Change Irish/Ireland car driving test process

I recently had my RSA car driving test and it went as expected. I failed.

My friends and colleagues congratulated me on joining this esteemed club of failed car drivers, and apparently the club is quite large. I am essentially an optimist and always find silver linings and so it dawned on me that RSA examiners are most unbiased and fair-minded folks; I mean – be it new drivers, experienced drivers from other countries, trained or untrained drivers, confident or anxious drivers, men or women drivers, white/black/brown or yellow drivers – everyone is bound to fail at least once.

On a more serious note, it's sad to see how impractical and ridiculous the system remains but what bothers me most is everyone is aware, yet none can do anything. As I failed the test, I spoke (separately) to three of my friends/colleagues who managed to clear test, and all had one feedback "you need to put an act". This is so true, because it does not matter if you looked into your rear and side mirrors, it does not matter that you dropped in correct signals, it does not matter if you've taken all precautions and drove through the test without breaking any rules and/or harming others on road, what apparently matters is – did the examiner "see you" take necessary precautions?

And god forbid had you looked into right & rear mirror, and upon seeing no vehicles or passersby chosen to NOT turn your neck around – be certain that examiner will not take this judgement of yours driven by common-sense lightly and will point out how you could've almost hit an imaginary figure, that only s/he sees in the middle of the road.

Not to forget the now legendary test parameter of reversing around a corner or curb, while in reality it has no practical application. The nearest would be reversing around cars in a parking spot but RSA guys be like – what use of examining obvious scenarios when we can throw in unreal situations and prove test has a real purpose?

Sorry to break this news but the current mindset is legacy and outdated. I've been in enough interviews in my 12yr career to see the interview experience evolve. When I began my career, most interviews were designed to prove a key point – the interview is tough, folks interviewing are smarter. Thankfully world has since moved, focusing instead on – deliverables, experience and cultural fit. And my car driving test brought old interview memories back. Like my interviews of past, drivers are focused on cracking interview (driving test) than truly learning to practice safe driving.

Am I frustrated? Obviously yes, any person put through this ridiculous and expensive process expects much better value than being pointed out how the "act" was insufficient and sadly more important than "outcome". With insurance premium sky rocketing and dependent on the status of license, cost of Essential Driving Lessons (EDL) and test/re-test the entire experience feels more like bad karma that my folks back home would have me believe but I for one see this as an opportunity for Ireland to embrace change and design a more practical car test process, for the benefit of everyone.

In my little research trying to establish link between, driving test and accidents – it seemed test parameters have no impact on rate of accidents. Top two reasons causing more than 2/3^rd of major accidents are linked to over speeding and drink driving, and driving test currently has no means to predict or control any of these possibilities. Key reasons for minor accidents are bad tailgating and lane discipline – both of these parameters are not put to rigorous test during examination.

Further, there appears to be variance between test centers. In 2018, if you opted for Clifden vs Churchtown – your probability to pass on account of merely moving test centers increases by 40%

So, would this remain just another article on Irish driving test or are folks at RSA willing to see the "invisible gorilla" (inattentional blindness causing limitation of mind not sight, making people miss things happening right under their nose)?