The Ultimate "I failed my driving test!" Thread (Mk. III)

Driving tests are so frustrating!!
so far i have failed 3, my last one just a couple of hours ago.
In my last one i literally passed and then i failed. I had quite a hard route and then i had a reverse bay park back at the test centre, which is the manouver i find the hardest. But everything went fine on the drive and i only got three minors and then my reverse bay park was really good too, and if i turned off the engine i would've passed. But i was paranoid that i was on the line so i went to adjust it and then everyhting went to **** and i almost hit a car.
I don't know what the **** is wrong with me.

Surely the logical thing to do would've been either lower your window and lookout or lower the wing mirrors?

I opened the door to look and just thought it looked really wide, probably because i'm so used to being really close to the line as i usually do a bad job of reverse parking.

Failed twice now 😑1. Forgot to signal and check mirrors on a busy roundabout (technically it threw me off becuase there were SO many cars on the road) 2 serious and 4 minors2. Apparently was too far out for the parallel park and didnt follow the correct road markings so examiner had to grab the wheel 😰 2 serious and 4 minors again!3. Booked again... wish me luck 😁

Just had mine today and failed first time within the first two minutes. Out of the test centre, big roundabout, was in rush hour so tried to take a gap but my examiner didn’t think it was big enough apparently and slammed on the brakes. Tried again a few moments later when I saw another gap and she did it again. Ended up not pulling out again until the roundabout was literally empty to my right. Wasn’t risking her slamming my brakes again. 1 serious for that. Picked up 7 minors, one because the satnav said bare left so I wasn’t indicating but it was actually a left turn. 1 for steering, 2 for obstruction - going down tight back roads trying to dodge cars and getting too close to parked cars. 3 for undue hesitation at roundabouts because after the serious fault at the roundabout I stopped, waited, checked, double checked, triple checked every other roundabout and wouldn’t go unless it was 100% clear to the right. Actually ended up feeling more confident after the test since I had a really good drive and didn’t stress even though I knew I id failed within 2 minutes of starting the test, feel sure I can handle stressful road situations now so I’m kinda glad I failed in a weird way...

Yeah, I had the exact same thing, I passed second time and I am sure you will! But I pretty much failed within 10 minutes, stalled on a hill start, knew that I had failed however it didn't throw me off and the drive was really nice. Just abit of advice, I am sure you realized now, but NEVER take your test in rush hour, that is literally the one thing you never do, you may get lucky where its rush hour start stop traffic which means a usual 10 minute drive takes up the full 40 minutes because of traffic.

Also, be honest, was the gap big enough for you to not hold up traffic, you have to remember that you are joining the roundabout at 0 mph, whilst it may have been clear, by the time you have safely joined, a car coming around could've speed up and due to it being roundabout, they may have rear ended you! Even if they hadn't rear ended you, holding up the car would've been a major, hindsight is a great thing, but maybe if you had said something to the examiner about there being so many cars on the roundabout, they may have even helped you, they are not evil people! On my second test, I went down a really narrow 20 MPH road which had little lay by things in case of meeting traffic situations, it is a very complicated road even for experienced drivers, but my examiner guided me through it all, its one of the only road where you are allowed to mount the pavement which I had to do and she still guided me then.

That’s interesting I never would have thought to ask for the examiners help/opinion to be honest. Never would have crossed my mind. Looking back, I do maintain I could have got on and off the roundabout safely, I was taking the left exit so I was sure at the time I would be on and off before any cars were near me but I totally understand why the examiner stopped me. Rush hour, people driving more erratically, probably would have been a safe gap at any other time of day but you definately do have to be more careful and vigilant of rush hour drivers.

I did a lot of my lessons at rush hour so I actually don’t really mind driving then at all but maaaaybe when I book my next test I’ll go slightly later just to avoid having this situation repeated!

Fair enough! As you say the examiner was just extra cautious as everyone in rush hour is in a rush to get home, they don't care about anything else. If you are certain you are fine in rush hour times then stick to it, but people do say the best times for tests are between 9AM-12PM and 5PM onwards, I have personally never seen a late test, but you have to pay a little extra for them but they have the highest pass rates as there is literally no one on the roads at this time.

Yeah I think I might go for the next earliest one after 8:10, I think 9:07 (?) if I can. Seems like a more reasonable time to avoid most of the lunatic drivers

Failed twice now, but both times my examiners were lovely and I don’t think they were harsh at all I just got nervous and made stupid mistakes.

1st test was 1 major and 7 minors, was turning right at a traffic light and thought they were filter lights and started to turn and then the traffic going straight on obviously started to move and my examiner hit the brakes
2nd test was 3 minors and a major, i was on a roundabout and accidentally moved into another lane without really looking

3rd one today. I need to stop doing all this stupid stuff because I’m nervous since I never do any of it normally

Have you failed your driving test? Maybe the fail wasn't even your fault!

Feel free to post below and share your frustration!

Maybe driving just isnt for me. I have my 4th practical test tomorrow.

1st one: Someone waved me out of a junction but because i went before they fully stopped, i disrupted the flow of traffic apparently. If they had fully stopped it would have been them who had disrupted it so it wouldnt really matter. (1 major)

2nd: Hesitation, rolling back on hill start, speed on approach to junction, use of mirrors and one other thing i cant remember. (5 Majors)

3rd: Missed a giveway line, clipped my mirror on a parked car (2 majors)


Ive got my test tomorrow and i really dont want to fail again

Good luck! I really do hope you do pass tomorrow but it does have to be said that driving isn't for some people, if you don't mind me asking, how long has it been since your first test? Also, not sure if you have done already, but you should look at Automatic driving, you will find that its alot less stress. Whilst I passed in a manual a month ago, I still feel nervous whenever I go out in my car, afraid that I might do something wrong with the gears, stall (Which I have done quite a few times) etc. Anyways a good nights sleep won't help alot, but it is still worth trying to get an early night, eat light foods the night and morning before your test so sandwiches and bananas etc also watch videos of things you are not sure of, watching videos on hill starts really helped me, I knew how to do them, was just when it came to actually doing it I would panic.