To not have done my driving test

[biddyboo]

We've all been under the weather in my house recently. The 2 year old keeps picking things up at nursery. I've been ill nearly continuously since December (first a chest infection, then dh, dd2 and I had a bug, then a bad bout of sinusitis and I've got another cold now)
I was supposed to do my driving test this morning, but didn't feel I could do it. I started with a sore throat again a few night ago so had two nights of barely sleeping because I was so congested and feeling rubbish. Then last night I could breathe a bit better because I got a humidifier, but dd2 wasn't well so woke screaming, then dd1 decided to get up and on top of that dh was coughing all night (as he has been for the last 2 weeks). Everyone is just waking everyone else up at the moment.
This morning I felt shaky and delirious from lack of sleep and stress. There is nothing major going on in our lives at the moment, but dh and I are feeling burnt out from trying to juggle work and small children and us all feeling under the weather. Anyway, I went out with my instructor before my test and she knew I wasn't right. I felt like a zombie, my reactions were too slow and I couldn't focus. After breaking down in tears I felt like I couldn't go ahead and do the test this morning. She agreed that it was better to do the safe thing. Was I unreasonable to do this? It seemed like the right thing at the time, but now I feel so fed up with myself as it's taken me ages to get to this point, but I was genuinely worried I would do something dangerous on my test (I had a couple of dicey moments when out with my instructor before).

I think you made the right decision based on your health and level of tiredness. You need to be concentrating to the max on your driving test and it sounds like you were far from being able to do that. Book it again for a few weeks time to give yourself chance to get your health back on track.

She agreed

This is key here, a good instructor knows the difference between someone who can't do something and someone who just thinks they can't. She is the professional and she agreed with you so odds are you did completely the right thing.

I feel so fed up with myself as it's taken me ages to get to this point

You are still at this point. This hasn't set you back it is just a delay and you can do this.

You'd be feeling worse if you'd taken it and failed. Your confidence would have taken a huge knock. Absolutely you did the right thing, says someone who passed on the seventh attempt.

Bit under the weather and tired? You should have done it. If you were delirious with lack of sleep and like a zombie then you're better off not bothering.If you;re well enough to drive were you to have your licence you're well enough to do your test. If you're not well enough to drive and feel unsafe don't do the test. Try and get a cancellation fairly soon and give it another go.

As a driving examiner, you did absolutely the right thing! Safety is paramount and you need to be alert and in control. Not only that, but if you then give the examiner what you've got, they may well have to cancel other peoples' tests. So thank you for doing the sensible thing

I had this a couple of weeks ago!
Had a horrendous week, came down with an awful cold/sore throat, kids didn’t sleep properly.
Did the test anyway and failed enormously! First serious in the first 2 minutes. Just wished I’d have stayed home as it made me feel worse!

Agree with above poster, u may have put ya self through it, failed, feel worse, be even more exhausted with stress from it.... Get yourself back on your feet then re book, don’t worry about it anymore x

@leannetta totally unrelated to the thread so sorry for detailing, have you ever been an instructor? I only ask because I'm an ADI myself and getting a bit fed up with it, and was thinking of training to become an examiner and was just wondering how it compares.

OP I agree that you did the right thing by cancelling, and if you had failed you would be feeling worse than you already do, if you keep checking you'll get a cancellation pretty quick. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks everyone. I had a good cry earlier, and then went online and booked a test for next month. Hopefully we'll have seen the back of all these viruses by then!

My daughter had to cancel her test in November because of a death in the family. She finally took her test last week and she passed!!

You did the right thing. It wouldn't have been fair to pass on your infection to the examiner plus you weren't in the right frame of mind to do the test. Hopefully next month you and your daughter are in better health and you don't feel so run down, and you pass! 😃

@MrsBellamy. No, I was not an ADI, I was a lorry driver! There is a mixed response as to whether it's worth making the move. You won't be able to choose your own hours, every fail will always be your fault, people will still call you an instructor anyway. You will conduct 7 tests per day with your 30 mins lunch spent catching up on the reports. You will make people cry and sometimes take the brunt of their frustrations. As you'd be a civil servant, your pay will no doubt be less than you earn now. The training is intense, and you need to have a plan B in case you don't get through. That said, it's a relatively secure job until the driverless cars take over - and then we're both out of a job . If you still like the sound of it - go for it!