Just failed my driving test

I'm very sorry you failed your test!  Better luck next time!   

Sorry you failed your test!  I just passed mine in November, but dropped £400 taking about 10 lessons. I think you're doing it the right way, even though you failed, you now know exactly what to work on, so you could just keep practicing and maybe have a couple more really focused lessons.

Good luck!

I can relate, really, I can!!! It took me 3 times to pass. I know they have quotas, they must! They asked how many times I took it each time I got in the car. By the 3rd time I just didn't care anymore, I had a feeling they were going to fail me anyway and I passed somehow. I think it's b/c I had a woman examiner. The first 2 times I had men.

I am looking up pass rates http://www.2pass.co.uk/passrates3.htm, I know they're less than 50% and even lower in Leeds (27.7% actually pass that take it). I checked the pass rates for each test centre and based my test centre choice on that. Maybe check your test centre pass rate.

I think that's outrageous, where else in life do you have such low pass rates?

Hiya all

Yep, all relevant points. when I was learning and my uncle taking me out to practice he always said 'You practice to take the test, you will learn to drive after you pass'

doing the pronounced 'check yer mirrors' slightly more exaggerated, moving your head in the same manner are all good points to show the examiner you are adept at looking. Hopefully these habits stay with you after you pass.

As for comparisons to driving styles between the US and UK - well I'd have to say the US is slightly to significantly worse when it comes to bad habits. The main factor I think has been the banning of using handheld mobile phones (prior to that here, I think both countries were relatively on par) My recent USA trips have involved some cross state driving and so I got to see quite a bit of driving style out there. Mobiles stuck to the ear in cars & suv's whilst the other hand flits between the steering and picking up the drink from those 'super size' capable drinks holders were aplenty, leading from that were the people who probably forgot what a rearview mirror is! and leading from that was a combination of the two when changing lanes! I got stopped for 'tailgating' one time in Ohio becuase some minivan decided to pull into my overtaking lane making me slow down to avoid hitting him just as we passed a cop car parked in the middle reservation!

when I explained the blonde copper girl let me off and the guy cop just said slow down and 'must be mighty nice to be able to do 85mph over in england without cops pulling you up' and I wholeheartedly agreed! we had some more banter about driving and he did say he welcomed the day all cell phone use by holding in the hand is banned in the US. ( i think some states already do or have done since my trip)

overall though, the UK has some bad driving and some of our freinds in Europe would be appalled at the UK roads. Holland had some excellent road manners that I noticed, and I've heard even better stuff about germany - things like no fast lane hoggers, people moving over and waving if you have a known fast sports car and best of all, not even coming into the fast lane knowing if there car isn't capable enough.

Anyyway.. it is up to the individual to ensure they're as best a driver as possible!

DtM ! West London & Slough UK!

I don't know about the UK, haven't driven over there and haven't been there much yet. My boyfriend has a friends whose father is a driving instructor and his friend is very anal (for lack of a better word) about driving rules. I can't believe how strict it sounds like they are, I actually didn't feel as safe riding with people over there, it just felt like people were going too fast for the areas.

Driving in the US really differs depending on where you are. I'm in MA right now and drivers here are horrible, but most people are fairly good at the defensive, fast driving. I used to live in TN and people there seemed to be better drivers, but had a harder time with higher speeds and higher traffic areas.

But it's not really that difficult to master, is it? I mean, if you know you have to drive that way to pass your test, you do. It's as simple as that. And then after you have the license in your hand, you can drive however you like.

Sure, you learn how to pass the test, then relax into whatever driving style is most comfortable, which for most people probably means forgetting all about "push-pull" steering, overuse of the parking brake, and all the associated "proper" methods. 

That's why I've said before that if many of us had to sit a driving test again today we'd probably fail just like many Americans coming to the U.K.  20+ years of driving in one's own style is hard to unlearn.

my only other comment on this subject is that people from france, south africa, poland and zimbabwe all just trade in their driving lisenses and get uk ones....if it's all about safety, smaller roads and doing things the british way i don't see any difference between driving in those countries and driving in the states.
my classic example of irony is that my 71 year old mother can fly to this country, rent a car and drive off from heathrow without the blink of an eye....trust me...you'd rather have me out on the M25 than her!!!!!

The test might be hard to pass but it probably has a lot to do with the UK having just about the lowest number of road deaths per 100,000 population in the developed world at 5.6. The figure for the US is 14.66.

I have a friend who is a driving examiner and he assures me there is definitely no quota system. It is a simple points system and you either fail or pass, the examiner is not allowed any latitiude in his or her decision. I can't imagine this govt placing quotas on a cash-cow like motorists that they earn so much revenue from! 

