Being driven round the bend in my quest to get a UK license!

I haven't looked at them all yet, but going back over the ones that I had just watched I changed my clicking to double clicks when I see something and the scores are a lot better. I was getting nothing on some for clicking as soon as I saw something......then when I went back through it and clicked in the same place again and followed that with another click less than a second later the scores raised automatically. Start trying that theory out on the rest of the video's.

But as far as quality.....come on! Besides the low quality of the video, some of them look to have some blurriness from rain on the windshield. Great way to make a guy paranoid.

Well...things are making steadily more sense. The best thing that has helped is getting on YouTube where there are a number of people showing techniques for when to click. Better to click fairly often as long as you don't go too nuts with it.

Well...things are making steadily more sense. The best thing that has helped is getting on YouTube where there are a number of people showing techniques for when to click. Better to click fairly often as long as you don't go too nuts with it.

I meant to mention that earlier (smart of you to look at YouTube for hints - I never considered that), but you're exactly right.  It's really about how you click and how often that makes or breaks your score on this (rather pointless IMHO) test.  Click in a regular pattern and you'll be disqualified as cheating, but doing a double or triple click and clicking pretty much whenever you suspect a hazard (like all those rocks I saw that really were rocks after all  ) will gain you the most points.

I started by failing most of the practice tests, then gradually passing more and more of them but not always with very high scores.  When I took the actual test which was so much easier to see properly I actually passed with 70 out of 75 points!  I was pretty happy about that. 

Now, for that same scenario to happen on my practical test would be fantastic! 

Yeah, the more I see of this the less I think it is done right. I guess I like the idea of it....but I don't see anyway to put it into effect well. Taking a test on the regular rules and then leaving it up to the tester to see if you can actually drive well.....nothing wrong with that. If a tester can't decide whether I can drive well or not in the first 10 minutes there is something wrong. Granted, getting a license back in Spokane.....if you are breathing and don't run anybody over you get your license. Breathing might be optional.

Now I get the great pleasure of driving to Manchester airport (1.5hrs each way) tonight... in the dark.... to pick up my wife's daughter and a friend and getting back here after midnight.

Are any of the roads to the Manchester airport motorways? If any of them are, you aren't legally allowed to drive on them until you get your license. Annoyingly, it's one of the rules. I only say this, just in case you didn't know.

Are any of the roads to the Manchester airport motorways? If any of them are, you aren't legally allowed to drive on them until you get your license. Annoyingly, it's one of the rules. I only say this, just in case you didn't know.

As far as I know, that's only the rule for learner drivers.

If I remember correctly, F4mandolin has been in the UK for less than one year so is still able to drive on his US licence without the motorway restriction.

Ah, right. I'd forgotten. I should have remembered he joined sometime this year.

Myself and my expat friend have both gone over our year here in the UK with free driving. I was projecting, my bad.

I joined a couple of years ago when we were first thinking about coming back. And yes......plenty of motorway.....which the buggers closed several parts of on the trip back for construction with detours into area's around N Manchester that were confusing as heck. An extra hour or so coming back......2:30am when we got back. I've driven in the UK for about 14 years.....and another 5 in Okinawa Japan so driving on the left doesn't bother me at all.

I can't remember if I will need L plates for taking the driving test.....I would hope not. Didn't get around to booking my theory test today.

Well, for everyone else taking the practical test, the L plates are required. Hopefully someone else can tell you who was smart about getting their driving license.

Well, for everyone else taking the practical test, the L plates are required. Hopefully someone else can tell you who was smart about getting their driving license.

We will have to put 'L' plates on our car, when I drive, as of October 1st, which is when my year is up.  I had hoped to get my UK license before then and if I hadn't procrastinated quite so long that would have been attainable.  I think that's the main reason I was so down about delaying my practical, but to be honest it really isn't that big of a deal when I get that license, just that I get it! 

