How do people fail their driving tests more than once?!

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Honestly, how is that even possible? It's not that freaking hard to drive. I mean, just think of the most idiotic adult you know. Do they have their license? If the answer is yes, which it most likely is, then how is it possible for people to fail their test two, three, four, five times?! I mean, I guess I can understand failing it one time if you're really nervous, but any more than that is pretty pathetic. Though, at least they're not passing people because that means less bad drivers out there.

Have you even taken your driving test yet?

Edit - Ok, reading through the thread, I can see that you've already passed your driving test in the USA - well done :smile:

In the UK, the test is marked differently - are faults are marked down instead of things we've done correctly so we can't get 100%. If you make one mistake that is considered to be a serious fault, you'll fail straight away, even if the rest of your driving is good.

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 81

Hanvyj

Original post by nikki-jones2009

huh i thought u get a minor for hesitation?
i dont see how some one can fail at a busy round about. As long as you are safe, and waiting for a safe gap. you cant possible get a serious or a dangerous for that.

My friend failed his bike test for getting two undue hesitations at two junctions (on both tests he did). He has been riding his bike for about 3-4 years and is very capable, I think its stupid you can be punished for not taking risks in your test...

Reply 82

username641583

Its far too easy to make one stupid mistake that you wouldn't normally do without the nerves or pressure regardless of how many times you take it.

Reply 83

FXX

Original post by Hanvyj

It wouldn't have been marked as hesitant if it wasn't safe to proceed. Clearly it was and being stuck behind someone who needs a 100 metre gap to pull out is very annoying.

Reply 84

Hanvyj

Original post by ChrisBan

At the end of the day, there's a lot that we don't know about their test and there is a lot that the OP doesn't know about ours. To compare failure rates on the two tests is like comparing apples and oranges.

Maybe comparing failure rates can give us a good idea about how hard the test is? Assuming they cost the same etc, so that we assume one doesn't have a bias towards people taking it more often (and thus failing it more)

I would say it would be a reasonable assumption to make that the average driving ability for everyone who took a test in the USA and everyone who took a test in the UK is in the same ball-park. With this assumption we can compare the two, and see which is most likley a tougher test.

Makes more sense than the OP, who seems to have looked at it and made the assumption that everyone in the US is 10x better than everyone in the UK (or whatever). Considering her high-view of herself this seems likley.

Reply 85

WelshBluebird

Original post by FXX

It wouldn't have been marked as hesitant if it wasn't safe to proceed.

It can be. As I said, it depends on the examiner.
If you are sat at a roundabout for ages, then no matter if it is safe to go or not, you will get put down for hesitating with some examiners.

Reply 86

Hanvyj

Original post by FXX

It wouldn't have been marked as hesitant if it wasn't safe to proceed. Clearly it was and being stuck behind someone who needs a 100 metre gap to pull out is very annoying.

This is the problem with the tests (in my opinion) its all so subjective. For someone on a 125cc bike you need a decent space, waiting a few more seconds for a space which isn't "i might not die" is hardly undue.

Reply 87

Hanvyj

Original post by WelshBluebird

Just wondering, what do the americans here think of Roundabouts? Considering they are probably where quite a few learner drivers slip up, and they are much less common in the US.

Yeah I failed on roundabouts my first time, but I blame it on my instructor for never really helping me do them properly :tongue:

Reply 88

wanderlust.xx

Original post by potally_tissed

you seem to be under the mistaken impression that being good at driving and being able to pass a driving test are the same thing.

the truth.

It is spoken.

Reply 89

Teaddict

Well you're an idiot aren't you.

My friend failed the first time because an ambulance turned on the sirens behind her and she got scared.
She failed the second time because someone cut her up real bad and she got a bit scared.
Third time went well.

Reply 90

nikki-jones2009

Original post by WelshBluebird

It can be. As I said, it depends on the examiner.
If you are sat at a roundabout for ages, then no matter if it is safe to go or not, you will get put down for hesitating with some examiners.

well there clearly doing there job wrong!if its not safe to go/ why would you go.

Reply 91

FXX

Original post by nikki-jones2009

well there clearly doing there job wrong!if its not safe to go/ why would you go.

The only person that is witness to it is you, and you have a lot less experience than your examiner, so I think people are a little harsh on their examiner when they fail for hesitation. Examiners have the option to mark it as a minor, so it must be pretty serious or a repetitive fault in your driving if you end up failing for it.

Reply 92

tibbles209

Original post by WelshBluebird

1 - Bad luck with other drivers. You can quite easily fail even if you do nothing wrong. I've known people who failed but were told that it didn't matter what decision they made, they would have failed either way.

2 - Nerves. You will be a lot more nervous on your test than you will be at any other time on the road.

3 - A lot of it is experience. Some people just try their tests way too early.

This.
Quite interesting is the fact that the people I know who passed their test first time are probably actually worse drivers than those who took a few times to pass.

There must be some discrepancies between different examiners. I have a friend who actually knocked someone down during their driving test and still passed. Someone ran out onto the road right in front of them, they did an emergency stop but were unable to stop quick enough to avoid hitting them - because they reacted correctly they weren't penalised for it!

I do agree nerves can have a big impact - some people cope with nerves much better than others. For some people they can be crippling and seriously affect your performance.

Reply 93

Right Guard 3.D

What I find annoying (as it happened to me) and happens to countless other people on their test, is that they fail you for faults that, if you had passe your test nobody would actually care about.

