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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:
MrsKoala · 03/03/2015 09:54

Ha Somewhere - just seen your post. You are my driving twin! - not something i would wish on anyone tho. It's shit isn't it? How on earth does everyone else manage it so easily?

mindalina · 03/03/2015 10:00

I failed my test so many times i forget how many it actually was - four or fove fails i think? I gave up and just used public transport until a few years ago when I did one of those week long intensive things and passed first time. the examiner said he was particularly impressed with my roundabouts which made my instructor howl because i am to this day shit at roundabouts, i hate them. good luck op, if you can drive you will pass in the end Cake

WrappedInABlankie · 03/03/2015 10:01

I passed after switching test centres and I was on the school run! Grin

I felt less pressure their for some reason. I also got failed on another car undertaking me on a dual carriageway going about 80 Hmm I was suppose to move into that lane despite him being there and driving like a royal twat and have him hit us up the arse instead I waited till he passed and then moved over into the right lane

Took me 3 attempts to do it too

SomewhereIBelong · 03/03/2015 10:02

Mrs K - I just see it that with us only having one car we can afford an extra holiday a year (or a heck of a lot of taxi trips)- me not driving (now medical as well as choice) saves a shed load of money and a whole heap of stress...

Joyfulldeathsquad · 03/03/2015 10:05

Snap! Although I failed my sixth test last Friday. Was so upset for my dd.

It's my nerves and I act like a mad woman under pressure. Lessons are so expensive so I've gone in DP insurance to drive us around and do it myself .

Don't give up , I'm not x

crazypenguin · 03/03/2015 10:07

I passed on attempt 6. I shouldn't have taken the first three, I wasn't ready.
You'll do it. X

MrsKoala · 03/03/2015 10:09

We would only have one car anyway - dh commutes on the train all week. It means i can't take the dc to loads of fun stuff tho and appointments are a real chore. In the summer i could drive to the coast in an hour if i could handle 70 on an A road. We could go to castles which have jousts and stuff. But i can't, so it will be boring local stuff. Hospital appointments need to be cancelled and rearranged on a day that my dad can drive down from london and take us to. It's pathetic because the car is idle right outside the door. :(

MrsKoala · 03/03/2015 10:10

Also dh's mum is dying and lives 4hrs drive away on the M1, but poor DH has to do all the driving because i can't.

scouseontheinside · 03/03/2015 10:19

Don't worry Lottie. I have a friend who failed 5 times in a manual!

Persevere!

Original poster
Lottie10000 · 03/03/2015 10:48

Mrskoala,
That is totally shit and I am very sorry for you.
I'm with you with the fun stuff for the kids, it's so hard, such long journeys travelling around with kids in tow trying to ensure they have a nice day

OP posts:
loveka · 03/03/2015 10:54

I took my test in Sutton, and during it didn't even recognise the streets I was so nervous!

There is certainly nothing like the Tolworth roundabout to negotiate in Sutton.

My legs were shaking so much in thetest that I had to stop. I stretched my leg out and took a deep breath, then carried on. My instructor said I had done the right thing doing that, ie saying I was nervous.

I love driving, but still can't bay park -as Sutton was my test cente my instructor didn't even teach it to me!

Plarail123 · 03/03/2015 11:15

I only passed 5th time! Just keep trying I always got really nervous. I think I'm a great driver now but I do have an auto car and it is easier! Good luck, don't give up!

Original poster
Lottie10000 · 03/03/2015 16:00

Thanks all!
I feel almost embarrassed at this age with 2 children and a great career behind me that I can't pass a bloody driving test!

OP posts:
Nolim · 03/03/2015 16:01

I know the feeling. Driving tests are the only tests i have failed since i was 10.

MrsKoala · 03/03/2015 16:21

Thanks for this thread Lottie. You've inspired me to persevere and have a few more practices. I can't give up. I don't want my dc to miss out because mummy is shit at driving.

