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I went over the sidewalk

Hello,

So.. Today I just did my exam and.. I failed. I didn't even last 3 minutes or maybe even less. As shameful as it sounds... I still couldn't get over what happened as I walked home trying to hold in tears..

So.. The story was... I got in the car, adjusted my seats, mirrors (I'm quite small, I'm just 5 feet so I had to re-do things multiple times but that was before I even moved the car out of the parking space, not sure if this is relevant but I'm just going to write it down anyway) I strapped in my seat belt, started the engine and left the parking spot, I didn't necessarily need to signal because we were going straight, not changing lane or anything, just straight, we were facing that direction. All is well up till now, then not 2 minutes had passed, my examiner asked me to do parallel parking. So I signaled, stopped the car and do the normal parking but.. This is where it went wrong, I went over the sidewalk and my examiner yelled at me and told me to get out of the car, he said if the car was on the sidewalk then I failed. I just... Failed... As I got out and circle around the car, I almost breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that the car was straight, it didn't look like it had gone over but just to be sure, I looked at the wheel and... Yeah...half of the wheel was on the sidewalk... I.. Almost fainted then, so I went back to the car and he said that I failed. Just like that, not even 5 minutes had passed. I got out of the car in silence and blamed myself the whole ride back and the whole walk home... Also questioning if what I did was that grave to end my exam then and there. There was no one passing by, only half the wheel was on it. The other learner that did the exam before me (I was the second to do the exam) almost hit a car when curving to the right, went too fast on curves, turned in the wrong direction to what was instructor, went over the other lane in a panic, almost drive to and on the sidewalk, the examiner had to maneuver the wheel for her twice, let her car go down 6 times and he still allowed her to continue until she couldn't restart the car. So... I was honestly shock, was what I did so.. Grave and life endangering? I spoke with my dad (because he's the one paying for my exam) and he said he would speak to the school about this, should I stop him? Do we even have the right to complain? It's my first attempt and it's had me very discouraged and honestly, I'm scared as hell. Just one mistake and I'm out. Was what I did undeserving of a chance? Please give me your opinions, I know that going over the sidewalk is a great offense but...could I not get a second chance?
Reply 1
Original post by Hanahaki
Hello,

So.. Today I just did my exam and.. I failed. I didn't even last 3 minutes or maybe even less. As shameful as it sounds... I still couldn't get over what happened as I walked home trying to hold in tears..

So.. The story was... I got in the car, adjusted my seats, mirrors (I'm quite small, I'm just 5 feet so I had to re-do things multiple times but that was before I even moved the car out of the parking space, not sure if this is relevant but I'm just going to write it down anyway) I strapped in my seat belt, started the engine and left the parking spot, I didn't necessarily need to signal because we were going straight, not changing lane or anything, just straight, we were facing that direction. All is well up till now, then not 2 minutes had passed, my examiner asked me to do parallel parking. So I signaled, stopped the car and do the normal parking but.. This is where it went wrong, I went over the sidewalk and my examiner yelled at me and told me to get out of the car, he said if the car was on the sidewalk then I failed. I just... Failed... As I got out and circle around the car, I almost breathe a sigh of relief when I saw that the car was straight, it didn't look like it had gone over but just to be sure, I looked at the wheel and... Yeah...half of the wheel was on the sidewalk... I.. Almost fainted then, so I went back to the car and he said that I failed. Just like that, not even 5 minutes had passed. I got out of the car in silence and blamed myself the whole ride back and the whole walk home... Also questioning if what I did was that grave to end my exam then and there. There was no one passing by, only half the wheel was on it. The other learner that did the exam before me (I was the second to do the exam) almost hit a car when curving to the right, went too fast on curves, turned in the wrong direction to what was instructor, went over the other lane in a panic, almost drive to and on the sidewalk, the examiner had to maneuver the wheel for her twice, let her car go down 6 times and he still allowed her to continue until she couldn't restart the car. So... I was honestly shock, was what I did so.. Grave and life endangering? I spoke with my dad (because he's the one paying for my exam) and he said he would speak to the school about this, should I stop him? Do we even have the right to complain? It's my first attempt and it's had me very discouraged and honestly, I'm scared as hell. Just one mistake and I'm out. Was what I did undeserving of a chance? Please give me your opinions, I know that going over the sidewalk is a great offense but...could I not get a second chance?


