So what if you fail your driving test?

Moving from America to England, according to the UK Gorvernment Web Site you can drive on American Licence for 12 months then you have to take the theory and practical test.

Lets say you fail the practical test, what real sense does that makes after the UK have actually let you drive for 12 months?

Also does anyone know if it makes much insurance difference if you insure yourself on american licence ie in 1st year or try to get uk licence ASAP.   My partner (American) would probably not get her own driving insurance but instead I would insure her on my UK policy.

Thank you in advance

Lets say you fail the practical test, what real sense does that makes after the UK have actually let you drive for 12 months?

Really, the only reason you have to take the tests at all is because the UK and US do not have a reciprocal agreement for exchanges of licences. I believe this is due to the US not wanting to make an agreement (because of having different laws in each state).

If you were from a country with a reciprocal agreement, you could just exchange your foreign licence for a UK one without taking the tests.

The UK practical test is difficult to pass though and only about 45% of people pass on the first attempt. It's more about knowing exactly what to do in order to pass the test than anything else - regardless of your US licence and driving history, you have to be able to pass the UK test, doing exactly what they specify.

It's a good idea to take some driving lessons before attempting to take the tests, so that you can learn how to pass it.

Also does anyone know if it makes much insurance difference if you insure yourself on american licence ie in 1st year or try to get uk licence ASAP.   My partner (American) would probably not get her own driving insurance but instead I would insure her on my UK policy.

I guess it depends whether:
a) they will insure you on a US licence (some insurance companies may not)
b) whether they will take into account your US driving history - you may be treated as a 'new' driver when you get the UK licence

Really, you'll want to start preparing for the UK driving tests as soon as you can, because it can take up to several months to pass the tests and you'll want to give yourself as much time as possible to pass them (as a new driver at age 17, it took me 15 months of weekly 2-hour lessons and 3 tests to finally get my licence).

If you haven't got the UK licence by the time the 12 months is up, you will be treated as a learner driver, which means:
- you must be accompanied in the car at all times by a full UK licence holder who is over age 21 and has held their UK licence for at least 3 years
- you must display 'L' (learner) plates on the car
- you will not be allowed to drive on motorways

Really, the only reason you have to take the tests at all is because the UK and US do not have a reciprocal agreement for exchanges of licences. I believe this is due to the US not wanting to make an agreement (because of having different laws in each state).

If you were from a country with a reciprocal agreement, you could just exchange your foreign licence for a UK one without taking the tests.

The UK practical test is difficult to pass though and only about 45% of people pass on the first attempt. It's more about knowing exactly what to do in order to pass the test than anything else - regardless of your US licence and driving history, you have to be able to pass the UK test, doing exactly what they specify.

It's a good idea to take some driving lessons before attempting to take the tests, so that you can learn how to pass it.

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Really, you'll want to start preparing for the UK driving tests as soon as you can, because it can take up to several months to pass the tests and you'll want to give yourself as much time as possible to pass them (as a new driver at age 17, it took me 15 months of weekly 2-hour lessons and 3 tests to finally get my licence).

If you haven't got the UK licence by the time the 12 months is up, you will be treated as a learner driver, which means:
- you must be accompanied in the car at all times by a full UK licence holder who is over age 21 and has held their UK licence for at least 3 years
- you must display 'L' (learner) plates on the car
- you will not be allowed to drive on motorways

I will just add my agreement to ksand's post, and my commiseration to your partner for the difficulty of getting licensed in the UK as a US driver.  I had several rants over the "unfairness" of it all, and then proceeded to just get through it - I can be very stubborn when challenged!   

It also took me 3 practical tests before I passed, but I'm now very relieved to have my UK driver's license done and dusted.   

To me its a complete joke,  why let you drive 12 months without in theory having to take a test then make you take a test which results if you fail on not being able to drive.  seems bloody mad!...

To me its a complete joke,  why let you drive 12 months without in theory having to take a test then make you take a test which results if you fail on not being able to drive.  seems bloody mad!...

They have to draw the line in the sand somewhere they they picked a year.  Trust me, trying to figure out how the rules are set up for most ANYTHING in the government is asking for a headache!   

I think the biggest joke is the fact that new drivers are prohibited by law from practicing how to drive on a motorway.  Once they get a license, they are free to hop right on the motorway and take up their rightful position, cruising in the middle lane, with NO idea how to actually drive.  The amount of shocking behaviour I see...


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If they would only make me King of the world, I would do all kinds of things differently. Everything would be wonderful of course......because I am perfect in every way   Don't get me going on what I would do with the IRS and all the tax issues

Yeah.....you just have to suck it up and get it done. I passed the written part after a few months (get the DVD online.....makes passing pretty easy if you go over it a bunch of times), but then put off taking the driving part. I finally got around to taking it on 5 Feb.....which barely gave me enough time to take it again before my year ran out in April. Luckily I passed. I took one drive with an instructor who pointed out a couple of things I needed to work on. I've lived in the UK for a total of 15 years though.....and another 5 years in Okinawa where they also drive on the left.....it doesn't make any difference to me which side I drive on.

I was driving 47 years  and took my test over here 3 times before before passing to get my full license . In tears all 3 times because of the tests over here , and the last guy passed me . It was the test that got me nervous . I can drive fine , as I say it was the test . The laws are crazy over here and for driving a manual horrible after driving automatic all my life even worse .. and might I add I had 2 big Harleys in the US .

