Its not sour grapes...driving test

kidshamrock

Hello all!

I did my first driving test last week and failed on the Observation section (got 6 blues and your only allowed 5 in one section). :rolleyes: I was annoyed cos my instructor had never said I was bad at that, I am more of a coaster!

Anyway, the thing is is that I was always told that the tester WILL NOT talk to you bar the driving commands. They tole me: dont feel uncomfortable if he's all quite. So thats what I was expecting.

Not only did my guy talk to me through out but he was asking me questions! And not driving related questions. I do a very interesting college course and he was asking me questions about issues related to it-basicially picking my brain for nutrition and exercise advice! I didnt know what to do. Talk and risk doing wrong stuff or not talk (and tell him to shut it), be impolite and make him angry.

Also, Im not from where I live presently so he then asked me how often do I go home, how long it takes, do I go the back roads or main roads etc. "A trick question" i thought. If I say I drive home often he might say "you shouldnt be driving without a full driver"

What ye think? Do testers talk and debate with you? Is that normal or was I unlucky??

Would prob have failed anyway but observation definitely is compromised if the guy is jabbering away next to you! Maybe other people need to know that they do talk to you

D

mikemac

Can't you appeal and say he distracted you? Since you were extremly close to passing it might be worth a shot
This is why testers aren't supposed to speak during tests.

If the tester's examiner was in the car with you, he wouldn't have done this

Stark

I'd have preferred if my tester had talked to me to calm my nerves. The guy I had completely froze me out of it which made me extremely nervous.

kidshamrock wrote:

Also, Im not from where I live presently so he then asked me how often do I go home, how long it takes, do I go the back roads or main roads etc. "A trick question" i thought. If I say I drive home often he might say "you shouldnt be driving without a full driver"

I would have been honest up to a point. Maybe say you had a friend in the car with you. Other than that, I don't think you're shooting yourself in the foot by saying you have hundreds of miles worth of driving experience.

3ps

same thing happened my wife. she appealed and got a date real quick.
my opinion... the system sucks and you might as well do what you can to avoid another years wait.
in her case though he laughed at her when she made a mistake. She wouldn't have failed on it if she had just corrected it in time.

atlantean

micmclo wrote:

Can't you appeal and say he distracted you?

So by that a passenger in the car can't speak to a driver? When I did my C test the tester chatted away allthe time, asked all sorts of questions - I still passed!

smash

I'd appeal if I was you, and lodge a complaint too.

kidshamrock

3ps wrote:

same thing happened my wife. she appealed and got a date real quick.
my opinion... the system sucks and you might as well do what you can to avoid another years wait.
in her case though he laughed at her when she made a mistake. She wouldn't have failed on it if she had just corrected it in time.

I can imagine that my lad was laughing inside at me!
Where dis she appeal to? I just dont want them to think its sour grapes!

Pacifico

That sucks

Appeal, although they cant change the fail to a pass, but you might get a free re-test and will get another test very quick.

smash

I'd appeal if I was you, and lodge a complaint too.

kidshamrock

atlantean wrote:

So by that a passenger in the car can't speak to a driver? When I did my C test the tester chatted away allthe time, asked all sorts of questions - I still passed!

But if your all psyched up for a silent drive where you can concentrate on elements that might not be natural to you, a fella asking you questions will distract you. Im brutal for coasting but I got out of the habit and do it correectly now. But the observation is a different thing (I think) as its not natural to look 3 times and over shoulders down a deserted housing estate street.

Driving tests and what you do in them are all for show and the show cant go on when you are trying to think of what exercises the morbidly obese tester should do without killing himself. Hey. he could come back at me months later and sue me for telling him to do an exercise that caused him a heart attack!!! Im just thinking of him like!

mikemac

atlantean wrote:

So by that a passenger in the car can't speak to a driver? When I did my C test the tester chatted away allthe time, asked all sorts of questions - I still passed!

Being deadly serious here. I hate people having stupid reasons for failing their tests,(quota's, monday mornings, not flirting, etc) All myths!

This doesn't apply in the OP's case and they have an excellant case for appeal.

Not having the instructor chatting during a test is there for the learner driver's benefit

3ps

of course you should be able to drive with him talking or not.
but the point is that the tets is not fair if some people get talked to, or laughed at... while others don't.

If the waiting time was 1-2 weeks we wouldn't care about these things but it's 1 year.... so appeal/complain... whatever. And as far as I can remember you can elect to not have the same tester... or they do it automatically.

Wishbone Ash

atlantean wrote:

When I did my C test the tester chatted away allthe time, asked all sorts of questions - I still passed!

They tend to be more laid back during truck and bus tests. It may be because the driver will have already passed a car test and therefore should know the basics of driving/rules of the road etc. I did all categories of tests and noticed that they tend to be more relaxed in larger vehicles.

It is also possible that the OP's tester may have thought that by talking, he/she would be creating a more relaxed atmosphere.

kidshamrock wrote:

he then asked me how often do I go home, how long it takes, do I go the back roads or main roads etc. "A trick question" i thought. If I say I drive home often he might say "you shouldnt be driving without a full driver"

That would be irrelevant to your driving test. The tester is not a Garda and they are not permitted to ask 'trick' questions.

I think you have a very good basis for appeal for a retest. They will not be 'looking' at you and saying anything. Like it or not, you are just a number to them! You will be assigned a different tester.

Go for it.Good Luck.

kidshamrock wrote:

I just dont want them to think its sour grapes!

