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Original poster

To ask for stories if 4th time driving test passes?

81 replies

Ijustcantdrive · 10/07/2020 10:32

I failed my 3rd test today. I need to drive sometimes for work and I'm quite senior so it's humiliating. I just feel like I'll never pass.

AIBU to ask for stories of 4th test passes?

OP posts:
Cheeseoncheese · 10/07/2020 12:55

4th time pass here! I was in absolute bits after my 3rd fail. I just fell apart with nerves in tests. I also get the embarrassment side of things, I was in quite a senior position as well and was sick of having to get lifts from colleagues or explain why I had to leave at a certain time to catch the bloody bus! But honestly, in hindsight I realise no one really cared. Took a big break between 3rd & 4th tests as it was just stressing me out so much (7 months) and took my instructor's advice on my 4th test to commentate/teach myself out loud on my driving. That along with I think just being resigned to thinking I would never pass and I was much more relaxed. (Though I was a bag of nerves all day long before!) I also took it at a different time of day which I think helped. Passed with lovely compliments from the examiner and 2 minors. It WILL happen Smile

FreddieMac · 10/07/2020 13:01

I am not sure if I did four or five tests as over 20 years. But got them in the end once I switched to automatic and drove around the test area for weeks.

Then I was super nervous but made myself drive for 5 mins everyday until I got used to it. Now absolutely fine and no accidents !

Keep going, you can do this.

PenCreed · 10/07/2020 13:05

I failed 5 tests when I was 17/18, then had a break. I passed when I was 25, in a bit of the country, after a few weeks of lessons. I was really nervous the first few times and I should have switched instructor! I also managed to cock up something different every time, so it wasn't even like I had one particular nemesis move. The big issue with re-doing it when I was a bit older was that I'd told myself so often that it was something I couldn't do, and that still causes me occasional problems just now as I don't drive very often and my confidence is low. But when I get into it I remember that I enjoy bits of it! So tell yourself that you CAN do it!

Original poster
Ijustcantdrive · 10/07/2020 13:08

So I already switched to automatic Grin oh dear.

It's oddly reassuring it took so many people 6+ goes. I keep thinking that I might never do it, but it seems like I will in the end..

OP posts:
yma123 · 10/07/2020 13:09

I passed on my 7th go OP! I had lessons on and off and did tests over the course of 6 years, with three different instructors. I've been driving since the start of this year now and have had absolutely no issues since passing at all, I actually feel quite confident driving around now! I don't think my issue was ever the driving itself, it was just the actual test, as my instructors could never understand why I wasn't passing until one of them sat in on my test and witnessed how nervous it made me. Keep persevering, you will do it eventually!!

Pieface123 · 10/07/2020 13:10

6th Time passer here!
Don't panic, you'll get there eventually. And can 100% say a year and a bit down the line driving after the test helped me become a better driver. Failed for silly reasons IME 3 of those times though! Cried so much when I passed though Grin

Northernsoullover · 10/07/2020 13:14

5th time for me but I took beta blockers for the 5th test. Like a PP I just kept on rebooking! Touch wood I've been trouble free motoring for 20 years. I would have kept going too if I hadn't passed.

Stannisbaratheonsboxofmatches · 10/07/2020 13:21

I passed 4th time

I’ve now been driving more than 20 years, I’ve never had any kind of accident and only once got 3 points (very minimal speeding when I was pregnant - I like to blame that!).

Almost every 1st time passer I know has either totalled a car or been banned at some point.

PurpleBag · 10/07/2020 13:25

Passed 4th time for me. Nerves got the better of me I think. Took Kalms before the 4th time. Don't know if it really made a difference or I would've passed anyway.

I had the same examiner each time who was notoriously strict compared to the other one at that test centre. I think he took pity on me in the end because it was a different thing I failed on each time.

Funnyface1 · 10/07/2020 13:56

I passed 4th time. I wasn't good enough at reverse parking so I had a couple of lessons focused solely on that and then passed.

I have no points, no accidents, been driving over 10 years. Still not great at reversing tbh but no problems driving.

Hamsterriffic · 10/07/2020 13:58

Me!!! You can do it OP, don’t give up!

Bottleup · 10/07/2020 14:00

It took me 8 tries over 13 years! But I never gave up and it was worth hanging in there. You can do it.

blackfriars · 10/07/2020 15:13

I passed 6th! Was considering doing automatic only test if I failed number 6. Maybe something to consider if you haven’t already?

