Driving lessons are a rite of passage for teenagers all around the world. Learning to drive marks the beginning of a journey to freedom and independence that culminates in a driving test and if all goes well – a driver’s license, and all the freedom that comes along with it. Driving lessons in Dublin will not only teach you the rules of the road and how to pass a driving test, but they’re also important in honing crucial driving skills and to develop a solid understanding of road safety. Here are a few Dublin driving schools we recommend: Branigans Driving School and RSA Driving School.

The Learner’s Process & Driving Lessons Dublin

Before you can even take driving lessons in Dublin, you must first have your learner’s permit. A learner’s permit allows individuals over the age of 17 to drive, but with severe restrictions on that privilege. Drivers with learner’s permits may only drive with a qualified, experienced driver in the car (minimum of 2 years with their full driver’s license) with them who acts as their sponsor. Ideally, your sponsor should be someone you not only trust, but should also be an experienced driver with an impeccable driving record. Your sponsor should work with your driving instructor to ensure that you’re taking all the steps necessarily to drive safely. The sponsor will also need an abundance of patience and should be someone who appreciates the importance of their role in building a good, safe driver. Usually, parents and relatives make good sponsors, but close family friends may fit the role as well. The sponsor needs to be willing to dedicate many hours of their free time in ensuring that the student becomes a safe, competent driver. To get a full driver’s license in Dublin, the learner must pass a driving test and also take a mandatory Essential Driver Training course with an accredited Dublin driving school or Dublin driving instructor. The student driver – like any other driver – must always carry their learner’s permit at all times when driving.

Essential Driver Training

Even if you’re unfamiliar with the driver’s licensing process in Dublin, you may have heard about Essential Driver Training. In some jurisdictions around the globe, driving lessons are not necessarily required for a driver to become licensed and qualified to drive alone. In Dublin however, Essential Driver Training is a mandatory driving course required for anyone learning to drive in Dublin whose 1st category B learner permit was issued on or after the 4th of April 2011. Essential Driver Training is a 12 hour course that can only be completed with an officially approved driving instructor. Essential Driver Training is a series of 12 one hour driving lessons designed to be carried out by experienced, approved driving instructors. These lessons are designed to teach vital driving skills and ingrain fundamental principles of road safety. While lessons 1-8 must be completed in the same order as they are presented in the syllabus, lessons 9-12 can be completed in any order determined suitable by the student with his/her approved driving instructor. It is recommended that the Essential Driver Training course is taken over a period of 6 months. In fact, Dublin driving tests cannot be taken until a minimum of 6 months has passed since the driver obtained his learner’s permit. This allows the student driver plenty of time in between Essential Driver Training lessons to practice with their sponsor. Each lesson in the Essential Driver Training curriculum is designed to achieve a set of expected outcomes. Your approved driving instructor will teach you these skills, select routes that will allow you to develop these skills, and also tell you what skills you need to work on with your sponsor at the end of your lesson. It’s important to remember that the Essential Driver Training course is not designed to fully prepare a student driver on its own. Rather, it’s expected that the Essential Driver Training course will be supplemented with many hours of practice driving with another experienced driver, such as a parent or relative. Failure to practice will likely result in a failed driving test as well as inadequate driving skills – even after the Essential Driver Training course is completed. Essential Driver Training is simply a minimum requirement for obtaining your Dublin driver’s license. In addition to the Essential Driver Training course and practice with a sponsor, some student drivers may require additional driving lessons in Dublin to ensure that the young driver is in actual fact a safe, competent driver capable of handling a wide variety of road conditions and situations. Ultimately, the goal of the student, the instructor, and the sponsor shouldn’t be to just have the student pass the Dublin driving test, but to also instill in the new driver the defensive driving knowledge and skill that will keep him/her and other drivers and passengers safe throughout their many future years on the road.

Driving Schools Dublin

Your Dublin driving school should have RSA approved instructors qualified to deliver the Essential Driver Training curriculum. Only hours logged with an approved driving instructor count towards the Essential Driving Training requirement. At your first Dublin driving lesson, your approved driving instructor will give you a logbook. This logbook will show you the lessons plans for your Essential Driver Training course and will also be used to log your progress and offer proof that you have completed the full program. Ensure that you have your driving instructor sign your logbook after every lesson. Ideally, it’s recommended that driving students take more driving lessons than the mandatory minimum 12 hour Essential Driver Training course. While the Essential Driver Training curriculum covers all the most basic driving techniques and skills, research has demonstrated that drivers who spend more time under the supervision of qualified instructors demonstrate safer long-term driving ability.