Driving Tests restart

[mckha489]

When my daughter sat her licence about 14 years ago, our car was  Citroen Picasso,  it gave us heaps of trouble with its electrics.  I took it in for a full service prior to her test to make sure all was well.  On the day she was driving along a main highway and the engine just stopped. She glided to the side, remembering to indicate (amazingly!) and the tester passed her on the spot because she had coped so well with an unexpected event!

While our son, when he went, it was POURING with rain.  You don’t have rain like it in the UK that I have ever experienced. This was a deluge, gutters full and overflowing so edges of road not clear. He carried on, and was failed because he should have pulled over and waited for rain to stop. He was furious! Had awful teenage boy tantrum.  Refused to have next test in our town, and booked a test in a different town, so we had to have frantic practice in the new environment. Fortunately he passed and ended up being the driver that other parents approved of if there was a group outing.  All we could do was shake our heads, and think, if only they knew!

[kiwihalfpint]

Next door neighbour and driving school taught me.  On the day of the test, it was pouring down with rain, could hardly see the white lines, it was a traffic cop who took me, and yes I passed.

Oh dear Mckha, I know that teenage boy tantrum well, ours failed the first time, the indicator turned off, like it does when you go around a roundabout and that failed him. He didn't want to go back to school, as he told his friends he was going to pass. We later learnt that the driving instructor always failed the boys first time round.

Daughter we had to take her to another location for the test, and she passed 2nd time.

[Ruskie]

My other daughter took her driving test in her 48 year old classic car. When he saw it the tester said ”this will be interesting”. She passed.

[Guy Etchells]

I could never understand "reversing around a corner" - it seems such a dangerous manoeuvre. 

Not if done correctly, but yes if the driver is not also being aware of what is around them. Don't forget it is the basis of reversing into a parking space, whether during parallel parking or into a parking slot.
Cheers
Guy

[sonofthom]

The day before my test my driving school instructor wrote off the car and ended up in hospital. Next morning I was confronted with an instructor I had never met and a car I had never driven with very different handling characteristics from the one I was used to - for example on full lock, for three point turn, the wheels fouled the wheel arches and refused to turn.

As for the test I was already very apprehensive but to make matters worse I had the  extra man in the back  seat, the inspector who was there to check that the tester was doing his job properly. Inevitably the test was awful. When we arrived back at the test centre the tester told me to park in front of the centre. The boss of the test centre had parked his car out front and guess whose car I hit when trying to reverse park? Yes the bosses car. The failure certificate stated "failure to leave adequate clearance to other vehicles" as reason for failure!

[ThrelfallYorky]

Oh dear, some of you do seem to have had such awful experiences! Can't imagine how I managed to pass that first time, given that I had a blind man with white stick about to cross the road, a motorcyclist in full leathers walking backwards with no bike up my side of the road, a brewery delivering and rolling full metal barrels across the road I was driving on, and hoses, over it, too .... and that's just the happenings/ hazards I can remember!!
Apparently I muttered about all of them, and the examiner felt I was very aware of hazards!!!
The very confident young man who was in the waiting room with me, was in a total petulant huff when we returned, he got out of his car, shouted at his examiner, very rudely, and so I think somehow he didn't pass.
TY