Series 1, Episode 4
Lisa McKeague (67) Buncrana – Lisa is a native of Alabama, USA and is in her late sixties. She recently moved to Buncrana, Donegal with her Irish husband Callum. Despite holding a full US driver’s licence for the past forty years, Lisa now has to take on the Irish driving test if she is to drive around her new hometown. She has already failed her Irish driving test once, which her hubby Callum passed. She is now in the care of Buncrana driving instructor Dessie Kearney. So, can Lisa cope with driving on “the wrong side” of the road, can she handle a “stick shift” and much smaller roads to what she is used to? Well, Dessie has every confidence in her even if she doesn’t.
Pawel Fitrzyk (39) Limerick – Polish native and Ennis resident Pawel is a fulltime truck driver. His wife died three years ago leaving him as the sole parent to their 16-year-old son. As his son gets older and more self-sufficient, Pawel has decided it’s now time to pursue his lifelong dream of owning and driving a motorbike. But to do this, he needs to pass his motorbike test. Enter, Mo Garvey, one of only two female bike instructors in Ireland and Pawel’s new best friend. How will Pawel cope swapping one of Ireland’s biggest vehicles for one of its smallest? Will he develop a new respect for bikes and gain a new view of our roads along the way?
Jack Lavery (18) Buncrana – Jack is currently studying for his Leaving Cert with the hopes of heading to college in Belfast. A lover of all things hurling, golf and cars, Jack is currently learning to drive under the care of Dessie Kearney (Lisa’s instructor). Referred to as “Cool Jack” by Dessie, little seems to rattle this young Donegal man, but is he a little too chilled for the test?
In this episode, we meet RSA testers Pat D’Arcy and Danny McDaid. This time, Pat is donning his bike gear and helmet for a bike-to-bike driving test, whilst Danny is taking his testing skills to Buncrana.
Series overview
It is a rite of passage for most Irish people and for many, it is one of the scariest moments of their life. We are, of course, talking about the driving test. This much-coveted piece of card signifies a level of independence and freedom. For some, this right is won on their first attempt, for others, it takes more than a few attempts.
From North to South, East to West, the late teen “first-timers”, the middle-aged or elderly multi-failing “Learner for life” or trainee biker, truck or bus driver, everybody is a “learner” and these are their driving test stories.
There are currently over 65,000 Irish people still on their third or more provisional licence, nearly 40,000 of these are on their fifth licence, many of these drivers aged over 30. Recent changes to Ireland’s road traffic laws (The Clancy Amendment) have meant anyone with a learner permit caught driving a motor vehicle unaccompanied by a fully licenced driver (who has held a full licence for more than two years) faces having the vehicle they are driving seized. So, the pressure is really on for all of Ireland’s learners to try and pass the big test.
The Test will document a milestone event most Irish adults can empathise with as we follow a number of very different characters taking on this challenge. Seen through the eyes of the learner, the instructor and the tester, we dispel some of the biggest myths and fears around the driving test. The Test is an entertaining and intriguing look at Ireland’s learner drivers and the people tasked with putting them through their paces before taking the big test; making sure they are competent enough to join the rest of our nation’s drivers.