The Student Room Group
Reply 1
There are basic definitions that help. This is the exact text from the DSA's official guide for driving examiners.


DEFINITION OF DRIVING FAULTS - ASSESSMENT PARAMETERS


Fault identified not worthy (not worthy of recording).
Any insignificant deviation from the defined outcome that does not compromise safety or can be a matter of finesse. For example Dry steering, sequential gear changes, not pressing the button on top of the handbrake when applying it.

Fault identified Driving Fault (not an immediate fail).
Low Risk - Any sufficient deviation from the defined outcome that does not compromise safety, or can be a matter of control - to justify a fault being recorded.
For example the candidate took observation before emerging at the junction. However, they misjudged the distance of an approaching vehicle, causing it to slow down, safety was not compromised.
(Sixteen or more of these faults would result in failure of the test.)
There can however be occasions when one specific driving fault could by constant repetition, be regarded as serious and therefore a significant risk; for example when a candidate habitually fails to take mirror observation when appropriate.

Fault identified Serious fault - (entails immediate failure)
High Risk - Significant deviation from the defined outcome with safety, control and/or legal requirement breached
For example the candidate did not take effective observation before emerging at the junction, unaware of any other road user who may have been expected to be there.

Fault identified Dangerous fault (entails immediate fail).
Actual Danger - Safety, control and/or legal requirement breached that would have caused actual danger
For example the candidate did not take effective observation before emerging at the junction completely misjudged both speed and distance of an approaching vehicle. The examiner had to take appropriate action to avoid a collision.
Examiners may have to take ‘action’ when it becomes necessary to do so in the interest of public safety, including their own and that of the candidate. Such intervention may be either - VERBAL (ETA-V) or PHYSICAL (ETA-P).


(Apologies for the DSA's bad grammar. If you found this useful, please let me know. :smile:)
Reply 2
Very useful! Thank you.
Reply 3
man i hate driving, its so easy to do yet the exam makes it sound so hard
Reply 4
live again thread
Reply 5
My instructor once gave me a dangerous fault in a mock test. I was doing a 3 point turn and on the final maneuver I saw a car coming but decided I could get off and away before he got to me, but my instructor thought otherwise and pressed his brakes. That was kind of shocking as I only got 1 other minor in that test and my real test was a few days later which I passed with no problems.
Hmm, I got a dangerous fault purely because of nerves, due to me steering too much on the parallel park - at the point I failed I thought I already had failed (I hadn't actually) and didn't particularly care. Pretty pissed off at that to be honest. As it is you're not allowed to retake a test until 10 working days afterwards, probably for that reason!

I was under the impression (silly instructor) that dry steering would be at least a minor, even a serious if you did it more than a tiny little bit. And I am surprised that cutting someone up can still only get you a minor.
Reply 7
how big is the obs and mirror mean i do look but i swear teh instructor does exxagerate a little, how many lessons you guys have? and how much, im with BSM and £25 :angry:
vincent
how big is the obs and mirror mean i do look but i swear teh instructor does exxagerate a little, how many lessons you guys have? and how much, im with BSM and £25 :angry:

I've had lots, at £20 each.

Jeez, I didn't know BSM were that bad...

I'd advise you to get them at times when you'll be paying maximum attention... the main reason I didn't improve for ages was because I had lessons in crappy slots such as Friday after school when I was knackered. But as soon as I had a regular Saturday morning slot I was fresh and could actually learn.

Obs and mirror... basically you need to be sure that whatever you do, you're not gonna knock some cyclist off his bike, or go into another car, or something... Very important during manoeuvres when you're reversing and turning in awkward places and also using mirror-signal-manoeuvre for turning and changing lane, and moving off etc. Apparently you're supposed to check the mirror when braking and stopping but I believe they're slightly less strict on this? Because if you gotta stop, you gotta stop, but you should still check the mirror.
Reply 9
Thats not very fair though is it. Some people can get really nervous on their test day and end up making silly mistakes, but that doesnt mean that their driving is sub-standard or that they are a dangerous driver!

I failed my first test because of a major fault, my driving had been perfect up until then and I was actually on my way back to the test centre, my examiner wasnt very clear about where he wanted me to go so I went the wrong way, and he ended up slamming his foot on the brake, even though there were no cars about whatsoever and there wasnt a risk of me hitting anyone or causing a collision.
Reply 10
live again thread
Reply 11
vincent
live again thread


Spammer.


I disagree with the notion that "failing due to examination stress does not make you non-roadworthy". The test should ensure that you are a good driver in even the worst of times. Maybe you could be nervous about a job interview, or upset as you've just been dumped. The driving test ensures (at least for most people) that even in the most stressful of times, the driver can drive in a safe manner.
Ghost

I disagree with the notion that "failing due to examination stress does not make you non-roadworthy". The test should ensure that you are a good driver in even the worst of times. Maybe you could be nervous about a job interview, or upset as you've just been dumped. The driving test ensures (at least for most people) that even in the most stressful of times, the driver can drive in a safe manner.


Yes, but you do have to take nerves into account - the examiners do. Most people will never perform as well under pressure as they would otherwise. And yeah, there are a lot of driving situations that will be stressful after you pass your test and you're on your own, but the driver won't deal with them in such a way as they would in the test - ie they'll have the confidence to deal with it, and probably won't panic as much. My leg was shaking so much in my test today (I failed! :frown: ) that I stalled, and I haven't done that for weeks, if not months. If you fail, fair enough, you didn't reach the standard on the day, but I agree that "failing due to examination stress does not make you non-roadworthy". Just like A-level nerves often mean people don't write an essay as brilliant as they perhaps could without the pressure of the exam.
Reply 13
adverse_reaction
Thats not very fair though is it. Some people can get really nervous on their test day and end up making silly mistakes, but that doesnt mean that their driving is sub-standard or that they are a dangerous driver!

I failed my first test because of a major fault, my driving had been perfect up until then and I was actually on my way back to the test centre, my examiner wasnt very clear about where he wanted me to go so I went the wrong way, and he ended up slamming his foot on the brake, even though there were no cars about whatsoever and there wasnt a risk of me hitting anyone or causing a collision.


Hold on, that's a directional error that you made though, not a driving error. He CAN'T fail you for that.
Reply 14
mizzy87
Hold on, that's a directional error that you made though, not a driving error. He CAN'T fail you for that.


Well I failed, and I was well pissed off. He'd been horrible to me throughout the test, talking to me in Welsh sometimes even though Id requested the test in English! His directions were really unclear and apparantly I failed because of the 'drastic' action he had to take.
Reply 15
What drastic action did he have to take?

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