Please snap me out of this!!!

[MummytoCSJH]

No AIBU I just didn't know where to post this? My driving test is TODAY. This afternoon. I'm shaking. Really panicking. The thing is I'm not all that bothered about failing if I do something wrong, I can't really afford to do it again which is frustrating but more than anything it's the embarrassment of telling people I've failed! I've hardly told anybody it's today so that people don't know if I fail :( I'm so nervous. Please send help

I'm sending positive vibes your way. YOU CAN DO IT!!

(please note, I got my test on the 5th go and have now been driving for over 20 years....)

Breathe. I got mine 3rd try lol

This might not be helpful but I think some people really benefit from failing the first time to get over the nerves. So that their second go is their ‘real’ go iyswim. (I do get that paying to retake the test is a massive pain though.)

You can’t control the other drivers on the day of your test so just take each situation as it comes and remember to breathe!

No need to be embarrassed about failing - loads of people fail at least once.

If you feel yourself panicking, take a deep breath and breathe out slowly through your mouth - obviously if you're actually driving you can only do this if it's safe.

Good luck. You can do this.

You can do it op!!

If you fail just say it got cancelled at the last minute because the instructor was sick. Then the pressure to tell people is off.

But hopefully you'll pass. Just remember to always look in your mirrors.

Good luck.

I read on here a while back advice that the posters dad had given her when she was faced with a forbidding task.
"Look at all the other idiots doing it"
I think of this when Im about to do something Im doubtful of.
So consider the drivers around you who (mostly) have passed their tests and are happily driving .If they can do then so can you.

Eat a banana before the test as this can help calm your nerves.
Take everything a little more slowly than you would normally . Take 2 looks rather than one but dont be painstaking about it .

And try to 'breathe' through your belly button. Its a quick way of taking calming breaths.

Mars for energy.
2 paracetamol to keep your temp down - it will raise if you are stressed!
Remember to relax - nothing bad will happen to you if you don't pass!
Good luck.

Loads of people fail first time. If I am ever doing anything nerve wracking I always imagine the examiner/interviewer naked and it brings an element of calm over me as they're just like us!!

You'll be brilliant. Come back and update us when youve passed.

Good luck you'll be amazing!!!

Just before you do anything or any manoeuvre take a breath, think and then do it. Make sure you over exaggerate looking in your mirrors so the examiner doesn't miss you doing it, turn your head rather than just your eyes. Pretend the examiner is your instructor and it's just another lesson.
I passed 1st time with 4 faults and I couldn't afford to do it again if I'd failed. Just breathe!!

Sending you hugs and strength op. And you don't need to tell anyone irl before or after the test. Unless you pass of course.

I didn't tell anyone beforehand as i didn't want the stress of having to tell people if i failed. I passed on the second go.

Xx

Oh and good luck 👍😊 you'll nail it!

OP You Can do this..get off on the right start with your examiner,say hi shake their hand and tell them you are ready...treat it like going to an interview....they will know you are nervous.Make conversation as you are doing your test ..random things like when they say turn left here you could reply yes ok ..isnt it lovely here ? do you live locally anything..it takes the pressure off and the examiners are so human just like you are.Please trust me on this as I know it works! You are going on an interview or a training course with someone you want to dazzle and impress...go shine you can do this ..this is not a driving test its an interview....repeat! What will be will be ..go embrace showing off what you have practiced and learned ....I wish you every success....now go have a bath relax put some music on and some lippy and go show em what you can do!!!

Oh shit, that's what I used to be like. Panic all the way through it.

The only way I passed was the go "fuck it, I'm gonna fail. Let's just get this over and done with"
And I was so convinced I would fail I just stopped panicking. I stopped caring.

So basically. Think failure. 😂

When I took my test hand signals were part of it. I suddenly realised when I was sitting at a junction that he'd said "use hand signals only until I tell you to stop" and I hadn't been, then when he did the signal for the emergency stop it was immediately after telling me ( As in "When I tap my paper on the dash I want you to do an emergency stop STOP!!"} I thought he was still demonstrating so I didn't stop. Then I realised so I checked the mirror and nearly catapulted him through the windscreen. I relaxed after that, because I knew I'd failed, and passed! When I said to him "Why did I pass when I made those mistakes?" He said "Everyone makes mistakes when they drive, even me! The important thing is that you didn't let it get to you, and you continued to drive carefully. The people I worry about are those that are so busy worrying about what they did five minutes ago that they aren't concentrating on what they are doing now. Also you were aware when you made your three point turn that it could have been better, said so and offered to repeat it. I didn't need you to repeat it, I needed you to be aware of your mistakes...which you were."
Good luck with your test, and remember that lots of people fail every day, it's nothing to be ashamed of!

Please don't make conversation while you're driving....

It's all about SAFETY, you are given room for errors but as long as your safe you should pass.

• make use of mirrors at all times (even pretend glances)
• do the speed of the road not under or over
• try to predict a little ahead of what route they might suggest especially if it may be a lane change.

• All or nothing go for it OP you can do it and take deep breaths

Thank you all. I'm trying not to think about it too much but I just can't stop!

I've got mine in a few weeks and I'm so nervous in lessons that I sweat buckets so I worry what I will be like in my test especially since my instructor comes back form two weeks holiday 3 days before my test!
What I have been told to be careful about (all from yesterdays lesson ) is lane discipline on roundabouts and how close you are when driving past parked cars, gas, my instructor says "if in doubt, chicken out" with approaching cars if you have parked ones on your side, gas and always put your handbrake on at stop signs, even if you take it straight off again as it shows you recognize it's different from a give way. Oh and gas!
Dh is going to be pissed off with roundabouts pretty soon
Good luck this afternoon

@miaCara good advice, I always think the same thing. I was so determined to drive because I knew many idiots who could do it.

It took my DH ten attempts, he was just so nervous before tests so made silly mistakes. You can do it, just take deep breaths.

I thought I'd failed my test a few turns after leaving the test centre. I was using my own car, and was at a roundabout. There was a lorry to my right and I started to edge forward to get closer to the give way lines, and the examiner thought I was going to go so grabbed the wheel to stop me (she had no dual control) - despite not being able to see - and I was gutted. I told her I wasn't going to go, but didn't feel like she believed me.

Anyway, I settled down then because I thought right, let's just get this over with then. It was faster than a lesson, and also went much much quicker, as you were doing different things rather than focussing on one thing that lesson or whatever.

I was absolutely gobsmacked when we got back to the test centre and she told me I'd passed. She actually apologised for what happened at the roundabout and said that examiners just get a little nervous when people use their own cars, and it was too early in the test to know whether or not she could really trust my driving. So that was nice of her to say that :).

I would have been super annoyed if I had failed though - because who would ever actually pull out blindly on a busy roundabout?!

Good luck for your test!

I agree with others , it's shorter than a lesson if you do make a mistake try to correct it but if you can't don't panic just carry on and do your best , you will be fine

I was very nervous but I passed first time having these thoughts;

The instructor is a person

She/he had to pass a driving test at some point and even more tests to become a driver examiner

I've driven for months without making any big mistakes!

All the people I'm driving alongside had to pass a test at one point as well (apart from illegal drivers!)

I'm in a car driving a normal person to places they want me to go

I need to chat to this person about general life as I would a friend

I passed 5 years a go. You can do it 🙂

Just remember, you can drive which is why you have been put forward for your test. All you have to do is prove that you can drive safely. Take your time, do not take any dangerous manouveres and relax.

How did you get on op?