Driving Test...

Well i did but apparently not coz a few mates did it on their tests and didn't get a major for it. Some not even a minor. My instructor did say it's a gray area though. For example, what if you had to kerb it to avoid an oncoming speeding car or a wide vehicle, providing it's safe to do so and you don't hit anyone/thing then it's fine right? Wrong. I've heard people failing for having to mount a kerb because of a narrow road + wide vehicle.

Imo, the examiner just does what the hell he wants on the day. It seems more a case of luck as to whether you pass or not.
 
Just chill, make sure you do all checks and just drive confidently.
The guy just wants to see you are safe and competent. A lot of the older guys will be a bit lenient and give you the benefit of the doubt.

I just went in with the attitude "Ahh, well, if I pass great, if I don't it's another ton out of pocket and a few weeks wait, not so bad" I don't get why people get nervous about it. I was confident I was gonna pass but not fussed if I failed you know.

Also, if you hit the kerb it's a minor, if you mount the kerb it's a major.
 
Yeah i took that mentality of just relaxing and if i fail i'll rebook it. It's a ballache but there's worse things that can happen! It's just a bit annoying really when there is no set rule on things like that. The examiners seem to have way too much freedom to judge, ya know? There's no consistency at all...
 
Cuchulain said:
It is, it shows you've not kept sufficient control of the vehicle or are aware of your surroundings.
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I curbed in my first test avoiding a volvo on my side of the road.
Minor.

Curbed in my second test pulling up to the side of the road to do my parallel park and got nothing for it.
 
I get around said:
I just went in with the attitude "Ahh, well, if I pass great, if I don't it's another ton out of pocket and a few weeks wait, not so bad" I don't get why people get nervous about it. I was confident I was gonna pass but not fussed if I failed you know.
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Try to treat it like this guy says .... don't beat yourself up about it and just go in for it again and hoepfully you will get a more friendly non robotic instructor this time.

I only passed last year and touched the kerb on a parallel park and spent the majority of the test thinking I'd failed. only to get back and be told I'd passed with 4 minors, if anything it helped as I relaxed as soon as I thought I'd failed and just drove on semi autopilot whilst chatting to the instructor and thinking about where my £100 was coming from to book another test.

Like you and others say no consistency and some grey areas, so just drive the best you can until the test is done and see where the chips fall.

Good Luck
 
I was very nervous for my test, everytime I would think about it, I'd get a weird adrenaline butterfly feeling. However, after the examiner asked me the show me tell me questions, I kind of settled in. Drove down the road and I wasn't so nervous anymore.

I made 2 mistakes, the first one made me think I had failed. It was as I was going up a hill (cross road infront), there was no car behind me, as I braked I lifted the handbreak about a fraction of a second before the car stopped and it kind of jolted. I thought after that I had failed.

The second was when he made me do a turn in the road, in a very tight road, on the second bit of the manoeuvre where I had to reverse I just dry steered, thought I had failed even more.

Then I went the wrong way, he told me to turn onto the road on the right, and there were only 2 lanes as I came onto the road. I missed the turning and asked him what I should do, he said carry on as you think is best.

So I decided to go up a three lane dual carriageway? Which was busy, (good thing is I looked a the possible test routes on the DSA Website for my test center), I knew there was a roundabout and had a good feeling he would tell me to come back round on my self, and wah hey, he did.

I went through town and back to the test centre. I really had it settled that I had failed, but I carried on to the best I could, he told me I had passed and only got 5 minors. I was shocked, speechless. I asked about the mistakes he goes, you controlled the car, and observed well.

Even when you make a mistake don't worry, it might not be as big as you may think. Nerves are excellent you tend to work harder, and much better. Just keep observing your surroundings and don't worry about the manoeuvres as in my test I did them pretty early on, 10 minutes in infact.
 
Sorry to hear that you failed! A mate of mine failed his second test solely because he kerbed it slightly while turning out of a street.

I failed mine first time too in March 2008 as I got 2 majors, but arguebly I should have only failed with just the 1 major. The major I got that I think that shouldn't of counted was that I was instructed to go straight ahead at a roundabout but by the time I got to the roundabout I was too far in the left & had no chance to move because a bollard that split the left lane from the middle & right lane and so I indicated left and went left and appologised so I corrected my mistake there and I should have only got a minor for that one at the most but I think she marked it as a major just so to make it stand out that I had already failed as I entered another roundabout incorrectly earlier in the test. I also got 3 minors on my first test.

On my second test I passed with 5 minors, the second test I was more relaxed and had a much friendlier examier.

Liam
 
My friend recently failed his test kerbing it doing a turn in the road. He said he full on smashed the kerb though so there was no disguising that lol.
In my test I slightly touched the kerb, I only just felt it the examiner couldnt have noticed, anyway pulling back out into the road after having reversed I was resting on the kerb heh.
 
From what I'm aware the only time that you are "allowed" to touch the curb is when doing any of the 3 manoeuvres. IIRC they say "Please complete x manoeuvre trying not to hit the curb". Although if you mount the curb then you get a major.
 
Anyone know what days and/or times the DSA site will update to account for cancelled/changed test dates? I keep checking back so i can try get an earlier date for my re-test but just wondering if anyone knows when their system is usually updated. Rather than me missing them all the time!
 
To be honest there is a degree of politics involved, or at least the figures and the attitudes of the examiners make it out to be.

If you get a nice person, make chat and try and build a relationship in the 5 minutes you will know them..always worth some points.

I feel i was let off on a rather trivial issue of positioning to turn left (steering) on T junctions, 3 minors but no fail - but i had a friendly instructor my first was an utter cow.
 
Getting a minor or major for curbing it depends on whether there was anyone one else around, the fact that he noticed it and you didn't may indicate that your observation skills let you down.

I had a friend who got a major for clonking the curb when he was doing a reverse around the corner because there was a woman in the vicinity.
 
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