Good luck - please post when you have passed so we can all congratulate you. :)

Original poster
Lottie10000 · 03/03/2015 16:38

Mrskoala,
Please don't give up!
I felt shit and tearful all last week and over the weekend and yesterday I just thought no, it's luck on the day, it's other drivers on the road, it's the examiner as some will let things go and others won't, it's nerves in fact it's a whole lot of bullshit!
My husband took 4 times to pass, he's an excellent driver. My best friend passed first time and has crashed / written off cars / had speeding fines the lot.
Let's be positive and we will do it!!!
Are you going to book a test?

OP posts:
MrsKoala · 03/03/2015 16:48

No sorry - i have already passed last July. Sorry to be confusing - i posted upthread about still being terrified of driving tho, so much that i have decided not to drive anymore. I thought once i passed that would be it, i would feel more confident but i don't. i'm 38 and have developed a terrible fear.

You seem much more confident than me, so i'm sure you will do it.

i think i need some more lesson and practice. it seems silly after 20 yrs of learning and ££££s to give up.

Gileswithachainsaw · 03/03/2015 16:54

Don't give up. I'm. learning too and have had many an crisis of confidence after terrible lessons. I still can't see myself being a confident driver or managing more than shopping and school runs. I'm. Not a natural driver at all and I don't usually Fail anything but I'm fully expecting to fail my first driving test in a few weeks.

I believe in you. I know how hard you must have worked to get this far. Flowers

Original poster
Lottie10000 · 03/03/2015 17:20

Oh sorry I misread!
Yes find yourself a nice instructor and have some more lessons and I'm sure it will all come into play, after the first few drives on your own you might find that actually it isn't as bad as you thought.

Going it regularly will probably help with nerves :)
Ah thankyou to the other poster!! I really hope so, I'm trying to stay positive about this next test and hoping I don't fail miserably!

OP posts:
MrsLannister · 03/03/2015 17:40

Keep going op!

And remember you are aeons ahead of me, who has had 18hours and is NOWHERE near even trying for my test.

You'll be driving while I'm shaking like a leaf before my first test Grin

Branleuse · 03/03/2015 17:42

Just buy another automatic when its time to change. Its not like theyre rare. New style automatics are brilliant.
Try changing to automatic lessons, and do a test in an auto, and then in a few years if the manual thing still bothers you, do it again then

blibblibs · 03/03/2015 18:22

MrsK i would urge you to keep at it. I passed my test almost 3 years ago and hated driving but we lived out in a tiny village with a crap bus service. I thought being able to drive would set me free but it didn't. I just couldn't do it once I'd passed my test. Continued with the crap bus, even got a really rubbish job in the village so I didn't have to travel. I hated that job but I stayed for almost 3 years just so I didn't have to drive Sad

Then DH got a new job so we relocated 150 miles and the DC got a school to far away to walk. I really had no choice but to drive. We got an old clapped out car for me, felt better that way incase I did bang it it was no big deal. I've now been taking the dc to school every day since January. I had to have DH take me out and show me the route, I had to do it half a dozen times on my own and for the first 3 weeks had to take kalms everyday before I got in the car Blush. It then took me a month to try and go to the supermarket, which is on the school run anyhow and last week was the first time I'd put fuel in the car myself Blush I still have P plates on the car and I do think it helps although I sometimes feel like a idiot when I pull up at school with them on.

I still don't much like driving but I really don't have much choice and it has become less stressful as the weeks go on and I don't feel sick every morning and afternoon now. I'm hoping by the summer I might be able to manage more than just the school run so we can get out and about during the holidays.

Its been a very slow process for me but it really is worth it so if you can get back out there I would.

Original poster
Lottie10000 · 04/03/2015 08:53

Yes do!
Seeing the replies on here have made me feel much better, most people I know passed first time and if not first, always second. So that made me feel a million times worse!!

OP posts:
WitchesGlove · 08/03/2015 13:32

Ooh, I can also really recommend the book,'The Girls Guide to Losing your L-Plates', it really helped me. Best of luck, OP.

inlectorecumbit · 08/03/2015 13:37

DD2 took 5 attempts to pass.
Are you perhaps a bit anxious at the actual test, could you ask your GP for some Beta blockers to take the edge of your anxiety.
It may help

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