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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be so upset that I've failed my driving test AGAIN!!!

184 replies

Lottie10000 · 26/02/2015 16:05

I'm so so upset.
I've got young children and it would make our lives so much easier.
I've been practising for a year, have taken well over 60 hours of lessons, mock tests all go brilliantly well and then I fail the real test.
I can't keep paying out for these tests as well as the instructors time but we have an automatic yet thought best to learn manual in case I ever need to change although after this last awful test today I'm thinking of buying the manual first so I can at least not have to pay the instructor again.
The first test was last month and just awful, I was so nervous , the instructor didn't talk at all, my nerves were shot to pieces with him and I missed a mini roundabout completely, bumped the kerb doing a turn in the road and then forgot to do the blind spot check as we pulled off so 3 majors ( no bloody minors! )
Today I got the guy who passes everyone my instructor said, he was lovely, chatted the whole way, I thought it had gone brilliantly and then he said id failed!
3 minors for gears and 1 major.
The major was for after doing my emergency stop, even though I checked all around me, in the distance was another car and I should have waited for them to go .
Just feel really shit that at 36 I'm finding this so fucking hard.
Passed the theory first time with 2 wrong answers.
Maybe it's just not meant to be.

OP posts:
JenniferGovernment · 26/02/2015 16:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sallystyle · 26/02/2015 16:32

I drive an automatic and I have found it very easy to find them cheaply second hand. I have had no problems with finding an automatic hire care either.

However, you have only failed twice so I would stick with manual. If you go on to fail many more then of course automatic is an option, but it seems silly to switch now when op has only failed two tests which is very very common.

molyholy · 26/02/2015 16:34

It is horrible. I only passed on my 3rd go. Failed first test horribly getting stuck in a traffic jam on a bridge. The examiner had to slam on with the dual brakes. That was at the beginning of the test. So I knew I had failed but had to do the rest of the test. 2nd time I had a notoriously mean examiner so was a bag of nerves. I failed. 3rd time lucky and it has changed my life. I had been having lessons on and off for 18 YEARS!!! Stick with it OP. You will get there. My third test, I told nobody. Not even my husband. That took the pressure off a bit x x

Roobo · 26/02/2015 16:37

I passed on my 5th time Blush and DH (who's an excellent driver) passed on his third. For me I was just SO nervous and kept making silly mistakes.

On one of my fails I was going too fast on the approach to a mini roundabout, didn't turn my wheel enough and crashed into the curb on the other side Blush I still passed eventually; been driving nearly 10 years now with no incidents. (Apart from the odd lamp post which jumped out behind me Wink)

Keep going you'll get there!

Lookattheflowers · 26/02/2015 16:38

I passed third time.

Please don't be hard on yourself. I

Sometimes having an examiner who is chatty can be a little distracting. Also I burst into tears when I failed the first time and my driving instructor already had a box of tissues at the ready.

It's devastating, but don't give up!

(ps I knew someone who failed their theory seven times .... and then gave up, probably for the best that one)

strongandlong · 26/02/2015 16:44

I passed third time at 36. You can do it!

I used rescue remedy to help with the nerves (probably just placebo effect, but I don't care!).

It was so great to finally pass. It does make life much easier.

Norland · 26/02/2015 16:54

Some years ago, a friend of mine was an instructor at a motorycle training school. I knew most of the instructors through him (and being a biker myself) and they were all convinced that there was some pass/fail percentage.

One of the instructors decided to become an examiner, got accepted and on his first day in his new job, decided to pop in to the school (I was there having a cup of tea with the staff) and his first words
'It's true!'

There is (was in the late 90s) a pass threshold of 50%. However this was spread over a month, so if an examiner had passed 75% of his testees after 3 x weeks, he was going to have to fail an awful lot in the last week, to get his stats down to 50%.

So, you might like to try booking your test for the second week of a month with 31-days in it?

comingintomyown · 26/02/2015 16:55

I second a visit the doctor , my nerves were so bad first time I could hardly keep my feet on the pedals they were shaking so much. Second time post popping whatever it was I was given I was completely serene, oddly so but it did the trick !