Which country is this...?
I guess your second chance is retaking your test. Are you based in the US?
Reply 3
Original post by IWMTom
Which country is this...?

Portugal.
Reply 4
Original post by Country Roads
I guess your second chance is retaking your test. Are you based in the US?

No, in Europe. Portugal to be precise. And yeah.. I have to pay 300 Euro to book another exam.
In the UK, driving onto the kerb when parking is an instant fail. The reason is that it displays a lack of control when parking. Taking an extreme, if there were pedestrians on the pavement looking the other way, you'd be at risk of driving into or over them. More likely, if there was a brick wall against the roadside you'd be at risk of hitting it. More pragmatically, driving onto the kerb risks damaging the tyres and wheels.

Failing you instantly is fine. Shouting at you was unprofessional.
You won't get your test fee back becuase you failed and deserved to fail.
Complaining about the attitude of the examiner might get him retrained or sacked.
If you had a dashcam in the car, you'd have had footage that could have been passed onto his superiors.

Suck up the 300 euro fee. Be better prepared next time and give it your best shot at your next test.
I failed 4 driving tests before eventually passing.

The fees to pass your driving test are just the tip of the iceberg of what you will have to spend to be car driver for the next 50 years.
Reply 6
Original post by Dunnig Kruger
In the UK, driving onto the kerb when parking is an instant fail. The reason is that it displays a lack of control when parking. Taking an extreme, if there were pedestrians on the pavement looking the other way, you'd be at risk of driving into or over them. More likely, if there was a brick wall against the roadside you'd be at risk of hitting it. More pragmatically, driving onto the kerb risks damaging the tyres and wheels.

Failing you instantly is fine. Shouting at you was unprofessional.
You won't get your test fee back becuase you failed and deserved to fail.
Complaining about the attitude of the examiner might get him retrained or sacked.
If you had a dashcam in the car, you'd have had footage that could have been passed onto his superiors.

Suck up the 300 euro fee. Be better prepared next time and give it your best shot at your next test.
I failed 4 driving tests before eventually passing.

The fees to pass your driving test are just the tip of the iceberg of what you will have to spend to be car driver for the next 50 years.

I understand but it just makes me speechless that he gave someone else who almost drove into the sidewalk while travelling at at least 30kph, crossed over the other lane when curving and almost drove into another car three chances and not me when all I did was going over the sidewalk not even for a full wheel. Would it not endanger the people driving on the other lane as well and risk collision with a passing by car by driving over to the over lane at a cross road?
Original post by Hanahaki
I understand but it just makes me speechless that he gave someone else who almost drove into the sidewalk while travelling at at least 30kph, crossed over the other lane when curving and almost drove into another car three chances and not me when all I did was going over the sidewalk not even for a full wheel. Would it not endanger the people driving on the other lane as well and risk collision with a passing by car by driving over to the over lane at a cross road?

There is no benefit in worrying why someone else was permitted to continue whereas your test was halted immediately. It doesn't help you. You failed. Book another test.
Reply 8
Original post by Admit-One
There is no benefit in worrying why someone else was permitted to continue whereas your test was halted immediately. It doesn't help you. You failed. Book another test.

I already have. It was the first thing I did. I only made this thread to ask because I was told I had at least 3 chances to do the parallel parking by my instructor. I didn't understand how grave it was to go over the sidewalk, even by a bit. I was only told to not go over it but then again, I was also told not to do many things which he later said it could be a "pass" if it didn't endanger anyone. There was no one walking by and only half of one wheel was on the sidewalk, not even the entire wheel, it looks like it just grazed it from afar and I would have immediately put the car in reverse and got off if my examiner didn't yell at me and had me panicking.

And also, the other leaner would have been halted immediately too because she almost drove into another car if the examiner hadn't stepped on the breaks for her and help her with the steering wheel.

But I understand that I made a mistake and I'll learn from it and practice more on parallel parking so it doesn't happen again. I just didn't know that it was that grave, in my head I thought it was the same as not indicating the light or letting your engine die.

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