Failed my first driving test today.. was the examiner a bit harsh?!

Usefulness is not the thing being tested. Complete and safe control of the vehicle at all times is.


Maybe just the newspapers drumming up a story. I hope the DVSA does not - it would be a retrograde step in my opinion.

Reversing around a corner is tested precisely because it's a difficult manoeuvre and catches a lot of people. How seldom one ever needs to use it is of no consequence. (Actually, you would be surprised that it's needed more often than one would think. Reversing out of a garage drive into the traffic flow is very common but not recommended. Similarly, reversing a vehicle onto a driveway from a road or into a parking space are other instances.)

It requires co-ordination, alertness, control and awareness all around the vehicle and from three traffic directions under pressure.

The poster who said 'exaggerate' everything has the right idea.

As for rear view mirrors when reversing, the good habit is the act of turning to look in the mirror because it forces you to swivel your head and at the same time check to see that there is still no traffic approaching from the front of the vehicle which your offside-front may swing into as the vehicle reverses around the corner.

The same goes for looking over your right shoulder at the blind spot.

Laziness and poor concentration in parking and reversing manoeuvres is an absolute bastard when someone does it to your parked vehicle but then drives off without accepting responsibility for the damage they caused.

I failed my first one for "not stopping at a zebra crossing" when some man was just loitering 3 metres away showing no intent to cross, and all other traffic besides me was also just driving over it. Totally convinced I'd passed til he told me at the end, and I couldn't even have guessed where I failed! You win some you lose some.

Maybe he didn't see you checking, maybe you didn't check properly, hard to tell from your description. There is a blind spot that you can't see just looking out the driver's window, unless you throw your whole body out and somehow curve around to look. The one you check if you're changing lanes on the motorway. I guess you now know for next time! :P

Come to think of it, when do you reverse around a corner?