(Off topic)

Apologies for being pedantic but 'Sour Grapes' is used to describe a situation when, having failed to win/pass something, you then pretend that you never wanted it in the first place and are better off without it.

It comes from the Aesop's (?spelling) Fable about the fox who couldn't reach the grapes at the top of the vine. He convinced himself that they must be sour grapes and therefore he would be better not eating them. Sports personalities/pundits constantly make this mistake also!

stipey

My gf recently failed her test for observation too. The instructor told her that each time she performs a mauever such as turning left, right or changing lanes she checks over her shoulder. (Looking in her blind spot)

He said it wasn't that she was taking her eyes off the road for too long but rather that because she hadn't driven past any motorcyclists or cyclists that the check was redundant - because she should have known there wasn't anybody there.

Surely, it is better to perform a check like that when there is nothing there than to not perform it when there is something there. Being in the habbit of doing it will mean that you always do it when its important.

I've done motorcycle courses where the blind spot check is called "The Lifesaver". We were told that if we checked 1000 times even when we were convinced it was clear and were proved wrong only once that the other 999 would have been worth it.

By that logic checking your wing mirrors is pointless too if you "know" there is nothing there.

Seth Brundle

stipey wrote:

He said it wasn't that she was taking her eyes off the road for too long but rather that because she hadn't driven past any motorcyclists or cyclists that the check was redundant - because she should have known there wasn't anybody there.

This guy soulds like the kind of dumbass thay knocks down a biker/cyclist and says "Sorry I didn't see You"

Hotblack Desiato

kbannon wrote:

This guy soulds like the kind of dumbass thay knocks down a biker/cyclist and says "Sorry I didn't see You"

"Sorry Mate I Didn't See You"
So common it's got its own acronym... and website
http://www.smidsy.co.uk

Wishbone Ash

stipey wrote:

My gf recently failed her test for observation too. The instructor told her that each time she performs a mauever such as turning left, right or changing lanes she checks over her shoulder. (Looking in her blind spot)

He said it wasn't that she was taking her eyes off the road for too long but rather that because she hadn't driven past any motorcyclists or cyclists that the check was redundant - because she should have known there wasn't anybody there.

Surely, it is better to perform a check like that when there is nothing there than to not perform it when there is something there. Being in the habbit of doing it will mean that you always do it when its important.

I've done motorcycle courses where the blind spot check is called "The Lifesaver". We were told that if we checked 1000 times even when we were convinced it was clear and were proved wrong only once that the other 999 would have been worth it.

By that logic checking your wing mirrors is pointless too if you "know" there is nothing there.

In my experience, it would be fairly unusual for the tester to go into that much detail. They don't usually explain why the person failed other than what's marked on the advice sheet. Ironically, they do discuss a mistake/mistakes that have been made, if one passes the test.

Perhaps the tester thought that looking over one's shoulder is a bad habit to get into because the person would then be 'lost' if they were required to drive a vehicle with no side or rear windows (eg a van). In such vehicles, one has to rely solely on the side mirrors.

numorouno

i would be dubious enough about lodging a complaint due to the fact that youn will probably be taking the test in the same centre and all this dudes colleagues will be there and probably get the hump about you complaining him. but then again im a big conspiracy theorist

TommyK

If you're unhappy with the result of your test, you can appeal it throug the Courts.

If the Court find in your favour, it can order another driving test be made available to you. It CAN'T overturn the result of the test.

Tommy.

Wishbone Ash

TommyK wrote:

If you're unhappy with the result of your test, you can appeal it throug the Courts.

If the Court find in your favour, it can order another driving test be made available to you. It CAN'T overturn the result of the test.

Tommy.

Yup, appeal to the appropriate District Court under Section 33 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961.

Hotblack Desiato

Wishbone Ash wrote:

Perhaps the tester thought that looking over one's shoulder is a bad habit to get into because the person would then be 'lost' if they were required to drive a vehicle with no side or rear windows (eg a van). In such vehicles, one has to rely solely on the side mirrors.

But this is a car test, not a C1...
It would be silly not to use the visibility available to you. Years ago my car instructor drilled shoulder checks into me. My bike instructor did it even more
Vans/trucks with no rear visibility have (or should have) large convex mirrors to compensate for the lack of view.
Standard car mirrors have large blind spots and to rely on them alone without shoulder checks when changing lane etc. is asking for trouble.
Actually when alongside a car it's amazing how many drivers check their mirrors but won't look through their driver's door window when changing lane. You're not visible in their mirror therefore you don't exist...

J_R

kidshamrock wrote:

observation definitely is compromised if the guy is jabbering away next to you!

Now, be honest, if you have a passenger in your car, do you tell him/her not to talk 'cause otherwise you can not take proper observations. ??

Your tester was obviously trying to put you at ease. If it had the opposite effect then you should have simply asked him to keep quiet.

I do hope you do not complain.

If you complain, he will get a reprimand, and never again attempt to be human. The most off-putting thing about the test is the silence, or so say the vast majority of people. Shame your driving instructor did not warn you that the tester might attempt to act civil and be friendly.

I wasn't nervous at all. I was blessed to have the nicest, chatty tester ever

Above quote was posted yesterday on my forum re. the test.

OK. different people, didfferent strokes, if silence is your thing then should have asked him to shut it.

It is after all your test. You paid the money, you in effect have hired the tester to have a look at your driving. And only your driving, he would have had no hidden agenda in his questions.

You did say you are doing an interesting college course, so he was interested, curious and in my opinion thought he was doing you a favour by chatting. Shame it might backfire on the poor fellow.

Never mind. Work on your observations and you will pass next time no problem