Booking a driving test

[Drago]

Google it. If I recall correctly they have an acronym to prepare for it and by the time youve worked through that in your mind you're in the hedge.

Questionable if its appropriate for a civilian driving at sensible velocities with a careful approach, but the Inbred Adenoidal Maniacs put more emphasis on "making progess" than RoSPA tend to. Handy for maintaining velocity, saving a fraction of a second, opening a corner to improve visibility, but I've never bothered with it since I was thrown out of RPU.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Google it. If I recall correctly they have an acronym to prepare for it and by the time youve worked through that in your mind you're in the hedge.

I getcha.

I would never dream of teaching that to a learner driver. It's a skill for experienced drivers who are competent enough to use it where appropriate. No learner (And a lot of full licence holders) could be trusted to do that. It didn't figure on driving tests because it was never taught, but I should think most examiners would rather see candidates stick to their own side of the white line for the same reason as me.

 

[figbat]

I getcha.

I would never dream of teaching that to a learner driver. It's a skill for experienced drivers who are competent enough to use it where appropriate. No learner (And a lot of full licence holders) could be trusted to do that. It didn't figure on driving tests because it was never taught, but I should think most examiners would rather see candidates stick to their own side of the white line for the same reason as me.

I agree and whilst I do use it when appropriate, especially on a motorbike (and was encouraged to do so by the Thames Valley Police during a Bike Safe course), I don’t preach it to my daughter. My curiosity was how it would sit with an examiner, given that it is legal and sometimes appropriate although not generally taught nor often observed.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

What do you mean by "Offsiding".

It’s what knobs try and do to overtake you, when you are approaching a blind bend on your bike. There’s inevitably a car coming the other way.

 

[figbat]

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.

Success!! Another 05:40 alarm call on a Monday morning, join the website queuing system, keep refreshing the page as 06:00 approaches, then click as fast as possible to login and grab whatever date is shown. It means her test will be over a month later than originally booked, but it is at least at her favoured (and practiced) location.

The website runs a queueing system, rather like a popular ticket booking website does if busy. The trick is to join the queue by ~05:45, because at 05:50 the 'people ahead of you in the queue' was so long that you won't get in before 06:00 (my wife and I had a device each going - she made it in, I didn't).

 

[CXRAndy]

Plenty of time to hone her skills

 

[figbat]

Plenty of time to hone her skills

…or learn bad habits! She’s become quite a confident driver which is great in one respect but does mean she sometimes arrives at a situation a little unprepared.

As a driver I’m pretty happy with how she drives - she’s better than some people I know who have been driving for years. She just needs to drive correctly enough to pass the test and gain real time experience.

 

[Dave7]

Now a 6 months wait time in some areas and scammers are now cheating the system.

My story........
1964 (aged 17) I took my 1st lesson. The instructor immediately booked my test and 6 weeks later I was the proud holder of a full licence.

What stories do you know of ?

 

[si_c]

My understanding is that there aren't enough examiners to cover demand and it's compounded by the booking system being unfit for purpose - instructors can block book large numbers of tests in a single click before anyone else can get on to book anything.

 

[Pblakeney]

A higher percentage of the population driving?
More young people getting cars?
Just a hypothesis from looking along our street.
Add on a higher population along with less (?) testers due to cutbacks and the bottleneck is inevitable.

 

[Beebo]

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/booking-a-driving-test.306328/

Good thread in the motoring section

Mod note: the two threads are now merged.

 

[figbat]

My daughter is easily ready to take a test. We booked one but could only get a spot at a distant and unfavourable centre, for February. We persevered online at 6am on a Monday and managed to get a space at the local, favoured site, in March. Her instructor believes he may be able to swap her for one of his students who isn’t ready yet but the whole process is massively frustrating and demoralising.

 

[Beebo]

My daughter is easily ready to take a test. We booked one but could only get a spot at a distant and unfavourable centre, for February. We persevered online at 6am on a Monday and managed to get a space at the local, favoured site, in March. Her instructor believes he may be able to swap her for one of his students who isn’t ready yet but the whole process is massively frustrating and demoralising.

Keep looking over Christmas.
There will be loads of cancellations. You just need to be ready to go.
My daughter got a cancellation on 23rd December last year.
The only down side was she had to do the test in our car as the instructor was already booked. But she passed.

 

[gbb]

Now a 6 months wait time in some areas and scammers are now cheating the system.

My story........
1964 (aged 17) I took my 1st lesson. The instructor immediately booked my test and 6 weeks later I was the proud holder of a full licence.

What stories do you know of ?

17 yo in 1976, had a handful of lessons, passed first time after a short waiting time for a test (couple of weeks perhaps)
I dont know why it's got progressively harder to book a test...but its been building a while.

GD passed hers a couple years ago and she had quite a wait.

For all the introduction of hazard perception, plus all the other elements that now exist...you'd wonder why the state of driving standards is so poor now?

 

[gbb]

Yes, it would be fine. Until suddenly it isnt.

Yep, and I think we all can (or should) look at our own actions when somthing goes wrong, even if the other is apparently at fault. Driven roundabout hundreds, thousands of times with a car beside.me, no big deal...until last year, a lorry Inched over Into my lane at speed,.nearly taking the side of my car off, literally millimetres to spare. Scared the bejesus out.of me.
I technically did nothing wrong BUT I put myself beside a thumping great lorry. I unwittingly contributed toward it, simple as.