Disastrous driving test yesterday

[beezlebubnicky]

Took my first driving test yesterday, I've had over 80 hours of tuition, my instructor agreed I was ready and I've been driving really competently and safely and managing my mock tests well. Had an 8am rush hour test and everything went from bad to worse, I didn't feel that nervous initially but it was just a shit show. Did a right turn out of the test centre onto a busy road, took ages to get out and that had me rattled from the start. Then it got worse, traffic got busy and of course that's no excuse, but it was so stressful.

I drove in a way I never do during lessons, and ended up with 1 dangerous, 6 serious and 5 or 6 other driving faults. I even messed up the right reverse which I've never not managed easily; I knew I was too far from the kerb but I just kept going anyway, I'd given up. My dangerous fault was for trying to get out at a busy junction, kept looking left and right and when I went out there was a lollipop person who stepped back, suddenly a car surged forward and me and examiner both hit the brake at the same time. Also tried to hold back for a coach & it didn't have enough room to get past me. Failed for positioning, never normally have problems with that.

It could literally not have gone worse. The examiner was nice though and said he could tell I was nervous and my instructor wouldn't bring a student to test who wasn't ready. I cried all day yesterday and it was just so humiliating. I was prepared to potentially fail my first test, but not to get so many faults. I really just wanted to give up on the whole thing.

I'm not giving up and prepared to work on all the things I got a fault for , but I can hardly stand the thought of having to go through that again. I feel sick at the idea. I did breathing, mindfulness, got a good sleep, Rescue Remedy etc before test but just went to pieces anyway.

Did anyone else have a terrible test and then go on to pass?

I had similar in a lesson observation once - white board shut down - and I got dibs on how I dealt with it.

I guess you would assume the worse, but people who can drive still stall, as PP said. I guess when 'shit gets real' you can still look very competent if you get yourself out of it calmly and successfully.

I failed my first on hesitation.

The second I was so paranoid about this I messed everything up.

The third the examiner asked me to pull over two minutes in. I thought I'd done something wrong but he said "I just think you'll find it easier when your legs stop shaking".

He put me at ease and I passed easily. Don't give up.

I am very good at written exams but doing something with people watching turns me to jelly.

I'm starting to recover a little I think today. DH was lovely about it and took me out for brunch yesterday to try and cheer me up, he's just at work today so I'm brooding a bit.

The other thing I forgot to mention was that I've had trouble with awful dental infections for the last 2 weeks and was on 2 types of antibiotics, including metronidazole which always makes me feel rough. The pain had gone by the day of my test but I hadn't slept well in days, I'm sure that also played a role.

So perhaps I should be a bit kinder to myself. At least if it's gone this badly, it probably won't be as bad next time 😂.

My first test was during rush hour. It was a huge mistake!

I took my second during the day so it was quieter and I passed easily.

I nearly crashed into a milk float on my first test 😬 Passed second time.

@FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee Nice to hear that made the difference for you, I'm defo going to try for a late morning or early afternoon test.

Exam nerves aside, it sounds like you just need more driving practice until you get confident. Then you won’t make mistakes under stress.

If it helps you to feel a bit better, OP, my first driving test was just as much of a shitshow as yours.

...In fact, it went so badly that the examiner terminated the test in the interests of public safety, took the keys out of the car and walked back to the test centre by himself, leaving me sitting there waiting for my instructor to come out and collect the car!

I felt so utterly humiliated that it was four or five years before I could face taking driving lessons again, but I did pass on the third attempt.

@Mirabai I do feel confident as a driver though and am handling everything in the curriculum independently - but you're quite right that I need to practice controlling my nerves. I've been good with stressful situations on my lessons, but on test is another thing. I hope the fact I've done the test once will help as I know what to expect, and I will of course be having a number of lessons before next test anyway, so will have a chance to practice all the stuff I failed on.

@AreThereSomewhereIslands I mentioned somewhere else in thread that a friend's cousin had this happen too. Bless you, that must have been so awful, but I'm so glad you went back to it eventually and didn't let it beat you.

I know someone who caused a three car pile up in their test and is now an ambulance driver in London. You'll get there.

I remember the day I passed
8th Feb 2001

It was my 3rd test on my 18th birthday. I even had a massive 18 badge on.

Fortunately it didn't ruin my birthday

Sounds like my first test. It was awful. I turned out of the test centre and i had to go up a hill to an island. And just started rolling back. I said well that's that then and it just knocked my confidence. I passed second time three months later.

Don't let it stop you. But I've been driving over ten years now and some days if I'm trying to pull out of a junction I start over thinking and end up just sitting there for ages.

Yeah I went to pieces on my first test. Also did something stupid on my second. Just something about test conditions made my brain shut down, I even started driving like an idiot doing a mock test with my instructor.
He suggested I booked an hour's driving lesson immediately before the test and that worked. A friend passed first time and he was the most dangerous driver I've ever known. We used to make excuses to not get in his car.

Not to elevenerife you, but my friend had this happen to her twice 😭

She passed on her 8th attempt, quite a few years ago now. And is honestly the best and most confident driver I know.

Theres an old saying "you pass your test then you learn to drive".So true.You were unlucky to have a DT in rush hour! I passed the 2nd time, and they say you are a better driver if you dont pass 1st time .Dont feel bad ,my DS felt he would easily pass ,but lots of things went wrong for him as well. Relax and have a break over Christmas .come new year, you cam try again.

@NotbloodyGivingupYet What was funny was that in the hour lesson before the test, I drove really well 😅.

I think you should only get 2 or 3 chances to pass your test. If you can't do it by the 3rd, it's not for you!

Scares me how many drivers there are on the road for whom that might be the case.

I drove (almost, obvs) immaculately on my first test and still failed it - one minor fault and two majors (wrong lane at a roundabout, didn’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign due to parked cars). I thought I’d nailed it, so it was a bit of a shock when he said I'd failed! Passed second time.

A friend of mine passed first time and is a truly awful driver, very unsafe, barely any awareness of other road users despite 30 years of experience! I do wonder about the test criteria sometimes - some terrible drivers seem to sail through!

Chin up op - you will get there.

it absolutely could have been worse, when I went to sit my third test the other person taking theirs had come back early because they'd literally crashed the car and couldn't continue.

even worse it was one of those driving instructor cars that had been done up to be really tacky, giant neon decals of flowers and such. it must have looked like she'd crashed a clown car.

Well @CowgirlJby your reckoning, most people on this thread shouldn't be driving. Some people don't perform well under test conditions, it doesn't mean they aren't capable of handling stressful and difficult situations on the road in normal driving. I know several people who had a few attempts to pass (some more than 3) who have never had an accident in like 20 years of driving.

@weareallcats Eesh, unlucky! Good it worked out the second time though.

one I did I was a bag of nerves because a third person appeared unannounced and said they were examining the examiner! it was so awkward in the car with all three of us and she was nervous as well so you could feel the anxiety exuding. Obviously I didn't pass because the conditions were horrific.

I was really annoyed I hadn't even been told in advance it would happen so I was completely off-guard.

Turned out she'd had so many complaints about her she was having to be tested, so I had less than average chance of passing anyway :/

So here’s a true story - i failed my first test so badly that the I/ the examiner intervened and stopped the test. I was so so nervous.

Guess what? A few months later I passed with flying colours and now drive perfectly well. The thing that calmed me was knowing all the different routes around the centre (though now its different i think as they give you directions)

You can do this, dont give up!

I pulled up behind a line of parked cars thinking it was a queue of traffic and when I realised I panicked and swung out without looking and the examiner had to emergency brake. In the first two minutes. I passed second time though, nerves do funny things to us

@allthatfalafel Omg, insane.

Someone else mentioned a three car pile up on the thread during a test. I have to admit, in those situations I'd also place blame on the examiner as they should be ready to intervene before a collision occurs.

I had a horrible first test and failed with a major and the max amount of minors (most of them in the last 10 minutes driving back after I knew I'd got the major 😐).

I passed my second one with three minors.

Chin up, dust yourself and go again (at a better time of day)