RAC Foundation  Conclusions and main recommendations

• The car will remain the main form of personal mobility in 2050
• It will be clean, green and safe
• The challenge is to minimise adverse effects of traffic growth and congestion
• It is vital to implement the 10 Year Plan
• It is essential to speed up delivery of road schemes by streamlined processes and better
compensation
• Rail must be improved but do not expect to avoid the need to improve roads
• Technology will help to reduce traffic growth but not enough
• A very high level of road investment would be required to avoid congestion charges to restrain traffic
• A lower highway spend would require higher congestion charges
• The planning system must be revolutionised to speed up developments at local level
• The UK will require increasing levels of investment in transport infrastructure
• A package of measures, including extra capacity on road and rail, better traffic management and
traffic restraint linked to fuel tax reductions will be required.
Among our principal recommendations are:
• A regular longer-term look at the country’s transport strategy
• The commitment of substantial investment in the country’s transport network
•Urgent attention to the diverse challenges of switching from fossil fuels to environmentally-friendly
means of propulsion
• Gearing up our spatial planning processes to handle the impact of traffic growth more effectively
• Developing packages of technology, increased capacity and traffic restraint to contain the spread
of traffic congestion.
We see no good reason why the UK should be condemned to poorer transport systems than our
continental European neighbours.
Our report addresses the longer-term, but the long-term begins today.


see the full report here ..


http://www.reform.co.uk/filestore/pdf/rac_2050_report2.pdf

people from france, south africa, poland and zimbabwe all just trade in their driving lisenses and get uk ones....

As I've said before, I think it's quite unfair that we allow -- or are forced to -- simply swap licenses from all these places, yet Americans have to go through the whole test procedure even if they've been driving safely for years.   The new hazard-perception test seems particularly unnecessary.  Would it really have been so hard when it was introduced to make an exception for anyone who already held a license from elsewhere, even if he still had to do the written and practical tests?

The test might be hard to pass but it probably has a lot to do with the UK having just about the lowest number of road deaths per 100,000 population in the developed world at 5.6.

The fatality rate on British roads was still considerably lower than many other countries before the full written test and the hazard-perception tests were introduced a few years ago (although admittedly the peculiarly British aspects of the practical test have been in place for a very long time).

anyway, i don't have access to a car so the only practice i got was on my driving lessons (at £18/hr) so i'm lucky that i only failed by one point BUT the tester made a few comments that definitly sounded discriminatory....like "you have to drive like we do" and insisting that i pull way over the middle (line, as if they actually used them) when making a right turn and being so close to the steering wheel it's under your chin...

Driving to the standard required for a British driver's license is hardly discriminatory.  The "close to the steering wheel" driving, I don't do - but I did when I was a learner, and it certainly does help you when you're new to driving - obviously since you're an experienced driver there is no need for this.  The driving past the line before turning right is for a very good reason - if a car is turning right out of the junction you're turning into, if you don't turn the corner correctly, you "cut the corner" and cross their side of the road and have the potential to clip their bumper.  It amazes me how many idiots on the road cut the corner when turning right just to save them an extra turn of the wheel, and the number of times I've had to stop short in anticipation of them clipping my wing.

In my experience (up the east coast of the US between FL and NY), there are proportionately more bad drivers in the US than the UK.  Of course, there are plenty excellent drivers in the US, and I'm not saying everyone in the UK is better, but there are far more bullies (in oversized pickup trucks), people are more mean (it's every man for themselves when trying to change lane or merge into traffic), people overtake in left lanes, and rarely move right after overtaking (a problem in the UK as well, but not nearly as much), and I'd estimate that I see dented and smashed up cars driving on the US roads about 5 times as often as I do in the UK.
The UK is better at driving than the US, in my opinion, but I certainly do not think that the UK is anywhere near the best.  The Scandinavian countries seem to be much better, and Germany is a shining example.  I'm glad the UK driving test is difficult to pass - sucks if you're trying to pass it, but if it improves the quality of driving on our roads them so be it (you could argue that it doesn't, though).

I just pass the test .... Yahooooooooooooooooooo...
Just order   BMW 520d   I had to wait 6 months to pass this dirver test..



Thank YOU for the help ..








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CONGRATULATIONS! 

YAY!!!! 

A big congrats! 

I am just starting to read for the written exam and I am so unmotivated for the practical exam considering how difficult it sounds.....   Part of me can't be bothered plus I know that I will never be able to venture onto the motorway with people driving 80/90 miles an hour unless I have a Hummer and a helmet for protection.  That said it would be nice to be able to drive around town so I need to stop procrastinating and just do it!