Going ahead with class c

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Hi all

Re my previous posts. I can’t get a reply from DVLA on if they will re-class my 14000kg to 7500kg etc so I’ve decided to go for the class c.

Had medical last friday and have sent off d2+d4 and license to have provisional put on. Next step theory…

Drove 7.5 tonners for years with Comet. Size of vehicle, reversing, tachos etc doesnt really concern me but am a bit put off with hazard perception test. Seems a bit hit and miss if you ask me. A click in the wrong place or once to often could lead to a fail but then I suppose people do pass this test.

Anyway, can’t wait now, it would be nice to drive me fire engine insted of just polishing it :frowning:

2

The key to the Hazard Perception test is to know how they want the clips responded to.

Get a copy of the DVD, sit down and watch it.

It’s mind numbingly boring but it’ll let you know what to expect and how to respond. It’s money well spent.

You can get them from libraries or off ebay, it’s the same test as for car drivers albeit with a higher pass mark. If you buy a copy you can always punt it back on ebay. It’s not a difficult test to pass but the fear of the unknown is the worst thing.

3

From the DSA site…
theory test. From April 2008, it will consist of 100 multiple choice questions and 20 hazard perception clips. Candidates will be allowed two hours 30 minutes to complete this .
From April 2008, the number of questions will increase to 100 and the pass mark will be 85. The number of hazard perception clips will increase in April 2008.

4

Was going to start this as a new thread but this seems as good a place as any !

I sat my LGV Theory yesterday. Got a copy of the CD version of the Theory as well as the paperback version. Both items were worth their weight in gold ! You currently get 70 mins for 60 questions (going up in Apr as Rog says) pass mark 51. I knew from all my practice that I was likely to get through it quite quickly but amazed myself when I was done in 15 mins. I only flagged one question and that was cos I couldnt convince myself what light combination followed a steady amber !!! :blush:

Then for the Hazard perception, currently 14 clips with 5 points for each ‘developing hazard’ with one clip having 2 hazards, so 75 points up for grabs (pass mark 50).

I practiced with the DVD at home and was reasonably confident that I’d be ok. First clip ran, thought I was doing fine (suspected that it was also the double !) and at the end of the clip, big red cross !!! ‘You have responded in an irregular manner and will score zero for this clip’ Now at this point I was seeing red, cos convinced this was the double I saw 10 points dissappear. Tried to focus on the job at hand but now really wary of clicking too much so things could actually swing the other way ! Got through to the final clip, still fretting but feeling that things might actually be ok and Oh My God, red cross; ‘You have responded …’ (you know the rest !)

Back to reception with a cloud hanging over me, the guys processed my test and handed me 2 shees of A4 with an A5 certificate inside. Couldnt believe it; I’d passed ! 60/60 for the theory, 56/75 for the Haz :astonished:

As an average you need to score a minimum of 4 points on 5 of the hazards and 3 points from the remaining 10 hazards. As you can see I immediately lost 10 points from my 2 failures and then lost a further 9 points over the remaining clips.

So … really dont like the Haz Test ! That said, dont worry too much (ok I know I did !) about the big red cross, cos I got two of the devils and still passed !

One more thing, if you are in a position to do the theory before the end of Mar, DO IT !!! Get on the phone and enquire about short notice cancellations. Be prepared to travel ! If you are still waiting for your Prov to come back from DVLA and you think it may get back to you before the end of Mar, book a Theory Test NOW. If your licence hasnt turned up 3 working days before your theory test, contact the booking line and move it to some date in the future. At least you will have secured the chance of a £32 test and lesser questions/clips.

Nothing lost !

Oh BTW, hello !!! Sorry for such a lengthy first post.

Colin

5

I didn’t bother parting with hard earned cash for the hazard perception part… being a canny Scot and all that! I checked out as many free examples on the net as i could and also paid a visit to youtube. here is a link to some official hazard perception tests from a guy on youtube:

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ROG:
From the DSA site…
theory test. From April 2008, it will consist of 100 multiple choice questions and 20 hazard perception clips. Candidates will be allowed two hours 30 minutes to complete this .
From April 2008, the number of questions will increase to 100 and the pass mark will be 85. The number of hazard perception clips will increase in April 2008.

I thought it was 19 clips? (one being a double score?) :question:

7

Just making sure that you are going for the right category of licence.

You have mentioned before about limos!

I know that a few old fire engines are being converted to limos.

If this is what you are doing make sure the vehicle is a goods vehicle and not a passenger carrying one?

8

burnie1:
Just making sure that you are going for the right category of licence.

You have mentioned before about limos!

I know that a few old fire engines are being converted to limos.

If this is what you are doing make sure the vehicle is a goods vehicle and not a passenger carrying one?