I think the longer you have been driving the more difficult the test. I had been driving 25 years, had lessons here and still took me 4 tries. They are very strict, at least where I am. I think it's rare to have someone pass on the first try......at least to my knowledge. But persist and you will be fine. You don't have to wait any amount of time, just book in again as soon as you want.

I'm having a really hard time with getting my license too. I drove in the US (standard and automatic) for 10 years before I moved here at 28. They are VERY strict about everything where I live too. I'm constantly having to be reminded to shift to 4th gear at 30mph and not to stop too far back from junctions. Yes, they actually pay attention to when you shift gears apparently. *sigh*

Gotta love it...

I'm having a really hard time with getting my license too. I drove in the US (standard and automatic) for 10 years before I moved here at 28. They are VERY strict about everything where I live too. I'm constantly having to be reminded to shift to 4th gear at 30mph and not to stop too far back from junctions. Yes, they actually pay attention to when you shift gears apparently. *sigh*

Gotta love it...

Yeah, that gear shifting thing drove me batty too.  I'd been driving sticks for 30 years in the US, but there were simply too many other things to concentrate on... like staying on the correct side of the road, which I considered slightly more important that waiting a bit too long to shift into 3rd!

It didn't help that my husband also got a bit huffy about my late shifting.  Sheesh!  You'd think I was strangling the car or something! 

Yeah, that gear shifting thing drove me batty too.  I'd been driving sticks for 30 years in the US, but there were simply too many other things to concentrate on... like staying on the correct side of the road, which I considered slightly more important that waiting a bit too long to shift into 3rd!

It didn't help that my husband also got a bit huffy about my late shifting.  Sheesh!  You'd think I was strangling the car or something! 

Right?! Ugh. My husband doesn't care about the shifting luckily. And honestly, what's wrong with using your clutch to help you keep the right speed? haha. It's driving me nuts.

That and the required steps to parallel park, I can park a car just fine without doing EXACTLY what they say I should be doing. I have so much trouble turning. I always have to over think about what lane to turn into.

That and the required steps to parallel park, I can park a car just fine without doing EXACTLY what they say I should be doing. I have so much trouble turning. I always have to over think about what lane to turn into.

Parallel parking was the bane of my existence when I was learning to drive. It got to the stage where I could only practice it in my instructor's small car (the car I took the test in), because my parents' car was so much bigger that I couldn't get the angles right if I switched between the two cars. I failed the parallel park on my first test (I hit the curb)... luckily it wasn't a required manoeuvre in the test I finally passed.

I found the whole thing so traumatic that I didn't attempt another parallel park for 4 years after I got my licence... I just completely avoided doing it until I absolutely had to. I'm fine with parallel parking now, but it's been almost 15 years since I passed my test .

Kudos to anyone taking the manual test. After driving here nearly four months I'm still a bit of a nervous/grandma driver here, and I can't imagine doing the test in a stick! I had zero desire to learn manual too (much to the disappointment of my husband- he really tried to get me on the manual team!), so that's another reason I'm going for the automatic license.

I had my first two driving lessons back in December, before I had any private practice or bought my car. I had a bad experience, in part due to my nerves and the "instructor" (seemed more like an examiner and didn't really teach me much) was terrible. Had a very low tolerance for mistakes and just acted like he didn't want to be there... Well, after that I bought my car and got used to things on my own, driving alone and with my husband. I feel like that was hugely helpful in just relaxing and building confidence. I had my first lesson with the new instructor last week and it went sooo much better than the first time around. He says I'm a good driver and it won't take me long to pass, just need to build my confidence and fine tune the things they look for on the test.

Right?! Ugh. My husband doesn't care about the shifting luckily. And honestly, what's wrong with using your clutch to help you keep the right speed? haha. It's driving me nuts.

That and the required steps to parallel park, I can park a car just fine without doing EXACTLY what they say I should be doing. I have so much trouble turning. I always have to over think about what lane to turn into.

Hmmmm, we have a lot in common it seems.   

I tend to ride the clutch when coming to a stop, and it got so bad when I tried to break the habit my instructor told me not to worry about it.  I would mess up my gears, often killing the car, just because I was concentrating so hard to not ride the clutch!

The curb thing was hard too.  When doing a 3 point turn in the US, I generally used a very gentle curb nudge just so I knew where I was in the street.  Here that's the kiss of death on a driving test...  I kind of resented that one for awhile. 

As for the maneuvers, I was praying I didn't get the reverse bay parking or reversing left around a corner - those scared the **** out of me!  I never have been good at reversing, and a parallel park is also difficult, but doable... sometimes.  My favorite is the 3 point turn (even if I can't use the curb for a point of reference  ), so what did I get on my three tests?  The first one was a 3 point turn, which I executed perfectly despite my uncontrollable nervous shaking, the second and third were both reversing left around a corner!  Gah! It was raining buckets on my 2nd test, and I ended up closer to the other side of the road than the one I was supposed to be hugging - but, hey!, I didn't hit the curb!!!  The third test I nailed that left reverse *proudly patting self on the back*, and can't tell you how happy I am to never, ever have to do one again!   

Hmmmmm, those have the ring of famous last words.....