Credit where it's due?

[Horse]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67610152

A learner driver who failed the theory test 59 times before passing has been praised for their "amazing" commitment.

The person, who has not been named, spent £1,380 and around 60 hours on the process at a test centre in Redditch.

...

Camilla Benitz, managing director of AA Driving School - which has launched a revision app helping learners prepare for the test, said: "There's no doubt it's a tough test and these learners' commitment to passing is amazing".

[KungFooBob]

And that's just the theory test, wonder how many attempts it takes them on the practical test!

[Cousin Jack]

I have heard of people taking 20+ attempts. Makes me wonder if there should be an" X strikes and you are out" rule. After 10 attempts you have pretty well proved you are not a safe driver.

[Demannu]

Ffs!
It''s not hard, they even give (sell) you a book which has all the answers in and even then it's multiple choice.
Had to do one for real in 99, 100%
Always do the online practice whenever a new HC comes out, never below 90%.
Best mate's son gave up after 6 tries, he was out on the piss the night before his last test!

[Rockburner]

I have heard of people taking 20+ attempts. Makes me wonder if there should be an" X strikes and you are out" rule. After 10 attempts you have pretty well proved you are not a safe driver.

The issue with that is that it means folk who have no public transport provision are then effectively barred from travel by the govt: which means they can't get a job, etc etc. It's the same reason that there's no motorway "hands-on" part of the test - because there's sufficient people who live an impractical distance from any motorway to be able to take a test on motorway.

[Taff]

My son has attempt no 4 this afternoon.

[Rockburner]

My son has attempt no 4 this afternoon.

Hell - I had 3 goes at each test:

Bikes:
First test the bike let me down (Suzuki GP100 that wouldn't run below 6K revs): the bugger stalled, but I'd already cocked up turning out of a one-way road (I missed the one-way sign so wasn't aware it was a one-way road).
Second test I can't remember what went "wrong", I think it was just a mixture of minors
Third test I ran a set of lights on amber 2 minutes in, and thought I'd failed so relaxed for the rest of the ride and he said I did nothing wrong.

Car:
First test I got the local chief examiner (who was a known stickler) and failed for driving too slowly down a very narrow road with parked cars both sides.
Second test I got the same examiner and he failed me for "speeding": I happened to change up to 3rd when going up a steep hill at about 25mph just as we passed a couple of pedestrians on a narrow bit of pavement.
Third test: passed with flying colours (different examiner!)

[The Spin Doctor]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67610152

A learner driver who failed the theory test 59 times before passing has been praised for their "amazing" commitment.

The person, who has not been named, spent £1,380 and around 60 hours on the process at a test centre in Redditch.

...

Camilla Benitz, managing director of AA Driving School - which has launched a revision app helping learners prepare for the test, said: "There's no doubt it's a tough test and these learners' commitment to passing is amazing".

I'd love to know if this person was working with an instructor or just putting themselves in for the Theory Test. I'd also like to know what was tripping them up - the multiple guess section or the haz-per videos.

[Skub]

If it's a tough test,why are there so many shit drivers/riders?

[Rockburner]

If it's a tough test,why are there so many shit drivers/riders?

Because people learn to pass the test, then forget everything they've learnt and just do what they think they're entitled* to do.

Pretty much the same as when anyone passes any test - how much of your O-level History** do you still remember?




* I bloody hate using that word.

** Or pick any other exam you had to pass when a teenager that seemed utterly irrelevant and a complete waste of time.

[Skub]

If it's a tough test,why are there so many shit drivers/riders?

Because people learn to pass the test, then forget everything they've learnt and just do what they think they're entitled* to do.

Pretty much the same as when anyone passes any test - how much of your O-level History** do you still remember?




* I bloody hate using that word.

** Or pick any other exam you had to pass when a teenager that seemed utterly irrelevant and a complete waste of time.

True dat. I routinely see R drivers who have entirely forgotten where the indicators are and I could understand the above scenario better if the test was easy,but it's it's said the test is tough,then you'd imagine the standard of driving would be higher.

[Taff]

My son has attempt no 4 this afternoon.

Edit- my son took 4 attempts at passing his theory test

I don't think the theory test is a reflection on someone's ability to drive a car in any way, knowing the rules and applying them in practice are two different things, and driving a car is a lot more than just applying the rules of the road.

