Well after failing twice, both on silly little things - I prepared to take my third practical test in under 30 days.
I told myself...no more mistakes this time! So as usual, I have my compulsory lesson the night before my test. I told my ADI that I wanted to go down this NSL road which I've failed twice on, and so we did. Went down, he gave me some pointers, no problem. As it was the lesson the night before the test, I expected it to go well, and that I'll get all my maneovours over and done with etc. But thing's didn't go to plan...my instructor had to take control of the wheel, first time he's had to since he started teaching me, and I stalled at a red light, first time in a decade, woah I feel like such a learner.
My instructor said it was better to make those mistakes now, rather than the test... I agreed. Afterwards, I thought to myself, is this a sign? Everybody on here has a poor lesson before their test....
So test day, woke up nice and early, with plenty of time to prepare myself; I consumed two full sized bananas. Bananas, the secret to passing. I had a lesson before the test, so 10 minutes before my instructor picked me up, I briefly went over my previous mistakes. I then started to prepare myself mentally, my heart was beating with a nice beat....is this nerves?!?!?! I've never had nerves in my two previous tests. I then thought to myself, is this a sign? Everybody on here gets nerves and they all end up passing. Then suddenly, my heart returned to its normal pace, nerves all gone...is this good or bad? :shock:
Instructor arrived, I told him I wanted to go through all manouvours. So we drove towards the test centre, and on route, I performed all three manouvours. Easy I thought, as I didn't get any minors on manouvours in my two previous tests. My instructor then mentioned emergency braking, I told him we should go over it as I hadn't done that for a while. So he made me pull up, said he'll check around for cars, then said he'll put his hand out to tell me to stop etc. So I drove on, he gave his signal, I stabbed the brake, put the clutch down and I thought, that was pretty good, no skidding at all. My instructor praised me, and said "perfect". So we drive to the test centre, and wait for the examiner. I told my instructor that the examiners my friend, he's giving me directions to his house (reverse psychology). I then thought to myself, this is the easiest test I'll ever sit, it's basically doing what I love best... driving! I then repeated in my mind "Concentrate, be safe!"
"Mr. T****"? That's me, so I walked over to him, and gave a nice smile. I asked if my instructor could sit at the back (my instructor wanted to and insisted), so the examiner nodded to it. We go outside, got the eyesight test out the way, and then preceded to the show me / tell me. I got the question on engine coolant correct, so we got inside. He asked how I would check the handbrake for wear. Hmm, I muttered something, not sure what I said, and managed to get the words "end of working travel" in. He looked at me, I looked at him.... "Handbrake should also hold car on a hill" he acknowledged it, and told me to drive off.
So I drive along, making sure I do all my mirror checks (even though I got no marks for mirrors in my two previous tests) and thought to myself... easy! Before long, I approached this road, it was a slip road onto the dual carriageway... I never knew they took us out here, so I do my mirror checks, and signal. Some car cut into the left lane preventing me from pulling out, so I held back and let it pass. Ah, hope I didn't mess that up I thought. The examiner then said left at the roundabout... I never knew they bought us all the way here, I only live five minutes down the road… this is familiar territory and I was quietly confident!
After some more driving, I had to do the reverse around the bend. I thought to myself... this is so easy, so I bring the car back, I purposely bought the car further than reference point as I didn't want to mess it up. Came out a bit wide, but corrected it. Not before long, had to do parallel park. So I bought the car forwards, a bit too forward and quite a distance from the parked car. Don't hit the curb I told myself, and I managed to do it nicely. So the examiner said to move off, oh crap I stalled it! So I secure the car and restart the engine. I looked at the time, only 5 minutes to go... don't mess it up now I said to myself.
Not before long, he told me to do an emergency stop. I remember doing one about an hour ago, and perfecting it, this should be easy I said to myself. He went through everything, and I drove off. A van approached, so I thought he'll say 'it' after I pass the van. "STOP!" I stabbed the brake, put the clutch down - a bit too early I thought, so I gave it more brake as engine braking is limited.