Oh, and by the way, I'm feeling far more 'up' about the whole thing since I started this thread.  I am woman, hear me roar! - I will prevail!! - tomorrow is another day!!!  etc. etc.   

Oh, and by the way, I'm feeling far more 'up' about the whole thing since I started this thread.  I am woman, hear me roar! - I will prevail!! - tomorrow is another day!!!  etc. etc.   

Well, I'm no longer feeling particularly 'up', since I failed my first practical driving test this last Wednesday.   I somehow managed to ignore a junction in a residential neighborhood and hadn't slowed down properly.  The examiner slammed on the brakes (there weren't any cars around), scared the 'you know what' out of me, and it was an automatic fail for me. 

Since then I've been going through several stages of grief - although there are times they all pile on at once:

1)    - Shock.  I was absolutely stunned that I had made such a silly and completely avoidable mistake.  I was much more nervous than I'd thought I would be, and .... well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure where my brain was at the time. 

2)    .  Disappointed - really, really disappointed.  I'm going to have to wait until mid December to take the test again since everything is so booked up - and it's at 8:20 in the morning!!!! (I was back to shock on that one)  I am not a morning person.... *groan*  Add in the extra cost for another test and more lessons to keep up my admittedly spotty driving skills..... *sigh*

3)    - Embarrassed.  That one's probably self explanatory.... after acing the theory test, this is a bit lowering.  I'm just so much better at written tests, not so much performance anxiety with those...

4)    - Angry.  At myself - actually, annoyed is probably more accurate, but me, myself, and I are not happy with each other right now.....

Thanks, I needed a good rant in my own snarky way.  Don't get me wrong, in the grand scheme of things this is a pretty small thing. It was a rather expensive practice run, but hopefully I won't be quite so nervous the next time.  I'm certain that once I pass this test (and I will pass this test!!!), the memory of my first attempt will fade away....

.... in a decade or two. 

Sorry to hear that, Becca.

Unfortunately, the reality is that the UK practical test doesn't have a high pass rate, so at least you've got plenty of company.

It's definitely stressful. On my test, I didn't fully release the parking brake after coming to a stop a drove for a bit with it partially on. I'd never done that before, but I was just nervous and no thinking straight.

Is there a chance your instructor could get you in a cancellation? I had a test booked, but since I was flexible, my instructor got me in earlier with just a few days notice. It might be a way to get it over and done with sooner (and possibly with better driving conditions).

Keep at it, you'll get there. The nerves are tough to get over, I know.

Just noticed this thread and read through it. Becca, you write really well, and  I was sorry to get the end and find that you failed your first practical. Even back  in the early 70's when I took mine it was very common to fail that first test. I'm so pleased that when I return to the UK next  year that I won't have to face another driving test. (I was fortunate to have to do my USA test in Texas, which is trivial compared to the UK)

I wish you all the very best for the next test in December.

Hmmmm, I seem to have lost a reply somewhere.... so here goes another try (I see a familiar pattern here....)

Thanks TF.  Nerves and thinking really don't seem to go together well, because that's exactly what happened - I simply wasn't thinking straight.  Hopefully less nerves and more straight thinking will happen next time. 

My instructor has me booking the test (it's how she does it with her students), and I have been checking for cancellations.  So far the middle of December is the best I can get - but it's a big improvement over the first one I booked, on Christmas Eve day at 8:10 in the morning!  Gack!

Thanks Durhamlad, for the lovely compliment about my writing and for good wishes on my next test.  That gave me a much appreciated boost! 

My instructor has me booking the test (it's how she does it with her students), and I have been checking for cancellations.  So far the middle of December is the best I can get - but it's a big improvement over the first one I booked, on Christmas Eve day at 8:10 in the morning!  Gack!

Yikes. 8.10a on Christmas Eve would be risky - you'd either get someone who has the Christmas spirit and is an easy pass or someone who's in a terrible mood because they have to work Christmas Eve and would fail anyone who schedules a test on Christmas Eve. Mid December sounds much better.

Good luck!