed your test and do not want to receive this emails, please click unsubscribe below.

Many thanks

Anthony Doran

Automatic Driving Lessons in Raheny- Turning Right

We are back with our Learner Driver Classroom and in todays video we will be talking about turning right. Turning right can be more difficult than turning left because you will have more work to do. People generally pick up grade 2s in their test when turning right, usually for position and observation. You can be marked for position for a few different reasons.

1. Not being able to hold the car in a straight line just left of centre line
2. Steering too early and cutting the corner
3. Steering too late and swannecking
4. Steering from the left side of the road

People generally pick up a lot of grade 2s for observation too. This could be for a number of reasons but the most common one I see is when people steer to turn right, they continue to look ahead. The trick with observation is to look in the direction you are driving.

When turning right, we use MSPSL. If you seen my last blog you will remember that stands for mirror, signal, position, slow and look. For turning right we check our inside mirror first and then our right mirror. Then we signal to the right. Only after we signal, can we then position our car towards the centre line and very importantly, we drive straight up to the turn. Once we are in position, that’s when we slow with the brake first, only when we are driving slow enough, can we clutch in, into 2nd and slowly off the clutch and holding the car nice and straight, light pressure on the brake and L for look. The “Look” (observation) in this scenario is that we have to turn our head and look down to the right. I usually tell people to show the tester the back of your head. Once we have looked and we know it is safe to go can we steer. It is very important that we steer when the front of our car is in line with the centre line on the new road. If we steer too early, we “cut” the corner and too late we “swanneck” the turn.

If there is a car coming from ahead, it is really easy. We just do MSPSL on approach to the turn, look to the right and clutch in and stop when your car is in line with the centre line. While we are stopped in this position, all you have to do is keep your head moving. We look ahead and to the right. Try not to fix your eyes on the traffic coming from ahead, always keep the head moving. When we see the first safe gap, we make our turn.

It can be more tricky if there is no car coming because in this scenario, we don’t need to stop. The trick here is, as always, MSPSL on approach, hold it nice and straight up to the turn, into 2nd, off the clutch but still on the brake and when the road opens, look down to the right and steer when the front of your car is in line with the centre line on the road you will be turning down. Remember when you do this, keep looking where you are going. Resist the urge to look ahead when turning right.

Turning right can be tricky, so watch this a few times and also ask your sponsor to watch it too. At least they will have a  good idea of what to look out for as you practice.

And remember, if you like the videos and you are learning from them, hit the like button and subscribe. There will more videos to follow every Tuesday and Thursday so don’t miss out. Best of luck to you all