WTF?!?! Why the hell is the car revving!?!?! OH ****! My foot got caught on the gas! Hence the immense loud engine, so as I stop, I put my hands around my head and shouted "Oh ****!" Oh crap, did I say that out loud? Oh bugger, I took my hands off the steering wheel! I looked at the examiner, and he was like a brick wall, so I secure the car. I knew I failed it right there. Emotions started running through me, I knew I failed, and the thought of me going through everything again really made me feel sick. I knew I should have passed first time, me failing three times doesn't indicate the driver I truly am.
So as we neared the test centre, I knew I failed, so I shook my head in disbelief, and kept doing so as I was disgusted with myself. Everything was a blur, I couldn't think at all, my head was messed up. I was thinking how close I came, and that I would have passed if I didn't f*ck that emergency brake up.
So as we turn in, the examiner said drive around and face the fence. What's the point I thought, may as well pull up here and give me the news. He told me to switch of the engine, so I did. I tucked my head into my lap, and covered my ears. The words "That's the end of the test, I'm afraid you haven't passed this time" totally broke me on my last two tests, so I didn't want to hear it again. With my hands covering my ears, and emotions running through me, I was deeply saddened and disgusted with myself.
I was right, I failed my driving test, the stupid emergency brake, oh why! Hang on I thought, he hasn't really told me yet, so with me tucked into a little ball, I hear him say something, I cringe and then hear "Pleased to say you have passed". Wehay! My instructor yelled "yeah", and the examiner went through everything. I said, I really thought I was going to fail. He answered "What's the problem, you got big feet?" I lol'd myself and said "yeah". He was a nice guy, really thought I failed it though. So I said "that was music to my ears." As he left, I shook his hand, he's got some solid hand shake, and I was over the moon. My instructor told me he was Mr. Mean, and that he must have thought my overall drive was good.
So six minors. Not bad at all, and I'm now legal to drive! :lol:
Thanks for reading so far, and if you've got a test up and coming and you think you've failed on something, don't give up until your test is actually over, and good luck!
I told myself...no more mistakes this time! So as usual, I have my compulsory lesson the night before my test. I told my ADI that I wanted to go down this NSL road which I've failed twice on, and so we did. Went down, he gave me some pointers, no problem. As it was the lesson the night before the test, I expected it to go well, and that I'll get all my maneovours over and done with etc. But thing's didn't go to plan...my instructor had to take control of the wheel, first time he's had to since he started teaching me, and I stalled at a red light, first time in a decade, woah I feel like such a learner.
My instructor said it was better to make those mistakes now, rather than the test... I agreed. Afterwards, I thought to myself, is this a sign? Everybody on here has a poor lesson before their test....So test day, woke up nice and early, with plenty of time to prepare myself; I consumed two full sized bananas. Bananas, the secret to passing.
I had a lesson before the test, so 10 minutes before my instructor picked me up, I briefly went over my previous mistakes. I then started to prepare myself mentally, my heart was beating with a nice beat....is this nerves?!?!?! I've never had nerves in my two previous tests. I then thought to myself, is this a sign? Everybody on here gets nerves and they all end up passing. Then suddenly, my heart returned to its normal pace, nerves all gone...is this good or bad? :shock: Instructor arrived, I told him I wanted to go through all manouvours. So we drove towards the test centre, and on route, I performed all three manouvours. Easy I thought, as I didn't get any minors on manouvours in my two previous tests. My instructor then mentioned emergency braking, I told him we should go over it as I hadn't done that for a while. So he made me pull up, said he'll check around for cars, then said he'll put his hand out to tell me to stop etc. So I drove on, he gave his signal, I stabbed the brake, put the clutch down and I thought, that was pretty good, no skidding at all. My instructor praised me, and said "perfect". So we drive to the test centre, and wait for the examiner. I told my instructor that the examiners my friend, he's giving me directions to his house (reverse psychology). I then thought to myself, this is the easiest test I'll ever sit, it's basically doing what I love best... driving! I then repeated in my mind "Concentrate, be safe!"
