Failed my driving Test

[Chan]

Ok so i feel gutted, took my Test at sutton-in-ashfield with H.N. Chambers (middle aged dude, abit chubby with beard - incase anyone else is from round here) and he FAILED me for UNDERTAKING on a dual carriage way.. basically i pulled off behind a silver merc (i was in right lane) there were loads of other cars in left lane, we sped off (i'm pretty fast off mark.. 1.6 Clio) and left lane was pretty clear so i moved over, accelerated and this silver merc didnt accelerate so i cruised right by him and got a serious for it. now come on does anyon else think thats alittle harsh? he said i should i slowed down and stayed behind him.. HE WAS GOING 45MPH on a 70 LIMIT road, not to mention the fact i had othe cars behind me.. ya i'm realll sure they would have liked me to slow down to 45mph too.

any views? was i stupid or was he harsh?

[Elmo]

my friend failed her driving test cos she didnt overtake a cycilist fast enough... now THAT is stupid!

as for your scenario, surely him in the merc was wrong for driving so slowly in the right hand lane? but it's still wrong to over take on the inside.

[Steve]

Your driving instructor was probably being an are sole. The other driver was an are sole too, but you still shouldn't have undertaken.

Sucks to say it! Sorry.

[ACiD303]

Ive been told that some examiners keep a quota of pass/fail - i.e. some will fail you before you step into the car (well, make any mistake and they'll mark it as a major as opposed to minor).
Also, first time takers (nowadays) are marked harsher.

My mum's a driving instructor and says some examiners do fall into this category - they will give majors for what many would consider minors, but it's like sports, the referree's decision's final.

Rules are rules tho, if you did actually overtake on the left (even though this is something all of us would do anyway in your situation and it's not something Police would give you grief for), then in a test situation, you are breaking the "rules!". He's breaking a rule by potentially upholding traffic. I wouldve cruised alongside him too in the hope he picked up his speed in your situation - but my test was really simple back then.

Uk Driving Tests are silly, once you have your license, there's nothing to stop you picking up "bad habits" and it's not like police will stop you for not placing your hands at 10 and 2 o clock on the steering wheel. You learn alot more from driving yourself once you have your license imo.

[nichomach]

Originally posted by Elmo
my friend failed her driving test cos she didnt overtake a cycilist fast enough... now THAT is stupid!

as for your scenario, surely him in the merc was wrong for driving so slowly in the right hand lane? but it's still wrong to over take on the inside.

I took 4 goes to pass my practical, and on one of those occasions I was failed for not overtaking a bus on the road that I lived just off - traffic bunched up, couldn't see past the flipping thing, cars parked on the other side, so no manoeuvering room at all, and I knew the road well enough to know that the 30 limit was more honoured in the breach than the observance so there was a real danger of running into fast oncoming traffic. I was failed for "undue hesitation"; apparently that was graded a serious fault. So yes, I think either some testers are deliberate a$$holes or they do operate a quota. That said, I wouldn't have undertaken in a test situation.

[Shad]

You broke the highway code (and possibly the law?) so what do you expect?

Learn from your mistakes and have another go

[Stubzz]

That may be true Shad but driving at 45 in a 70 limit road as also very dangerous!! Personally I would have started to match his speed and ask the examiner what to do. Since slowing down to 45 would cause other people to slow down, thereby failing you either way.

Bit of a catch 22 really aint it

[Shad]

Yes match his pace, but you don't know if he's about to pull in. People don't check their near side mirror BECAUSE the highway code says no-one will be going faster than you on your left.

This isn't America!

[Elmo]

yes, but technically you should still check your mirrors shad, i mean what if there was a cyclist? they cycle wherever the buggery they want! saw one yesterday cycling up the MIDDLE of the road?!

[TeePee]

Undertaking or overtaking on the left is illegal unless in a slow moving traffic queue. 45 in a 70 limit is slow moving, and since you would otherwise have been behind him, it qualifies as a queue, and is therefore legal, assuming the manuver was completed in a safe and cautious manner.

45 in a 70 occupying any lane other than the left, unless overtaking might in some cases be considered 'Driving without due consideration for other road users'.

Not overtaking a cyclist quickly enough is a failure to make reasonable progress, again due consideration.

Cyclists=Evil

I think thats covered everything...

[Zathras]

Cyclists=Exactly the same right to be there as you have I spent many years cycling before I was old enough to drive, and I think it's improved my road awareness no end. You have to see everything on a bike: buses about to pull off, pedestrians about to step into the street, people crossing between cars, people going to open doors as if you don't, you're going to get splattered. I still cycle a lot and lose track of the amount of times some idiot gives me no room or overtakes then immediately slams on and turns left, cutting me up. As for roundabouts, don't get me started. The amount of drivers who fail to read the highway code and don't realise that cyclists and other road users such as horse riders can go three-quarters round a roundabout whilst remaining on the outside of the roundabout is untrue. Also the cyclist may have been in the middle of the road as maybe he's turning right? Approaching give-way junctions with the intention of turning right you often have to pull out quite early to prevent being boxed in by cars that pull ahead or level with you then turn left.

[wiltonson]

stop moaning, i pass on the fifth times!! the examiners are bunch of jokers. they failed me for all sorts of funny reasons. on the fifth time, i argued with the examiner in the exam and he pass me PLUS only 4 minors as well.

[Elmo]

nope, he was in the middle of the road, cycling down the centre white lines for at least 3 miles. There was a cycle lane too. Then after those 3 miles, he decided he'd turn left, infront of the car in front of us.

[Zathras]

Then he was a fool.

I passed my test again recently (long story, too long to tap out on my P900, maybe when I'm back on the PC) and got no minors at all I knew I was okay when the examiner started to have a long chat with me and asked if I minded him having a cup of coffee from his thermos as he'd had a rather heavy night the night before, and that was ten minutes into the test. We then proceeded to drive to his house, way off the normal test route, for him to get his bag or something that he'd forgotten to take into work that morning!

[Kezzer]

It's lucky there is only one lane each way where i live

[ACiD303]

I think my test was perhaps one of the easiest (of the time), maybe just a snub harder than India - lasted 18 minutes, no roundabouts (not that I wouldve failed), didnt get "reversing round the corner" and there was NO traffic. Though for my "turning in the road" he gave me a donkey's alley in which I had to do 7 points! My mate sat his test at the same center at the same time (different examiner) and he failed