[Noggin]

I've never done a theory test !!! Really must do more about swotting up on the French version (might be doing a bus or taxi test next year, so would be handy!!)

[Horse]

If it's a tough test,why are there so many shit drivers/riders?

Knowing what to do, demonstrating competence, then being @rsed to do it, are all different things.

[Cousin Jack]

Never done a theory test either, but 2 tests, 2 passes.

Bike test was on a summer day, so I was dressed in jeans, tee shirt, an anorak, and suede winklepickers. (well i was a loooong time ago!) Then the heavens opened, and I arrived at the test centre like a drowned rat. I literally emptied my shoes of water, rung out the anorak a bit, and started the test in a pretty foul mood. I honestly did not GAS about anything except getting home and getting warm and dry. Examiner was not keen on walking about in the rain either so the test was VERY abbreviated, and the idiot chose a very newly surfaced road for the emergency stop, on a layer of loose gravel. Predictably I skidded, but stayed upright and stopped, although at a bit of an angle to my previous direction. Surprisingly I passed!

Car test was less dramatic, but equally surprising. I put in for a test despite my instructor telling me I wasn't ready yet. On the day he reckoned I had about a 1 in 3 chance of passing. Then he saw 2 people get into my car with me, the examiner and what was the Chief Regional Examiner in the back, examining the Examiner. He revised his estimate of my chances down to abut 1 in 100. I passed!

I think it helped that on one very narrow road with cars parked along it I met an artic turning in from the main street. Either he had to reverse back around the corner with traffic and a load of pedestrians, or I had to reverse about 150 yard to a wider stretch. I reversed, and never got asked to do any reversing around the corner which was a normal part of the test.

[mangocrazy]

My driving tests would have been taken in a similar era to yours, CJ. The first bike test I took I arrived late at the test centre, extremely flustered and not at all in the right frame of mind. I failed on the emergency stop, as I overdid the rear brake, skidded. and had to put my foot down. Failure.

The second time I took the bike test I was early, well prepared and it was all a bit of a doddle. Back then you just had to ride around the block with the examiner following around on foot and attempting to hide behind parked cars before stepping out, clipboard raised aloft, to initiate the emergency stop. I spotted him well in advance and brought the bike to a clean stop yards away from him. Pass.

Prior to my car test I'd been driving (illegally on a provisional licence but with no L plates) for about 6 months. I applied for my test and crammed 7 or 8 lessons into the space of a week immediately prior to the test. The examiner was the same one I'd had for the (pass) bike test and he remembered me. Nothing untoward happened and I passed first time.

[Count Steer]

Passed both first time It was easier back then. Had to bunk off school to do the 2-wheel test but the test centre was opposite the school and the circuit was pretty much a lap around the school. All the examiner said was 'put your hand up a bit higher when signalling' 'cos I was trying to be invisible.

I remember absolutely nothing, zip, nada, nil about my car test. Not sure what car it was in even other than my instructor was Alan Holdsworth (I got driving lessons for birthday/Christmas although my mate used to let me drive his pimped Imp because I knew how to use a clutch and gears ) and it was his car. Might have been an Opel?

I just did both as soon as I was eligible and it wasn't anything like now.

[Yorick]

On my car test I pulled up at a T-junction with lights.
I was indicating left when I noticed the car in the right turn lane was indicating left and looked furtive.
I told the examiner that this knobhead was gonna turn ahead of me and I was gonna wait.
Sure enough the dude pulled the dodgy manoeuvre.
The examinater made a couple of noises as though he was impressed.
The rest of the test was a doddle.

[Count Steer]

So I guess, in conclusion, there are a lot of drivers out there that wouldn't pass the test today so anyone that does now....eventually...is probably better qualified than we were but we've had time to get more experience (and stayed alive).

The ones that bother me are the people that haven't driven for years....then their partner dies...and off they jolly well go, peering over the wheel, zipping through the 30s but slowing down in the bendy/unlit bits. They should retest at a certain age. (But they can't cope with the current workload so it won't happen).

[KungFooBob]

I went through a red light on my car test, I even said 'Whoops' to draw attention to it.

Still passed.

Failed the bike test on the first attempt due to going too slow on a dual carriageway in the rain, passed 2nd time when I went for a gap the tester couldn't make and had to wait 20mins for him to catch up.