To think that the UK driving test system is in need of an overhaul?

[Stirner]

This thread comes from a comment a posted on another driving thread, but I thought it was worth its own.

I suspect this is going to get me roasted, I strongly feel that the test system is in dire need of an overhaul.

At the moment would-be drivers are faced with three month long waits for tests. Often the examiners at test centres are inconsistent, capricious, and invent reasons to fail candidates. In theory decisions can be appealed but this just results in a free re-test if successful, and in my experience driving instructors discourage pupils from taking this route (I strongly suspect they fear that their other students would get penalised if they're marked out as trouble makers).

This coupled with the long wait to get a test means that drivers are needlessly barred from the roads. A few months ago, on a rare occasion of taking public transport to work I heard a young woman having a conversation with the DVSA call centre, apparently an examiner has called in sick on the day of her test so her booking was cancelled, and as a result she faced weeks of waiting for another slot. She was another one that needed it for work too.

In my opinion, given that all the threads on the topic has shown driving is an essential skill for many, the UK system is a disgrace. I think the US system seems much more sensible.

So, AIBU?

(For full disclosure it took me a lot of attempts to pass my test)

@leannetta - ahh, my bad, apologies!

You're right about the cost of motoring, if you start driving as soon as you pass though you don't notice being any worse off ;)

Things I like about the US system (in my state at least) - there is a required 35-hour theory course, then it's required that you have 10 hours of lessons (the combined cost of these two is $400-ish)

Then it's required that you do 70 hours of driving with someone who has a full license, then you can take your test.

The tests are much more difficult than they used to be, and lots of my daughters friends failed several times.

Once you've passed, you have a probation period for 9 months with strict rules about what you can or cannot do.

It's pretty quick and easy to get an appointment for a test.

But the thing I like most is that it's only about $200 to add your child onto your car insurance once they've passed.

Ds1 took the test in my car, we looked for cancellations and he passed 6 weeks after his 17th birthday at the 2nd attempt.

I fully intend to let ds2 use my car to sit the test so that he has the flexibility of a cancellation slot too.

The problem with using an instructors car is that more people are involved in finding a convenient time which slows the process.

Apparently the driving tests now use sat navs which I find ridiculous. Surely you should be learning how to drive unaided, reading the road signs and lane markings yourself. Then get a sat nav once you have passed.

I also think there should be compulsory lessons and an additional test for motorway driving.

With so many people using sat navs then I think incorporating their safe use makes a lot of sense! It isn’t to replace using road signs and markings but to know how to use it safely alongside.

Motorway tests is great in theory but a pain in the arse for people living in areas like Cornwall!

I think there are two different issues - the test itself and the admin of the testing centres. The rest itself is reassuringly rigorous (so rigorous it took me a number of goes to get through it). But YANBU to say that the booking process is a nightmare and the long waits are ridiculous.

I also think there should be compulsory lessons and an additional test for motorway driving.

Am in the US and 16 year old DD drove on a freeway on her first ever driving lesson

I didn't pass my drivers licence here but from an approved country list. Got a UK licence without sitting any test, so have no idea what some of the signs mean or the speed limits...oops.

I shouldn't worry about the long wait, it's very easy to get a cancellation, they come up every day and it's very easy to check/book online (had three dc go through this).

I've always felt the verdict was fair, pass or fail, but realise other areas may be different.

I do think you should have the choice of using the examiner's car as the cost and logistical nightmare of booking our instructor for tests (particularly cancellations) drove me mad.

As of june learner drivers are allowed on motorways.

It's a three month wait for a test where I am and while planning in advance/trying to get a cancellation date is fine for some people, I'm a student nurse and trying to work that around shifts/last minute timetable changes is really difficult. I haven't taken my test yet, it got cancelled because of the snow in January. Rebooked for April, but I panicked and cancelled at the last minute because yay anxiety!

I do think you should have the choice of using the examiner's car as the cost and logistical nightmare of booking our instructor for tests (particularly cancellations) drove me mad.

We used our own car for both our children. Obviously not always a practical option for families but they liked driving the car they’d spent so much time practising in.

