What one thing would you change about the driving test?

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I meant cheat as in people hiring someone to do it for them. Not sure there'd be any way for that to be stopped.

Ahh yea, true but that's the same for lots of online test yet they still work since people don't cheat 99% of the time.

But there are so many situations where another driver can cause you to fail so easily when its not your fault. In court you would probably win if it ended in an accident but you would still fail your test...

Like seriously if your trying to pull out and somebody sits there and waits for you to pull out of parking only to move off just after you to make you fail seems unfair to me

I understoof nothing of what you posted. If someone stops and lets you out then how would that make you fail?

If you're a safe driver you will be fine. You get crazy situations on the road everyday and need to be ready to deal with the unexpected...

Original post by Ice Constricter

I made a post a while ago explaining why the hazard perception test is utter bull****. And because this post is old not everything it says is true of me. For example I have driven now.

Anyway, here it is:

That was an awesome post.

Reply 41

King Leonidas

Employ better looking and friendly examiners, the last thing you need is someone who is having problems at home venting their frustrations on you by being extremely pedantic with the marking. Not all drivers are perfect so that's last thing a learner should be.

Reply 42

username129099

Not really the driving test but a combination of driving test and insurance making driving more accessible to young drivers. I passed my test when I was 17 and haven't driven since, as I cannot justify the insurance premiums. When I next get in a car I will be older but will not have driven for years, and have forgotten much of what I learned, clearly not a good thing.

Reply 43

ScarlettFierce

I would agree about making reverse parking or turn in the road mandatory and also emergency stop. These are things that every driver should be assessed on... I also agree that reversing around a corner is not as important and shouldn't be examined as often as the others.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 44

King Leonidas

Also the test should be cheaper. We've spent loads on lessons, the theory and the test. We are left with empty pockets to finance our own car/insurance and the whole process of passing seems pointless.

Reply 45

Ice Constricter

Original post by yaboy

I would make the driving test be taken in a closed location, Other drivers can make you fail far too easily if they want to and thats out of your hands.

In a closed location it wouldn't simulate real life driving, would it? :holmes:

So I doubt the practical test would be much of a "test" this way....

Reply 46

cal550

Make it so you can only get a minor for hesitation or clipping a kerb on a reverse manouveure which face it does not really endanger anyone, yes it would be better to be able to control the car in a manouveure or have the confidence to move out swifly at a roundabout but yet at the moment you can only get a minor and not a major for not knowing basic knowledge about lights and tyres which if not used or maintained properly, have been known to cause much worse accidents than have been caused by bumping into a kerb. :s-smilie:

For example if someone does not know that the 1.6mm is supposed to be over around 75% of the tyre and leaves nearly bald tyres may end up spinning off on a corner and taking another car with it.

Reply 47

cat2280

Emergency stops are always carried out on every test in northern ireland, i was hoping to get away with doing one but my examiner said only in england are they in 1 out of every 3 tests :biggrin:

The price

They seem to vary wildly in what people fail for. I should've got more serious faults but I only got 2. The serious faults were very stupid ones and not what I thought I'd failed for. If I hadn't made these stupid mistakes I would've passed and I will hold my hands up and say I wouldn't be a safe driver! I don't think nudging the kerb slightly is the same as pulling out in front of someone at a roundabout but you can fail for either!

Also £50 for the provisional, £31 for an outdated theory test, £62 for a practical?! Add insurance and lessons and it becomes very expensive to fail. I suppose it makes us better drivers and less likely for people to retake 10+ times. And I'm using the inheritance my grandma gave to pay for all of this. The worst thing is when I pass, I can afford a car but not insurance, road tax, petrol and repairs so I won't be driving for a while! I agree with it being more accessible for younger drivers. I will learn a lot more if I keep practising after passing my test.

Reply 50

nick d terrier

I would remove hazard perception test from theory, to me it seemed like some terrible video game where noone really understands what you are supposed to do. Doesn't have a purpose as your hazard perception will be assessed in your driving test

Reply 51

SpicyStrawberry

Make the emergency stop mandatory, it's crucial to know how to do this properly.

Make a parking manoeuvre mandatory.

Remove the silly rule about hesitancy at roundabouts - if you pull out too soon you can get a dangerous fault, if you take slightly too long you're classed as hesitant - completely subjective and nonsense imo. I'd rather wait a little longer and not get my car written off thanks!

Also, the hazard perception test is utter *******s, all it proves is you can click a mouse at the right moment with no real understanding of what was going on asked of you.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 52

lp94

The point about money is obvious. Learning to drive should be accessible to everyone and money should not be an issue.

Also, I think there ought to be more female examiners. I'm almost certain all the examiners at my test centre are male and it's rather intimidating.

Reply 53

F1's Finest

Original post by nick d terrier

The hazard perception test is effectively a test of your reflexes, rather than the action you would take to avoid the developing hazard!

Reply 54

SpottedZebra

Original post by James A

The hazard perception test is effectively a test of your reflexes, rather than the action you would take to avoid the developing hazard!

I understand your point, but I do think the test is very inaccurate in determining who is competent and who isn't. Reflexes are also tested as part of the practical test....I think the theory test should just be about checking that the candidate has knowledge of the roads. The practical test is to determine whether people have the practical skills, and so I don't really see the purpose of the hazard perception