Woman failed driving test because she drove through a puddle and splashed a pedestrian.......

[FAQ]

here

Is it just me, or is that really bizarre - I mean with this recent wet weather there must be lots of puddles around, and if you were to try and avoid all of them (to keep the pedestrians dry) the risk of causing an accident must be quite high???

A friend of mine once failed because there was a pedestrian walking on the roundabout (a confused old lady). He stopped so that he didn't run her over and failed because you can't stop on a roundabout. He said that the tester was very apologetic but had no choice. I was a little bit dubious about whether it was possible to fail for that since it seemed so ridiculous.

Much less ridiculous than this story though.

it's not that hard to drive slowly through puddles and avoid splashing pedestrians though.

Depends on the splashing. A white van man recently deliberately splashed me to the point that my ear was blocked with water and I was drenched from head to toe. I had to go home to shower and change and it ruined my day.

If the driver was being observant she should have at least slowed down when driving through the puddle at the bus stop.

but you can fail your test for "driving too slowly"! Can't win can you really

Moral of the story I guess is don't sit your test on a rainy day

For driving too slowly yes, but probably not for slowing down briefly to avoid splashing a pedestrian.

I have a theory that you are more likely to pass if you explain why you are doing whatever

lol! i failed my first test on about a million different faults, but this wasn't one of them!

Upwind - after the rain the last couple of days the roads round here were full of puddles - they would have to have driven slowly constantly to avoid splashing anyone.

And I've had people slow down to "avoid" splashing me, and despite going at a snails pace I've still got wet

If a pedestrian gets soaked because of a car driving through a puddle, then I think they can take the case to court (not sure how you can prove it though).

I think it depends on the circumstances. It is rather irritating to get your clothes soaked with dirty water, and I'm sure the driving instructor used her own judgement as to how the learner driver should have handled the situation.

faq, its a case of noticing whats going on aroujdn you. if htere are pedestrians around, then you need to be aware of how your driving will affect them. and splashing them with water is not being safe.
very at the roundabout old lady story. he was being safe there surely

I think you're right Belgo I've heard that before too.

I also always thought that you could take somebody to court that had driven through a puddle and splashed a pedestrians.

As somebody who walks 2 young children to school along a very puddley road, it is very annoying, and quite often we have had to come home and get changed again and kids are late for school, its got so bad that I am almost considering driving the car when it rains just to avoid getting drenched by passing cars.

but stitch if the road is full of puddles, and a car driving at the same speed as I'm walking managed to splash me with muddy water surely it's just not practical to "avoid" the puddles all the time??

And FGS what is this country coming to that people take drivers to court for splashing them with water.

Shall I take the parents of the little sod darling who jumped in a massive puddle right next to me yesterday and soaked me to court too?

Just seems really odd to me.....

what you supposed to do drive around the puddle

stop until the rain dries up?

no drive in wet weather

fucking redic

Upwind - I don't drive - did start learning, but then moved house and didn't see the point (live within 10/15 minute walk of everything)

Stitch - apparently the lady was right in front of the car so if he hadn't stopped, he would have hit her. It always sounded so unfair that I'm not sure whether he just didn't want to admit he'd failed. But I've never even taken a driving test so I have zero knowledge about it.

She didn't fail for splashing the pedestrian.

She failed for not stopping and exchanging details.

Fair enough FAQ, I drive every day (mostly on puddly roads this year) and don't believe I've ever splashed a pedestrian. The worst puddles are at bus stops and it is easy to slow down so you don't splash.

I am guessing this outraged woman really drenched the unfortunate pedestrian.

my driving instructor also said you could be fined up to 7k.

Good! I hate bloody drivers who soak pedestrians. There used to be a big pothole in the road outside ds's nursery. If you were buzzing to get in it was a real game of cat and mouse with passing cars - shall I leap out of the way and miss my chance to be let in, or stand my ground and get soaked head to foot?

Failure to drive with due care and attention... perfectly reasonable to fail her.

My driving instructor told me it can be classed as 'assault'. Again, nit sure how you'd prove it though.

'not' not 'nit'

I failed for not running over a pedestrian who ran right on front of the car. Undue hesitation and conflicting signals apparently (was on a corner when he suddenly legged it on front of me) - the examiner said I should have contined to edge forward (he was RIGHT on front of the car, and noone was right behind me)

grrrrrr

I asked my driving instructor what I should have done wrong and she said absolutely nothing - that I followed the highway code