How many conversations are you having about failed driving tests that you have formed this opinion that you are being failed on arbitrary things? Because it’s human nature to justify a failure. Do those that pass complain about minor points for reason?

It was no different with the long waits 18 years ago when I passed btw. I passed second time round, both tests were booked as cancellations.

I passed around 15 years ago.
Test 1 wasn't my day. I wasn't used to 8:40 am traffic (although had done pm rush hour many times) and I ended up on a new unfamiliar test route. It was definitely a fail, although when debriefing with my instructor, he said he'd have to be there to pass judgement on the exact nature and angle of the lolipop person's sign... (It was not a near miss and they were still firmly on the pavement, but the highway code is clear that if the sign faces you, you must stop so regardless it counted as a major)

Test 2 initally had a 3 month wait. Awkward as it left me with a very narrow time frame to take action on moving in with now DH and commuting, or renting close to my new university course.

Fortunately I got a cancellation. So the difference between my fail and my pass was 3 weeks and a 2 hour lesson. I think I had one minor? The fear of the waiting list put a lot of pressure on me to pass on that particular day though. Fortunately when doing parallel park, my leg was shaking so much with nerves that you could hear it on my clutch control and the examiner invited me to pull over and calm myself for a minute before resuming which helped. There is an element of personality in situations like that.

The test has been tweaked a few times since I learned, but I think the British system does its best to give new drivers a chance to demonstrate a range of real driving skills. It can't cover everything due to localities, so areas like motorways/ urban/ rural can't be compulsory. (I welcome motorways into lessons. Pass plus was very helpful and I've always recommended it). I did find on moving promptly after passing that I was lacking in rural skills such as overtaking tractors which hadn't been viable in my previous area. Some inconsistencies can't be eliminated such as finding it easier at 11am than 8:40!

I agree that waiting for tests is a PITA though.

The last thing you want is the US system. It's absolutely terrible. The DMV is universally hated by everyone. Very few people here can drive. If they can they were trained in Northern Europe.

I was the first person to sit the test on the first day of the new millennium. I purposely picked this slot as it was a goal to pass and I wanted to say I had accomplished something in the first week of the new year and new millennium.

Focus on passing the test and having zero errors. When I took the bus I would pretend I was driving and look out for the signs. If I didn't know what they were I looked it up when I got home.

I am a driving instructor and I firmly believe that the driving test and the role of examiners needs to be investigated. Ever since I started as an instructed 15 years ago there have been rumours that examiners have quotas and are only allowed to pass so many people in one week. Having sat in the back of the car on hundreds of tests -and seen the same examiner pass a pupil who had made the same mistakes as a previous pupil who got failed I suspect this is true.
There is a chronic lack of consistency within the system meaning that some examiners will fail someone for something that others had not even mentioned, which of course makes it very hard to know exactly what one should be teaching and what not. There are certain examiners who would much rather fail someone than pass them simply because in general they are control freaks and enjoy ruining someone's day. There are others who are of too nervous a disposition to be in such a position of responsibility and there are some who simply too old and should be retired.
One thing I would suggest would make the test much fairer is that on a follow up test the pupil should only be tested on the serious faults that they were failed on previously. But, of course, we should remember that the driving test is a massive
earner for the government so it's bound to favour the examiner rather than the pupil.
Also I believe that since we instructors spend far more time with the pupils than the examiner we should be asked to give a report on the
pupil and what we say should be taken into consideration by the examiners (who after all are sitting with the (usually nervous) pupil for
only 40 minutes) whereas we instructors know what their weaknesses and strengths are.
I know from experience that complaining about an examiner can be counter productive because once it gets round that one has complained the examiners close ranks and get their revenge by failing one's pupils out of spite.

I think there should be pool cars for candidates, that are petrol (so no relying on diesel transmission to assist not stalling), and no electric handbrakes or hill-assist. So many people pass their test, then can't understand why they can't drive their own car without all the toys.

Whereas I don't think it is fair to give someone taking their test a car they've never driven before, I do agree with the sentiments of this. My older two dc and all of my dns had driving instructors with cars set up like this - they really weren't safe / able to drive our / their cars until they'd been out with other people teaching them things they shouldn't have been able to pass their tests without.