"Please take me to your Vehicle"

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Just a thought. It so happens that a brand-new Driving Test Centre has just opened for business in my area - and where is it? Right next to my place of work, that's where it is. Which means I now see an awful lot of very nervous L-drivers just setting out on the big T - or returning home all self-confidence duly shattered ... :biggrin:. Needless to say, as they wait to emerge into the main road and see me bearing down on them, their behaviour has always been impeccable.

I'm wondering now how I ought to put them off/egg them on/baffle and bewilder them/calm them down/scare them do whatever, all in the interests of making their Test more true-to-life...:smile:

But of course I shouldn't scoff. Didn't I have to go through all this myself, all those 40-odd years ago? And it occurs to me, the more opportunity the examiner has to mark up (or down) 'interact safely with other road users including cyclists' the better our interests are served.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
I paid £1.75 an hour for my lessons at Gosforth School of Motoring.
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Glasgow
When you see them going into the test centre, wedge yourself and bike under their car. When they return, scream and cry like a little girl. That should settle their nerves. :smile:
 

thomas

the tank engine
Location
Woking/Norwich
If they're at a junction, which is sort of clear for them to go...other than for you...make sure you're going really fast and see if they SMIDSY. Yell like a girl (see any of Mag's videos) if they do).

Or, position yourself in front of them at lights and see how close they overtake?

I dunno...personally I wouldn't start independantly adding new parts to someone's driving test. :smile:
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
thomas said:
If they're at a junction, which is sort of clear for them to go...other than for you...make sure you're going really fast and see if they SMIDSY. Yell like a girl (see any of Mag's videos) if they do).

Or, position yourself in front of them at lights and see how close they overtake?

I dunno...personally I wouldn't start independantly adding new parts to someone's driving test. :smile:

Not new parts, they ought to be able to deal with something as common as a cyclist...

My sister didn't have to do a fake emergency stop on her test, because as she was driving along, the back doors of the van in front suddenly came undone and a box fell out. The examiner obviously thought that was a good enough test.
 

montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
I've got my driving test coming up pretty soon. I still don't understand why you can fail a test just by clipping the curb at a really slow speed doing manouvers such as parrallel parking.....but personally, I wouldn't do anything to antagonise a learner as they may act incorrectly and squish you. Also, driving tests are friggin expensive. Mine is costing me £66 to hire my instructor's car and £62 for the test. I wouldn't be happy with you if you caused me to fail!
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
I think there may be a vestige of the quaint idea that you should be perfectly in control of your vehicle... Old fashioned and outmoded, I know.

Thinking about it, if you can't avoid a kerb at slow speed, what hope have you got going faster?

That said, I'm crap at parallel parking, as it wasn't in the test when I learned. When I learned, they'd only just got rid of the man with the red flag....
 

Bayerd

Über Member
montage said:
I've got my driving test coming up pretty soon. I still don't understand why you can fail a test just by clipping the curb at a really slow speed doing manouvers such as parrallel parking.....but personally, I wouldn't do anything to antagonise a learner as they may act incorrectly and squish you. Also, driving tests are friggin expensive. Mine is costing me £66 to hire my instructor's car and £62 for the test. I wouldn't be happy with you if you caused me to fail!

Who said anything about causing you to fail?

The person who fails the test is the one behind the wheel.
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
my advice to anyone about to sit a test; take your instructor with you. in my brief experience as an instructor, i never saw anyone fail other than for really obvious stuff. examiners won't add in any 'extras' as when there's a witness, even though there's no comeback.
 

marinyork

Resting in suspended Animation
Location
Logopolis
I used to cycle past a test centre all the time. One's best off leaving them to their own devices, it's not any better or worse than dealing with any other traffic situation. I try not to get in the way. When it's clearly causing distress or problems I've pulled over.

Only one of the roads I go on these days has a lot of learners, I don't think it's on the test route but they go there to practise the 3 point turns and reverse round corners. I don't have a problem with that I'm not in a hurry so will wait or just get on with it, whatever seems right at the time. I don't understand these people that get very angry about learners practising on quiet stretches of road, they have to somewhere.
 
OP
OP
6

661-Pete

Guest
Bayerd said:
Who said anything about causing you to fail?

The person who fails the test is the one behind the wheel.
Quite right. In theory I could ride with the utmost stupidity in proximity to the test car, yet if the candidate took the correct avoiding action he or she would be given a plus mark, I hope. I'm not the one taking the test.

But there are some things I'm not suicidal enough for!
 

montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
alecstilleyedye said:
my advice to anyone about to sit a test; take your instructor with you. in my brief experience as an instructor, i never saw anyone fail other than for really obvious stuff. examiners won't add in any 'extras' as when there's a witness, even though there's no comeback.


I may well heed this advice, though I am pretty confident of passing whatever the extras. You make it sound as if the examiners aim to fail as many people as they can. Do they prefer people to pass, or get more of a kick from failing people?
 

alecstilleyedye

nothing in moderation
Moderator
montage said:
I may well heed this advice, though I am pretty confident of passing whatever the extras. You make it sound as if the examiners aim to fail as many people as they can. Do they prefer people to pass, or get more of a kick from failing people?

it may be to do with the dsa getting more money from people who fail more than once than anything else (i.e. more test fees).
 
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