Norland · 26/02/2015 16:55

Oh and as an adjunct to my previous post; my son failed his first test and booked his second for the first week of the following month and passed, despite driving through a red-light.

BossWitch · 26/02/2015 17:04

I took 6 tests!! Hated it more than anything else in my whole life, can't even begin to count up what I spent. When I finally passed I wasn't even that happy about getting my license, just ecstatic at never having to do another test.

I was fine in lessons (my instructor used to come along on the tests and said I drove like an idiot in tests, great in lessons). What finally cracked it for me was getting my doctor to prescribe beta blockers - stopped my adrenaline going through the roof and meant I could actually stay calm enough to drive normally. Passed just fine with those!

PisforPeter · 26/02/2015 17:05

Took me 3 goes at it Blush

Millyx · 26/02/2015 17:15

driving test is common sense. I had an instructor who shouted at me anc i drove down the wrong road and even i passed wothout my glasses first time. Stop being a drama queen then maybe you will pass theres nothing to be nervous about you arent going to war

Original poster
Lottie10000 · 26/02/2015 17:25

Thanks for that last poster really helpful

OP posts:
SlaggyIsland · 26/02/2015 17:27

Jesus Millyx what crawled up your arse?

Crabstick · 26/02/2015 17:28

Passed on the 3rd attempt. Don't give up.

Crabstick · 26/02/2015 17:31

Millyx are you as inconsiderate driving as you are offering "advise"?

iniquity · 26/02/2015 17:36

Yabu
I failed 8 times. I wasn't even upset until id failed at least 4 times.
Fail 5 times then you are allowed to be upset IMO [wink
You will get there

iniquity · 26/02/2015 17:53

Op there is a good thread on netmums called keep failing my driving test club which might cheer you up also if you don't mind the young uns the student room has a thread called ultimate I failed my driving test thread which will cheer you up. It kept me going through the dark days of failed test 8.

Sallystyle · 26/02/2015 17:56

I loved those threads imiquity when I was learning.

GloriousGloria · 26/02/2015 17:59

Took me three times took my neighbour 7 took my friends son 7.

It isn't easy to do and failing twice isn't all that bad though I do know how you feel.

Don't change to automatic because you wouldn't have got to test standard if you was struggling. Just rebook and retake.

DiaryOfAWimpyMum · 26/02/2015 18:02

Keep going OP It took me a few attempts and a trip to the GP before I passed mine, I was the same as you, fine on the lessons and failed every test, thankfully my Dad forced me to keep going and I passed on my 5th attempt, I even had 2 instructors in the car on my test as my driving instructor was sure they were at fault. Blush

TheSolitaryWanderer · 26/02/2015 18:04

Not only did I fail 4 times and pass on my 5th, I failed in three different counties and two different countries. Smile
Part of the problem for me was that I was over 30 with two children, and so I was much more aware of the dangers and I worried too much about killing someone.
I certainly wouldn't have got into a car without my glasses.
Been driving 25 years now and never had an accident that was my fault. A woman crashed into me ten years ago as she drove over a junction...were you driving a red VW back then Milly?

blibblibs · 26/02/2015 18:05

I passed on my third attempt too. Had decided it was the third and final time. Messed up within the first few minutes and decided that I'd failed so just relaxed and drove. When he told me I'd passed I asked him if he was sure Smile. You can do it.

juliascurr · 26/02/2015 18:08

I've never taken a driving test; my aunt passed on her 9th attempt
Yes, 9th
just keep going

MojaveWanderer123 · 26/02/2015 18:20

I passed third time as do loads of people. Perhaps because you have an automatic at home so are not getting to practice gear changes and that is the problem. I was going to do automatic only after the 2nd fail but was talked into carrying on with the manual. This time my dh bought me a little fiesta to practice in and I drove it for an hour every day to get my confidence up and it bloody well worked.
Good luck with whatever you decide. You'll get there in the end.