Both my friend and I went at 50mph on a dual carridgeway and we failed for going too slowly. Now I've passed, I frequently go on the same place I failed and overtake people when I'm doing 60...its life and nobody thinks about it.

I would hazard a guess that around 75% of failures in a day are because people make silly errors that they wouldn't make if their instructor was with them and, when they have passed, nobody would actually care about.

Reply 94

FXX

Original post by Right Guard 3.D

I would hazard a guess that around 75% of failures in a day are because people make silly errors that they wouldn't make if their instructor was with them and, when they have passed, nobody would actually care about.

When they have 37 minutes to judge your ability they have to err on the side of caution. For example driving at 50mph on a 70mph roads shows inability to either maintain speed or awareness of speed limits. In another situation that could lead to an accident, but the examiner won't see that situation so they have to make the best of what they get.

Reply 95

Meliae

Original post by green chica

I sure have. And, I got a 100% on it the first try. No lie. I guess that's why I don't understand how people can fail it...

On a different test. We don't get percentage scores. The examiners have a sheet on which they mark errors. If you get any serious or dangerous errors or more than 15 minor errors, you fail. It's quite rare to get no minors. Which category an error is classed as is down to the examiner and the circumstances (some faults are always serious, but anything can be a fail fault if you do it enough or it creates some kind of hazard).

A few things myself and people I know have failed for (serious errors), to give you an idea - driving through a puddle (because it may have concealed a hazard), failing to indicate when in a lane which only goes in one direction (I know two people who failed for this, which my instructor had previously said was unnecessary), failing to hesitate when driving past a pedestrian crossing with people on the pavements nearby (not actually at the crossing or waiting to cross, but they may have decided to), entering the roundabout when a driver who was signalling to leave at the previous turn off failed to do so, failing to hesitate before driving through an unmarked crossroads, and turning out at a junction with the result of a too small gap between the car and the one behind (oncoming cars couldn't be seen as the junction was just after a sharp bend in the road behind some buildings). On my third test, there was a horse in the road which the examiner told me to turn left infront of. I hesitated a lot and wanted to wait until it had passed to avoid startling the horse, but the examiner insisted. I was absolutely convinced I'd failed for that, but it turns out I passed (with the same examiner who failed me the first time).

It's very difficult to predict. You can have your instructor (or someone else) sit in on the test and even they don't always know whether a fault will be classed as serious or not. There are so many ways to fail, many of which you probably wouldn't have anticipated and may not even have noticed during the test. The pass rate is about 42% and the average number of tests needed to pass is 2.3. Even experienced drivers who already have their licenses fail: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/motoring-news/half-of-britains-motorists-would-fail-a-driving-test-retake-1766749.html

American talking about taking the UK driving test here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/03/motoring.transport

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 96

Bridy

Some people are dispraxic. You are rather heartless.

Reply 97

Implo

Some people get unlucky, my brother did twice and passed the third time, yet he found every time easy.

Reply 98

JamesBris

Original post by green chica

yes, there are ****ty drivers. that's been established. 1) you're supposed to be able to adjust to those drivers. 2) there really aren't that many. you make it seem like the roads are filled with people who can't drive worth ****, which isn't the case. and, if someone's driving like **** around you, slow down and let them pass.

and, where i'm from, yes, you have to do 50 hours. Maybe they need to start making that a law in the UK.

part in bold: that's what you're supposed to be doing in everyday driving, so there's no excuse not to be able to do that on the test if you really feel that you can pass! granted, i don't do that 24/7, but i still try to do that as much as possible, a good three years after i took my test.

I, myself can quite easily adjust to these type of drivers. While I can admit that I've not been a driver for long I've come across more idiots than any thing else. I'm not saying roads are filled with crap drivers, just that the minute people past their test they think they will be fine ditching the rule book and not taking any consideration in for other road users.

You say that if we come across drivers like that just slow down and let them past? In some cases this isn't possible, there are a variety of different road types and layouts here where you simply cannot do this in some cases.

To be honest, it would be pointless to make that compulsory in the UK. Driving will vary with each person, some people ARE ready for their test after 20 lessons while others need 50. Making it compulsory would mean that a person who is capable of driving to the standards needed after 20 lessons will have to then pay for another 30 lessons that aren't needed.

I see you're from America, I'm not sure how the system works in America or how the test goes but here we have a points system where is you get so many points you fail the test (it's something like 15 points and you fail I think), these are referred to as minors. Then you have "dangerous", "serious" and "major" which I think all fail you instantly. They are very strict here, I got a minor for crossing my hand on the steering wheel once and got another minor for looking in my mirrors and blindspots too early. During my test I was thinking more of the exact moments that they want me to check my mirrors, it's not about just driving, it's about driving exactly how they want you to drive to pass.

I still check my mirrors although I don't do the whole blindspot thing every five seconds and do everything as we are taught as most of it is not needed. I follow the speed limits, learning to drive really stressed me out having to follow everything by the book. But since I've past I've really enjoyed driving, I do love driving around and I still obey all the legal rules in the UK.

Anyway since you're American this whole debate is totally pointless, considering the UK and US driving tests, road types and the rules set down are different in many aspects. It's a hard thing to debate about when the roads here(in the UK) are completely different to America, I know nothing about learning to drive in America or how the test systems work there so I don't have anything more to add.