To ask for your driving test tips but also your most disastrous test stories

[chillydawg]

One of my biggest fears is doing something completely insane and dangerous and hearing about other people who have done that would ease my nerves a bit, even if that sounds weird!

The test is today and I feel sick thinking about it.

Passed on my third - failed my second cause I messed up my parallel park and mounted the kerb. My examiner told me at the end that the best thing you can do is if you know you have messed up a manoeuvre (but not enough to fail) stop safely and ask if you can start it again, you will get a minor but it’s better than a fail.

Got the same examiner for my third, arsed up my parking again, but stopped and followed his advice and passed.

Check with your instructor what the rules are now, in case it’s changed, but it was pretty sound, and logical advice at the time.

A friend encountered a combine harvester on her test - in London!

Yes I'm hoping I'll be mentally prepared for next time. I only got 7 minors so if I can stop the weird flustered fuckups in good to go

Unfortunately there were no tests until end of feb which seems ages age now I feel test ready! God learning to drive is EXPENSIVE.

Chilly, there's a website called fetchatest.com. You may £20 and they will search for test cancellations in your area and get you an earlier date

Amazing! Thank you!

Apparently there are loads of similar companies around, that's just the one that I used

Chilli dawg, just to say I did my first test yesterday and also failed; I was thinking of you yesterday! I know how gutted you must be feeling but if you can drive with relatively few minors and some annoying majors, its all just making you a better driver and I'm sure you'll do it next time around.

That's what I'm telling myself anyway!!!

Ah solidarity @AdaArdor , sorry to hear you failed too, bring on the next one! How did yours go overall? I've been learning for about 15 months(1.5 hours a week) , the whole thing has definitely not come naturally to me!

A friend of mine was taking her test and was very nervous.
The examiner asked her to take the next right and she noticed that the car in front of her was indicating right so she followed him...all the way up his drive!😆

Same here, definitely not natural for me! It went ok overall, I got 3 minors and one serious. But I feel positive that I know I can drive independently with someone and now I know objectively what kind of level I'm driving at. Hopefully next time just no annoying misjudgment that got me my serious!

I also got the parallel park and it was the worst one I've ever done (of course, on test day!) but he let it fly, didn't mark me for for it so maybe it's okay to be five feet from the kerb after all?!! I also had to follow road signs which I thought would be awful but my focus kicked in and it was actually fine.

It's just the expense isn't it as well?? Grrrrr! Well I've got my test rebooked for the end of the month so let's see what happens. The pressure is kind of off now so hoping the next one won't be as stressful and I can keep calm.

Good luck with yours - let's keep the momentum and get this bigger done!!

*bugger

I passed on my third attempt. For my second test, I had a back seat of examiners (testing the examiner). My driving instructor said that he knew the examiner would fail me before I started because they very rarely let anyone pass when they're being tested themselves. Great!
The best bit of advice I got on my third test was 'you've paid good money to take that test. You might as well relax and enjoy it otherwise it's wasted money'. Somehow it helped me a lot. Just before I started my test, I got out the car and put my hair in a pony tail. At the end of the test, the examiner said 'as soon as you tied your hair up, I knew you meant business' 😄

I am taking my test this week, so there is hope for me. Last week I forgot to put the handbrake on when parking up in my lesson, and the instructor stepped out of the car to do the looking under the bonnet bit with me, and exclained "oh no the car is rolling backwards, you haven't put your handbreak on". I was so .

I took five tests! On the second one I stalled at the beginning, panicked, restarted the car without coming out of gear and nearly crashed into the side of someone else setting off on their test. Failed before I even left the yard! I was always just a crazed bundle of nerves but I'm quite a good driver now.

Did you pass.

Sorry did you pass?

Well, here's an update: took my second test last week, ten minutes into the test he asked me to parallel park and I pulled up crazy close to the other car for some reason, it was disastrous from then on, kept bumping the kerb until he eventually told me to drive on. We drove back to the test centre at my request.

I cried quite a bit once I got out the car. My poor instructor obviously wasn't expecting me back so early and had to throw her coffee away, I said "you don't have to do that!" but I suppose watching me cry while drinking her latte wasn't really her idea of fun.

Third test booked for about a month away, really need to not let nerves get the better of me!

Remember they are testing your driving skills - not your ability to follow directions. I had a junction I really hated turning right at so when the test examiner asked me to I very correctly and perfectly turned left.

A couple of junctions later there was one that was easy to turn right out of so when he asked me to turn left - I very correctly and perfectly turned right.

He laughed and said I would have failed on a left/right test but I had passed my driving test.

Oh no op massive hugs, I have mine next Thursday. Chillydawg there are a couple of nasty roundabouts on the test routs, I might just do that you know, I was actually thinking of doing it . In real life you could get directions wrong, as long as you do it safely and correctly.

Basecamp I meant

Even though I took my test(s) in the 1970s, when it was much easier, I still had 5 goes at it. I used to get so nervous that I couldn't control the clutch because of my shaking legs.

One test was going quite well, until we approached a zebra crossing with 2 women standing on the pavement by it. I stopped to let them cross, but it turned out that they didn't want to cross the road, they'd just stopped there for a fucking chat! Failed that one for not making adequate progress or something.

On my 5th test, I made some sort of mistake early and thought I'd failed again. When the examiner handed me the pink sheet that told you you'd passed, I actually asked him if he was sure.

Then he asked me to start the car again and move forward a few feet. I was "WTF? You've just passed me, you can't make me do any more!". Then he explained that I'd stopped right by a tree and he couldn't get out.

We were on a slight slope, and it must have taken me 10 goes to do that hill start without stalling. I reckon if he could have retracted that pass, he would have done.

Still, in 44 years, I've only had 2 (very minor) prangs and when we had the chance to be assessed by someone from the Institute of Advanced Motorists at work, my assessor said I'd have no trouble meeting the IAM standard, I had excellent anticipation and that I drove in a way that minimised fuel consumption.

I remind DP of this on the rare occasions he criticises my driving.

I've taken 4 driving tests with 3 examiners. I nearly killed 2 of them!
Test 1 - came to a single lane give way bit, bin men in front, followed them through, postie came out of the junction behind blocked me in, bin men stopped so i couldnt get out, and an approaching vehicle blocked me in. I just panicked and cried.
Test 2 - Following a tractor on a busy A road. Had to over take. Decided overtaking at 20mph in 4th gear was a great idea. Could not for the life of me figure out why the car wasnt speeding up. Narrowly avoided being hit by an oncoming vehicle.
Test 3 - Pulled out of a roundabout and had to do an emergency break, nearly launching examiner through the windscreen because lo and behold theres a massive arctic on the roundabout that i somehow completely missed.
Test 4 - I got no minors whatsoever, yet mounted the curb on my reverse round the corner, this being an examiner I hadnt attempted to murder, i was let off with two minors instead of a major and passed my test!!

2 exit lanes out of the test centre and one back in. Did a fantastic test. Was perfect so I knew I'd smashed it.... Then drove back in one of the exit lanes on return to the test centre instead of the entrance. Instant cross and fail. Even the examiner was upset as he said my test was perfect.... Up until then!

Few years ago now, but I went to the test centre and forgot my provisional. Didn't have enough time to go fetch it once we had realised so it didn't go ahead I had took my purse out of my bag earlier in the day to sort some change and forgot to pick it back up. Bless my instructor, I promptly burst into tears and he was lovely about the whole thing but made it policy from then he had to have people's provisionals on him before going to tests.

Interestingly the worst drivers I know all passed first time and some of the best didn't.