Depressed...new driving test tomorrow...

crystaltipps

Not going to argue with you Andy - I suspect you are right - it was totally justified.

Thing is, I honestly am fine when with my instructor or partner. The thing with the lanes is where I was, I didn't have much time to get over....on reflection I would have gone straight on - after all you cant fail for not going the right way. It was probably a minute max between me being told to follow signs to S-in-A, and me needing to be over, on a road that has national speed limit and peeps certainly make the most of that! And despite indicating - nothing in the busy flow let me in.

Don't want to paint a picture of me being unfairly treated mind - and you are right about not being ready - I would have passed otherwise! But I seem to turn to a bag of nerves at the mere thought of a test - I made him laugh at the beginning by putting into first, looking over my shoulder, getting ready to pull off and not having the engine on!!! Honestly - I didn't think I could get that nervous over anything!

Thanks for your comment, though.

LandyAndy

crystaltipps wrote: »

Not going to argue with you Andy - I suspect you are right - it was totally justified.

Thing is, I honestly am fine when with my instructor or partner. The thing with the lanes is where I was, I didn't have much time to get over....on reflection I would have gone straight on - after all you cant fail for not going the right way. It was probably a minute max between me being told to follow signs to S-in-A, and me needing to be over, on a road that has national speed limit and peeps certainly make the most of that! And despite indicating - nothing in the busy flow let me in.

Don't want to paint a picture of me being unfairly treated mind - and you are right about not being ready - I would have passed otherwise! But I seem to turn to a bag of nerves at the mere thought of a test - I made him laugh at the beginning by putting into first, looking over my shoulder, getting ready to pull off and not having the engine on!!! Honestly - I didn't think I could get that nervous over anything!

Thanks for your comment, though.

I'm not trying to pick a fight;).

Being able to drive is a great thing to be able to do.

I hope you can overcome your nerves and pass your test as soon as you are ready.

SailorSam

God loves a trier, so better luck next time.
We all learn from our mistakes.

DaveF327

Sorry to hear the bad news. Let's see if we can piece together what happened so you can improve for the 20th.

crystaltipps wrote: »

it WAS the independent driving that scuppered me.

So if the examiner had simply asked you to turn right (as used to be the case), can you say hand on heart that you would not have misjudged the traffic overtaking you? Hard to say without being there, but I get the feeling that it wasn't the direction that scuppered you, but more your reaction to the traffic.

I had to get into the right lane (CURSED LANES) to make sure I could 'follow the directions to Sutton in Ashfield' and I couldn't get over in time - didn't look over my shoulder at one point and managed to give the poor examiner a heart attack by nearly pulling in front of someone. I did manage to avoid disaster completely but KNEW i had been dangerous and deserved the fail.

I then proceeded to get stuck behind a bus, that was parked up...no one would let me in despite indicators flashing away so got marked down for that too.

Both of these scenarios suggest that you are checking your mirrors far too late to be able to react in time, or are taking so long to react that you are losing the opportunities to escape safely. If I'm right, then your test report would be marked 'D' for "mirrors - changing direction" and 'S' for "Response to signs and signals - other road users" or possibly "Awareness and Planning".

How frequent are your mirror updates in between hazards? The more frequently you update, the less you would rely on a blind spot check for a simple lane change. Are you seeing the direction sign in enough time to make the lane change? As you're approaching the sign, even if you can't read the directions yet, at least update the mirrors and have your escape route ready for if the town you're looking for is pointing in an unexpected direction.

The same planning is useful for when you follow large vehicles and buses. Keep your distance, updating mirrors regularly so you always have an escape plan. React promptly to any indicators or brake lights (some buses don't bother to indicate at all) and an early right signal from you will help other drivers to let you out early on, but don't dither too long as they won't wait forever. Once they get fed up waiting for you and drive around you, you're pretty much stuck so you need to be good at anticipation and matching your speed to theirs.

Hope this helps for next time

crystaltipps

Thank you so much for that fantastic reply Dave.

My dangerous was 'Use of mirrors etc' when changing direction. This was the wrong lane panic thing and I absolutely knew I had failed as it happened. You are right about it completely. I was using my mirrors a lot, knew the car was there, but as the road started running out on me, I was panicky and fretting and did a stupid thing! Won't be doing that again - absolutely certain. Would rather miss a turn off! (which I wouldn't have failed for, would have gone a different way!)

My serious was 'Awareness and planning' The bus incident. By that point, with no one letting me out, and originally i thought the bus was not going to be there for long (how wrong can you get! I think the driver must have been having a fag!). Ended up there for a while.

My minors - 'Progress' 2 for appropriate speed and 2 for undue hesitation. I think the former was because I was slowing down on the A38 trying to get over which actually reduced my chances of doing so. The undue hesitation may be about the bus or may not - it is starting to get a bit blurry now! (but my instructor was at the debrief, thank goodness) 1 for observation on my reverse park (which i was actually happy about - just goes to show!) 1 for 'Moving off' saftey - possibly when I was in gear at the very beginning trying to pull off but not having the engine running then trying to start it in first gear and no clutch depressed. And 1 for cutting corners! (junctions).


On reflection, my nerves were terrible, I think I had persuaded myself I was going to fail even at the start.

But - I have booked another 10 lessons in (well, 8 then 2 for the test procedure), and I will also be out with my partner. I will spend this time mostly working on the points i disastrously got wrong today. I am fine with 'street driving' maneuvers, and the unimportant show and tell malarky. So there will be some serious concentration on the A38 and routes into town.

I want to pass desperately - but I will be driving a lot when I do and sometimes with my daughters in tow so it is more important to make sure I am safe and good enough!

Once again, thank you for your information, help, advice.

Hope this hasn't turned into too much of a boring read!
xx

Homersimpson

Don't worry, I passed on my 7th attempt, you've got a long way to go to beat that. I failed one test for speeding!

I don't think the souped up 1978 mini helped either!

Don't give up:D

nobby24

Well OP, did you pass or fail??

Yorkie1

nobby24 wrote: »

Well OP, did you pass or fail??

See post #18, OP didn't pass

crystaltipps

Little update. One week til my re-sit and I have been driving around, not only in my driving instructors hands but also in my lovely little Fiat Siecento that I bought on Saturday. Still nervous about the test though, and need some fingers crossed for me!