Driving Tests - are they harder now?

hethmar

My 24 year old son has just informed me he has failed his practical test for the FOURTH time.

I cant understand it. The instructor says every time that he is a very good driver and just fails on "something silly" every time. is it something silly? Son is dyslexic but he says that isnt a problem. Is it worth continuing to encourage him to take the test if he is in reality useless at driving and possibly a danger on the road. Or is it, as he and the instructor says, much harder to pass a test these days than when I was young? I know he is paying a fortune for tests every couple of months.

whatmichaelsays

To be brutally honest (and this isn't what you want to hear) the driving test is probably too easy. That is, if the purpose of the driving test is to make sure that you are prepared for life on the road.

If he is doing well in every test and just failing on "something silly" then that could just be attributed to nerves that is causing a mistake. If that's the case, it's certainly not worth writing him off as a "useless" driver.

Gordon_Hose

When I did my test there was no theory test, so if anything, they got harder.

newbie007_2

The test is harder now than it was 10 years ago no doubt. Back then it was 30mins now it's 40mins and questions about under the bonnet parts and theory test plus the option of a bay parking manoeurve. You dont know how well your son drive unless you have been in the car while he is driving. I know people where it took them 4 or 5 times to pass so its not unusual, this october the dsa are bringing in a new element to the test http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_188282

I'm afraid I can only see higher failure rate.

hethmar

Ive just checked and its over 50% failure rate in our local test station.

DaveF327

It's true that the test has become more challenging compared to decades ago. This doesn't mean that the test alone has changed significantly, more that road and traffic conditions are significantly different and new rules and situations have been introduced over the years. The test itself, believe it or not, still only requires a very basic standard of competence and has only had a few extra requirements added to it over time - the next one due in October this year.

The problem that a lot of people seem to have is an inability to make decisions quickly when circumstances change rapidly. An example of this is whether to stop or go when a traffic light changes to amber as the driver approaches the "point of no return" at speed. Of course, experienced drivers find that decision easy. Inexperienced drivers may well have been taught the theory, but don't often get the right set of circumstances to practise regularly. The solution? Good instruction that goes beyond the surface of "this is what this light means". Good instruction should include anticipation skills, judgement of speed on approach while lights are green, sense of timing, judgement of where the "point of no return" actually is, knowledge of the significance of different stop lines and markings on the road, and the instilling of confidence in what to do (Plan in the split second where Plan A just looks impossible. Of course, this is just one example; many other situations require decisions to be made with a contingency plan consolidated into a person's training.

It's easy to blame nerves and it's only natural to be nervous on the test. Candidate A will be nervous, may sweat a lot and have a tremble in the voice, but will still make timely decisions and pass. Candidate B will be nervous to the point the "red mist" descending, their mind going blank at critical moments and taking a random guess at that moment, which, on the balance of probabilities, will result in the wrong decision being made at some point. The moral of the story is: it's not nerves alone that fail people, it's their inability to make decisions and plan ahead.

Perhaps the OP's son's instructor could do well to go into more detail with his pupil with a view to probing into his decision making process in various situations. If he hasn't already done so, he should accompany his next test to see exactly what is happening which may be out of character to his lesson performance. Successful instructors consolidate skills, rather than just tell them what to do (which is easily forgotten). Successful instructors also present experienced drivers for test, rather than 'learners' who are still unsure of themselves. Of course, there will always be people who are extremely challenging to train, but a good instructor will have the perseverance and attention to details to achieve this, however long it takes.

darich

If it's harder, then how come there seem to be more bad drivers on the road?
One thing that bugs the life out of me, and it's obviously taught to some people despite being wrong, is indicating right on a roundabout if you're not leaving at the next exit. In effect people indicate right in the left lane then drive straight on.

In my opinion it's easier now based on what I perceive to be poorer driving on the road. Also companies like RED train people up who've only passed their own test 3.5 years earlier. I don't think it's right that someone with that small amount of experience teaches a novice to drive.

Davef327 states "experienced drivers find that decision easy" and "Good instruction should include anticipation skills, judgement of speed on approach while lights are green, sense of timing, judgement of where the "point of no return" actually is, knowledge of the significance of different stop lines and markings on the road, and the instilling of confidence in what to do (Plan in the split second where Plan A just looks impossible."
All of this is perfectly correct.

Can someone who's held a licence for just 3.5 years teach someone else the above? Can they know it themselves?
And note that RED says "You must have held a full licence for at least three and a half years". Not 3.5 years driving experience.

I think the test is easier and poorer standard of driving now passes the test.

iolanthe07

I took my test in 1963. It lasted barely 15 minutes and the examiner asked me to drop him off at the library on my way back to the test centre. It is undoubtedly much harder these days.

wearethedogs

It took me four times to pass my test. Just keep at it, he'll pass one day. Try to comfort him about his test, as I'm sure his confidence will have taken a knock after each test, and if he feels pressured by you, this is likely to add to the nerves and stress of his next test.

Maybe try changing instructor? I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the current instructor, but I found it useful to have a different person teaching me as different people have different methods of teaching and different views on how things should be done. After I changed instructors, everything seemed to click and I past my next test.

wallbash

To those who think the test is easier now , could you honestly say you would pass?

After driving now for over forty years , some years driving over 30,000 miles
I confidently say .................. I would fail.

DaveF327

darich wrote: »

If it's harder, then how come there seem to be more bad drivers on the road?

Choice. That, and lack of enforcement. They met a basic minimum standard once upon a time, then they threw the highway code in the bin and chose to drive however they want.

One thing that bugs the life out of me, and it's obviously taught to some people despite being wrong, is indicating right on a roundabout if you're not leaving at the next exit. In effect people indicate right in the left lane then drive straight on.

It bugs me too, but on a driving test it would earn a fault, but not necessarily a fail as long as no-one is affected. This is what's wrong with the current test standard. In many situations, you can get away with murder providing another car hasn't come screeching to a halt. The presence of the other car could be a matter of luck.

In my opinion it's easier now based on what I perceive to be poorer driving on the road. Also companies like RED train people up who've only passed their own test 3.5 years earlier. I don't think it's right that someone with that small amount of experience teaches a novice to drive.

Can someone who's held a licence for just 3.5 years teach someone else the above? Can they know it themselves?
And note that RED says "You must have held a full licence for at least three and a half years". Not 3.5 years driving experience.

I think the test is easier and poorer standard of driving now passes the test.

That's quite true. The skills of a once proud driver training industry have been diluted by a flood of "wannabe instructors" as a result of aggressive and misleading advertising by a core of instructor training schools. This campaign has been targeting totally the wrong kind of people and in many cases, provides only the most basic minimum standard of training necessary to allowed to teach for money. Not only are there learner instructors teaching learner drivers, but there are incompetent instructors who scraped the instructional ability test on the umpteenth attempt and now (barely) teach incompetent drivers to scrape through the driving test in the same way.

It's possible that someone with 3½ years experience may have the skills required as they have have undertaken advanced driver training, ample instructor training, adult education degrees and possibly even reached police class 1 standard, but whilst that's theoretically possible, we all know it's highly unlikely.

Instead, we're stuck with a system where the DSA test learners to a basic minimum standard, examiners are forced to give the benefit of the doubt where there is no effect to a series of significant faults, drivers (and their parents) look for the cheapest possible driving lessons, ending up with the poorest quality instructors who are cheap due to lack of work and constantly pester to be put in for test before they're really ready.

Until someone has the balls to make drastic changes to the actual standard, implements a multiple test attempt limit (like potential ADIs have) and enforces this rigorously, I can't see this changing in the near future.