As far as I understand it all, and the whole fire engine limo thing depends on where you live, council wise, if its a max of eight passengers I don’t need a class d. But I do need class C because its over 7500kg. I do have D1 on me licence. That does upto 16 passengers but only upto 3500kg I think.

This all seemed a great idea a month ago but now council giving me headache… :angry: :smiley:

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Thanks for all your reply’s. I’m sure I’ll be OK on the theory…

10

VolvoFire:

burnie1:
Just making sure that you are going for the right category of licence.

You have mentioned before about limos!

I know that a few old fire engines are being converted to limos.

If this is what you are doing make sure the vehicle is a goods vehicle and not a passenger carrying one?

As far as I understand it all, and the whole fire engine limo thing depends on where you live, council wise, if its a max of eight passengers I don’t need a class d. But I do need class C because its over 7500kg. I do have D1 on me licence. That does upto 16 passengers but only upto 3500kg I think.

This all seemed a great idea a month ago but now council giving me headache… :angry: :smiley:

The D1 you have cannot be used for ‘hire or reward’ - you would need PCV for that.

11

VolvoFire:
I do have D1 on me licence. That does upto 16 passengers but only upto 3500kg I think.

The D categories make no reference to weight, it’s only done on number of passengers.

12

Just had a look at DVLA website. On the page “vehicles you can drive and how old you must be to drive them” it says:

“Buses with or without trailers
Any bus with more than eight passenger seats with a trailer up to 750kg Class D”

My vehicle will only carry 8 passengers or less so I am right in thinking a class c should do me, AM I… :confused:

13

VolvoFire:
Just had a look at DVLA website. On the page “vehicles you can drive and how old you must be to drive them” it says:

“Buses with or without trailers
Any bus with more than eight passenger seats with a trailer up to 750kg Class D”

My vehicle will only carry 8 passengers or less so I am right in thinking a class c should do me, AM I… :confused:

If it’s a 14000kg goods vehicle (which you said originally) then the answer’s yes but the issue with the seats mean I’m not 100% sure :confused: :slight_smile: What does it actually say on the V5?

14

Nothing on seats on V5. Revenue weight 1400kg and class is Fire Engine. Seems that most Fire Limos have a max of 8 seats + driver which I took to be because insurance and class d test. I know most have had alterations to reduce gvw to 7500kg to be able to drive on C1. But alterations to vehicle are more expensive than class c lessons + test, thats why I’ve opted to sit class c as I thought that would do for upto 8 passengers. Now I’m not to sure. My brain is frazzled :slight_smile:

15

VolvoFire:
Had medical last friday and have sent off d2+d4 and license to have provisional put on. Next step theory…
:frowning:

I forgot to say. The medical cost £117.50. Is that more or less the average?

16

VolvoFire:
Nothing on seats on V5. Revenue weight 1400kg and class is Fire Engine. Seems that most Fire Limos have a max of 8 seats + driver which I took to be because insurance and class d test. I know most have had alterations to reduce gvw to 7500kg to be able to drive on C1. But alterations to vehicle are more expensive than class c lessons + test, thats why I’ve opted to sit class c as I thought that would do for upto 8 passengers. Now I’m not to sure. My brain is frazzled :slight_smile:

Maybe this is it…
The vehicle, due to its MAM weight is a C licence
A PCV not required as the number of passenger seats is under 9
A ‘private hire’ (Taxi ?) licence will be required so that it can be used for the ‘hire or reward’ of transporting paying customers.

I’m guessing but it SEEMS logical :question: :question: .

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VolvoFire:

VolvoFire:
Had medical last friday and have sent off d2+d4 and license to have provisional put on. Next step theory…
:frowning:

I forgot to say. The medical cost £117.50. Is that more or less the average?

You can get them done for around £40 but I don’t know if there would be a place near you.

18

mrpj:

VolvoFire:

VolvoFire:
Had medical last friday and have sent off d2+d4 and license to have provisional put on. Next step theory…
:frowning:

I forgot to say. The medical cost £117.50. Is that more or less the average?

You can get them done for around £40 but I don’t know if there would be a place near you.

You’ll be sick when I teel you that there is a STICKY at the top of this forum which leads you to cheap medicals :exclamation:

19

:smiley: I did read that rog but any journey for me involves ferry and diesel or plane. So not so cheap after journey taken into consideration. When you live on a island its sensible to keep companies on the island in business with your custom as my own job depends on it… :smiley:

20

VolvoFire:
:smiley: I did read that rog but any journey for me involves ferry and diesel or plane. So not so cheap after journey taken into consideration. When you live on a island its sensible to keep companies on the island in business with your custom as my own job depends on it… :smiley:

Fair point :smiley: