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Driving instructor sitting in car on driving test ?

28 replies

Itsanewday25 · 26/12/2024 17:11

Dd has been having driving lessons. She's failed twice and has her 3rd test in a few days. She's asked for her driving instructor to sit in the back on her test. As she feels having someone in the car may make her feel more at ease. Just wounder if others have done this ?

OP posts:
PantherchameleonsocksforChristmas · 26/12/2024 17:16

I haven't but I'm pretty sure I have heard that before so it is something that some people request. Probably so they feel at ease at having someone familiar there.

LoremIpsumCici · 26/12/2024 17:20

I thought this was normal? My DD had the instructor in the back. Also failed but instructor could say exactly how she can do better next exam.

ChickenXacuti · 26/12/2024 17:36

My BIL is a driving instructor and has had some pupils who ask him to sit in the back on their tests. He’s always happy to do so if it’s what they want.

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NancyJoan · 26/12/2024 17:37

Never heard of it, but worth asking.

KnopkaPixie · 26/12/2024 18:00

My driving instructor did this, (In Corsica, mind you.) on my first two attempts. It put me off because I felt like there were two of them there judging me.

I told him not to go with me on the third attempt and passed. It depends very much on the individual, the driving instructor and the general dynamic.

If your daughter feels like it will help her, then she should go for it. If it is appropriate here are my semi obligatory driving test nightmare stories:

First test: Got sidetracked by the driving instructor and the examiner having a complicated discussion about how the examiner caught hepatitis from a mosquito bite on a caravan holiday in Brittany with his elderly parents and mucked up the parallel park.

Can you catch hepatitis from a mosquito bite in Brittany? Or did you catch hepatitis on a completely different sort of holiday, perhaps in the Far East where "Love you longtimes" does not equate to a mother's love."

Second test: Got the same jam factory outing of an examiner and the instructor sat in the back again. This time I tried just to drown out whatever they were saying but failed because I didn't do an exaggerated head gesture towards the gendarmerie to see if they were planning a high speed chase.

Third time lucky! Against all odds! The driving instructor changed his car a few nights before the test and about six of us had to stand in the freeze cold and pitch black the night before the test to be shown where the indicators were, how to turn on the lights, this, that and the other. It was a Citroën and nothing like the Renault I'd been learning in. Much less powerful and just...different.

I didn't get Mosquito Bite Brittany Hepatitis Boy that day. I got a woman who seemed to be a bit of a biker and told me stories about how she'd been round Ireland on her motorbike and how the Irish were such wonderful people. I have an Irish surname but can't claim to be particularly Irish...anyway I went with it. I passed. The hill start and quick getaway on a blind bend onto the dual carriageway in the hills across a line of traffic did it I think.

I just relaxed. I said out loud, "Come on little car! Come on little car!" and swinged out into the road on the hill start/blind bend element.

Good luck to your daughter. We all get there in the end! Driving tests are horrible.

In summary, if she feels like it will help her, yes. If she wants to have a bit of a laugh/commiserate at/with me and my horror stories, I hope it cheers her up.

SparrowFeet · 26/12/2024 18:01

I failed 3 times. The 4th time I had my instructor in the back and I passed. Psychologically I think it's about having someone else in your corner in the car! Also, they can help afterwards if she does fail as they'll know exactly what she needs to work on ahead of the next test.

Cheersmedears123 · 26/12/2024 18:02

I had my instructor in the back of the car. My first test was terminated after someone drove into the back of me, so I asked him to join me when I tried again. I found it reassuring.

KnopkaPixie · 26/12/2024 18:06

Cheersmedears123 · 26/12/2024 18:02

I had my instructor in the back of the car. My first test was terminated after someone drove into the back of me, so I asked him to join me when I tried again. I found it reassuring.

Good Lord. Your nerves must have been shot!

Thursdaygirl · 26/12/2024 18:08

I had my instructor in the back of the car.

So did I, and this was back in the late 80s! My instructor asked if I minded, and I was fine about it.

YearsofYears · 26/12/2024 18:10

Mine suggested it, I was a nervous driver and this was a second attempt after abandoning driving fro previous fails. It really helped and I passed.

avaritablevampire · 26/12/2024 18:13

My instructor did this, he couldn't work out why I kept failing. After the test he had a bit of a 'discussion' with the examiner, and I passed my test. The examiner was notorious for failing female learners.

RedHelenB · 26/12/2024 18:18

Itsanewday25 · 26/12/2024 17:11

Dd has been having driving lessons. She's failed twice and has her 3rd test in a few days. She's asked for her driving instructor to sit in the back on her test. As she feels having someone in the car may make her feel more at ease. Just wounder if others have done this ?

Think it might help her.

KnopkaPixie · 26/12/2024 18:21

I seem to be in the minority here. In thinking that having two of them there put me off but whatever makes your daughter feel more comfortable and my test was done in a different environment. Good luck OP's daughter.

DisforDarkChocolate · 26/12/2024 18:22

Mine did, I don't know if it made a difference. It was useful to get detailed feedback afterwards.

hamsandyams · 26/12/2024 18:23

There’s stories out there of people failing because their driving instructor has coughed or made eye contact via the mirrors as they might be signalling when it’s safe to go etc, so I wouldn’t risk it. But it is a thing.

WrigglyDonCat · 26/12/2024 18:24

I probably sit in on around half of my tests when people want me to. Used to be more like 75% years ago when I first started as I would sit in with people who didn't mind one way or the other, but these days I have seen enough tests...

A lot of instructors really don't like sitting in though, and prime their students to not want them there (by telling them it will make them nervous etc.), which is a bit naughty of them (and means they don't keep their eye with routes and changing phraseology of examiners etc.)

What it doesn't mean though (which a lot of students think it might) is that we can then argue the toss with the examiner. It would make no difference. The result is the result. The only thing a wise instructor would do is to clarify with the examiner why they felt a particular situation warranted a serious - and they would do it politely if they had half a brain cell.

WrigglyDonCat · 26/12/2024 18:27

hamsandyams · 26/12/2024 18:23

There’s stories out there of people failing because their driving instructor has coughed or made eye contact via the mirrors as they might be signalling when it’s safe to go etc, so I wouldn’t risk it. But it is a thing.

It would be a stretch - the examiner would have to be really certain that there was something untoward going on.

I have on a few occasions been asked not to do something (which every other examiner is ok with) - usually looking left and right at junctions - just in case it prompts the student. It is all polite though and I obviously then refrain from what I do in any other test I sit in on.

KnopkaPixie · 26/12/2024 18:29

hamsandyams · 26/12/2024 18:23

There’s stories out there of people failing because their driving instructor has coughed or made eye contact via the mirrors as they might be signalling when it’s safe to go etc, so I wouldn’t risk it. But it is a thing.

Yes. I felt like that was what my driving instructor was trying to do. I couldn't keep up with the "Who wants to be a milionnaire'' type eyebrow wiggling, meaningful looks in the mirror etc.

Pohgi · 26/12/2024 18:29

I was debating this, as DH taught me to drive, so I was considering having him in in case I failed, to see what I did wrong, etc, but I decided against it as it just having another person would have been more stressful to me.
If having the friendly face in would help her feel more at ease she should go for it and it would be handy afterwards pass or fail for feedback.

Baggyprincess · 26/12/2024 18:30

My DD took her first test in the instructor’s car, with the instructor in the back. She failed after doing the wrong things at a roundabout. She was definitely test ready but made a mistake that showed she wasn’t!

Second attempt, 6 weeks later. Took the test in our car. Different examiner. Failed spectacularly.

Third attempt, 3 weeks later, last minute test - so no time for nerves. Passed (same examiner as 2nd test) with a 2nd examiner sat the back. Instructor wasn’t available for this test, so it had to be in our car.

TwirlyPineapple · 26/12/2024 18:31

For my first test, my instructor sat in the back. He gave me the option beforehand as some people prefer him not to, but said most of his had him come along. In the end, the examiner's boss was coming along to moderate the test so I asked my examiner to stop me feeling outnumbered 😂 Do not recommend doing the test with three pairs of eyes staring at you. I failed, but it was handy having my instructor able to dissect the issues and advise on how to handle them in future.

For my second test, the instructor didn't come with me as they had a dodgy stomach so they stayed at the test centre. I passed that time, and think a small part of it was not feeling like I was being wqtched as much.

Bluevelvetsofa · 26/12/2024 18:54

I didn’t have my driving instructor, but as well as the examiner, I had someone observing him in the back of the car. He was a big man and it was a small car. I complained and got a free test ( and passed).

CheriCheriLady · 26/12/2024 18:59

This was still a thing when I got my licence 20 years ago but I didn't like the idea of my driving instructor sitting at the back as he was a funny looking funny man and would crack me up during my lessons so I thought it would be a terrible idea if I made eye contact with him via the rear view mirror during the test. I still passed without him.

piscesangel · 26/12/2024 19:02

I did - I was a very nervous learner and it helped me having him in the car

KnopkaPixie · 26/12/2024 19:09

At the end of the day, your daughter thinks it will help her. Our opinions do not matter. Whatever works. I posted my own experience in the hope that she thinks that she is not alone and driving tests are horrible.

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