"Mr. T****"? That's me, so I walked over to him, and gave a nice smile. I asked if my instructor could sit at the back (my instructor wanted to and insisted), so the examiner nodded to it. We go outside, got the eyesight test out the way, and then preceded to the show me / tell me. I got the question on engine coolant correct, so we got inside. He asked how I would check the handbrake for wear. Hmm, I muttered something, not sure what I said, and managed to get the words "end of working travel" in. He looked at me, I looked at him.... "Handbrake should also hold car on a hill" he acknowledged it, and told me to drive off.
So I drive along, making sure I do all my mirror checks (even though I got no marks for mirrors in my two previous tests) and thought to myself... easy! Before long, I approached this road, it was a slip road onto the dual carriageway... I never knew they took us out here, so I do my mirror checks, and signal. Some car cut into the left lane preventing me from pulling out, so I held back and let it pass. Ah, hope I didn't mess that up I thought. The examiner then said left at the roundabout... I never knew they bought us all the way here, I only live five minutes down the road… this is familiar territory and I was quietly confident!
After some more driving, I had to do the reverse around the bend. I thought to myself... this is so easy, so I bring the car back, I purposely bought the car further than reference point as I didn't want to mess it up. Came out a bit wide, but corrected it. Not before long, had to do parallel park. So I bought the car forwards, a bit too forward and quite a distance from the parked car. Don't hit the curb I told myself, and I managed to do it nicely. So the examiner said to move off, oh crap I stalled it! So I secure the car and restart the engine. I looked at the time, only 5 minutes to go... don't mess it up now I said to myself.
Not before long, he told me to do an emergency stop. I remember doing one about an hour ago, and perfecting it, this should be easy I said to myself. He went through everything, and I drove off. A van approached, so I thought he'll say 'it' after I pass the van. "STOP!" I stabbed the brake, put the clutch down - a bit too early I thought, so I gave it more brake as engine braking is limited.
WTF?!?! Why the hell is the car revving!?!?! OH ****! My foot got caught on the gas! Hence the immense loud engine, so as I stop, I put my hands around my head and shouted "Oh ****!" Oh crap, did I say that out loud? Oh bugger, I took my hands off the steering wheel! I looked at the examiner, and he was like a brick wall, so I secure the car. I knew I failed it right there. Emotions started running through me, I knew I failed, and the thought of me going through everything again really made me feel sick. I knew I should have passed first time, me failing three times doesn't indicate the driver I truly am.
So as we neared the test centre, I knew I failed, so I shook my head in disbelief, and kept doing so as I was disgusted with myself. Everything was a blur, I couldn't think at all, my head was messed up. I was thinking how close I came, and that I would have passed if I didn't f*ck that emergency brake up.
So as we turn in, the examiner said drive around and face the fence. What's the point I thought, may as well pull up here and give me the news. He told me to switch of the engine, so I did. I tucked my head into my lap, and covered my ears. The words "That's the end of the test, I'm afraid you haven't passed this time" totally broke me on my last two tests, so I didn't want to hear it again. With my hands covering my ears, and emotions running through me, I was deeply saddened and disgusted with myself.
I was right, I failed my driving test, the stupid emergency brake, oh why! Hang on I thought, he hasn't really told me yet, so with me tucked into a little ball, I hear him say something, I cringe and then hear "Pleased to say you have passed". Wehay! My instructor yelled "yeah", and the examiner went through everything. I said, I really thought I was going to fail. He answered "What's the problem, you got big feet?" I lol'd myself and said "yeah". He was a nice guy, really thought I failed it though. So I said "that was music to my ears." As he left, I shook his hand, he's got some solid hand shake, and I was over the moon. My instructor told me he was Mr. Mean, and that he must have thought my overall drive was good.
So six minors. Not bad at all, and I'm now legal to drive! :lol:
Thanks for reading so far, and if you've got a test up and coming and you think you've failed on something, don't give up until your test is actually over, and good luck!
Last edited:
