Is anybody else finding it impossible to book a practical driving test? My daughter is desperate to take a test and is well capable of passing (IMHO) but getting a date is impossible. They release new slots at 06:00 on a Monday morning so here I am, up and at it, but the handful of slots that did show up at 06:00 disappeared faster than I could book them. I'd click on one and click 'confirm' but it would then state that the time and date were no longer available. The system shows no available slots at any nearby test centres. It is easier to get an Oasis ticket using the lottery jackpot money you won. It's a broken system.
My daughter had to wait 6 months for her driving test-manual.
I was speaking with a driving instructor at the centre whilst he and I waited for the examiners to return. He told me, many many test are booked and people dont turn up. The biggest reason, the learner can't get a car to do the test, because they can't afford a car or pay for driving instructor. He told me some stats(cant remember) and the problem is huge, very big percentage of tests are not taken.
He also told me general driving skills are shocking, with so many people freaking out at the tasks of learning. He said youngsters just don't seem able to hold a set of basic instructions in their head for more than a few minutes-he jokingly called them ticktock memories.
He was forthright about the shitty system and wasted test and levels of drivers. He told me across the board it wasnt uncommon for learners to fails more than 5 times in the practical test.
Im glad we took our time with our child. They drove well over 125 hours of driving before the test came up and passed first time.