You will get there!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 10/07/2020 15:21

So I already switched to automatic grin oh dear.

Passing a driving test is primarily a test of your ability to pass appropriately through traffic and demonstrate good road sense.

Actually controlling the car itself and making it move is a relatively small part of it. Some people can only drive an auto owing to disability, some find it much easier if they struggle with co-ordination and some just prefer an auto, for whatever reason. Just find the transmission that suits you better (as you already have) and go for it!

10-20 years ago, I'd have said that getting an auto-only licence would have somewhat restricted you, if you had been in a position to get a manual one; but cars are all going to be electric soon anyway, so manuals won't really exist. And then, at some point after that, human drivers won't really exist.... but that's another issue entirely!

PablosHoney · 10/07/2020 15:23

7th time was a charm for me 😂 spaces out over a couple of years. I was so anxious that I just kept making stupid mistakes until I got an angel of a examiner who helped me calm down and talked to me throughout I like others who just glared all the way round

Perro · 10/07/2020 15:27

Me, age 39. Like a PP, I just told myself I would probably need multiple tests, so thought of each as practice iyswim. Also didn’t tell anyone after my 2nd test. It took the pressure off. I still maintain that my 4th time pass was a fluke, as I royally screwed up my parallel parking manouevre Grin
Keep going, you’ll get there!

RiftGibbon · 10/07/2020 15:30

Me.
First test, I was put in too early and wasn't ready.
Second my nerves just got to me too much.
Third test, got cramp and had to pull over, though I'd flunked it, but hadn't and then screwed up at the end.
Fourth time I got the examiner from test 3, so felt more relaxed and that allowed me to pass.

LimeLemonOrange · 10/07/2020 15:36

I passed on my 5th time!

1st time - I'd gone in for the test too early and wasn't ready, my stepdad had taught me to drive and I wasn't doing the right things for a test

2nd time - Nearly passed but made a silly mistake, can't remember what it was now

3rd & 4th - Think I'd lost confidence by this point, can't remember now why I didn't pass

5th time - I let years go by between tests 1-4 and test 5. I found a very patient female driving instructor and had waaaaaaayyyy more lessons than I needed. Passed!

babymidgetgem · 10/07/2020 15:37

Me! I passed 4th time!

nattiee · 10/07/2020 15:38

I passed on my 4th.

First test I was so nervous I clipped the curb Blush
Second time I failed because my parallel park was more luck then control, I did the manoeuvre so didn't quite know how that worked. Third time the miserable guy that failed me second time stepped out and I knew then I'd fail as I was so nervous.

I passed on my fourth time and I didn't even complete the parallel park as I would have hit the lamppost Shock
But it goes to show you what a joke it is Hmm

madnessitellyou · 10/07/2020 15:40

Another 4th time passer here! Have now been driving for well over 20 years, relatively incident free.

5foot5 · 10/07/2020 15:48

My MIL passed on her 4th attempt. TBH the family always thought it was because there were only 4 instructors at the centre and she had had them all by then and none of them could face taking her round again!

Blackberrybunnet · 10/07/2020 15:56

I took 4 attempts to pass. So did my sister. It felt really random at the time - each time I sat the rest I failed in something different. No idea why the 4th attempt was the winner . I guess it was simply the case that nothing. Unusual happened so I didn’t have anything in particular to deal with. One of my fails was because I bumped the kerb in a 3-point turn - do what??? Hardly makes me a dangerous driver. Anyway, all that was 46 years ago. I’ve never had one single accident in all that time, so 4th time lucky I guess! Just keep on trying, you’ll get there in the end!

Dazzedandconfused · 10/07/2020 16:00

I passed my 4th attempt and have been driving just over 2 years now. I used to be very anxious behind a wheel so made lots of stupid mistakes in a panic on my failed attempts.
The 1st time I failed I reversed around the corner and to the other side of the road! The 2nd I was sticking out too far at a junction before turning and a car speeding past had to pull out slightly. The 3rd time I got flustered doing a parallel park and mounted the kerb.

By the 4th time I had taken a few months break, felt a lot calmer and managed to pass with only 1 minor!
You can do it!!

AvoidingRealHumans · 10/07/2020 16:04

Another 4th time passer here. I told no one I was doing the test and on the morning I just felt so confident and had no pressure of having to tell people I had failed again.

Keep going, you will do it.

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