Unsuccessful - post here

johnmcdnl

carleigh wrote: »

I failed my first driving test today I was very nervous, had a rough night with the worry of it! Main reason being I only got my car 10 days ago, and had not driven for quite a while because I was looking for a car. But my very patient father accompanied me for over an hour every day, and I aced the reverse around the corner and the turnabout. (the two things I had been most worried about). I got 11 grade 2's, mostly for observation. The tester was nice enough, he put me at ease straight away. I got all the road signs and rules of the road correct. Since it was raining, he told me he wouldnt get me to lift the bonnet, instead he asked me some questions which were fine. When he told me I had failed, he said that overall, I had done very well and that I just needed to work on my observation. (Plus he told me exactly where I had made the mistakes, so now I can be extra observant!) So overall I'm happy, as it was a positive experience and I'm delighted that I did well with the general driving, but disappointed to have been so close! I have already reapplied, so fingers crossed for the next time. Going to get plenty more practise in and hopefully next time I can improve.

Hard luck but that's the way it can go - at least you know exactly what you did wrong as you said so hopefully you'll get it next time around. Observation just takes a bit of getting used to. Might be worth getting 1-2 lessons and just asking the instructor to go over the observation techniques with you. It can take a bit of getting used to but once you learn them they become second nature so it's not so bad. And as you said get as much practice in and hopefully you'll fly it next time around.

Now to get all testers to do what yours did and be dead sound and tell us what we did wrong so we don't go and do it again :pac: (I know I'm asking way to much amn't I )

The Black Oil

Failed in Raheny. Admittedly, I didn't get a huge amount of practice in once I was notified of the date.

One or two stupid grade 2s I can sort straight away, no grade 3s anyway.

I wasn't nervous or jittery when doing it. Yer man was sitting there twiddling his pen most of the time so I thought it was OK, but I was too busy concentrating to notice him writing. Lots of areas where I didn't get marks which is good (progress, mirrors, signals), but obviously the other stuff counts.

Lost marks on the reverse and turnabout despite not hitting anything or finishing up too far out from the kerb and I thought I observed enough, but obviously not. I definitely slipped up when turning left once and reaction to hazards was the other area where I lost marks. Also, clearance for stationary vehicles...

Hmm. I thought he rushed through the verbal questions a bit, apart from that it was a fair test.

CommanderC

I just failed in Rathgar. I was completely thrown by the demeanour of the tester. He just seemed like he did not want to be there and from the start I became extremely nervous. As a result I made ridiculous errors that I have never had issues with.

Soooo annoyed with myself for letting him impact on me so much Grrr !!

snotlout

Hi CommanderC,
Sorry to hear you failed in Rathgar. I have my test in Rathgar on Friday Morning, Can I ask you what route he brought you on? I am scared now that I will get the same tester as you! Did the tester give you any explanation as to where you went wrong?

Snotlout

CommanderC

snotlout wrote: »

Hi CommanderC,
Sorry to hear you failed in Rathgar. I have my test in Rathgar on Friday Morning, Can I ask you what route he brought you on? I am scared now that I will get the same tester as you! Did the tester give you any explanation as to where you went wrong?

Snotlout

Hey, don't be nervous. This is a totally subjective thing. This is how I found him but to someone else who doesn't get as nervy, he could be fine.

I lost a **** load of marks for my progress when turning left and right. For some silly reason I was slowing down way too much when turning (again- I was very nervous). And then I did a terrible turnabout too. I feel like I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing because I was so intimidated by him.

I got marked down for mistakes that I made, which is perfectly fair, but I feel I made more mistakes than I normally would because I was not at ease during the test.

I am making this sound like he was a demon but to be honest the problem is me- I should not have let him get to me so much.

Although, I am going to re book in Tallaght as I could never risk getting him again-flashbacks !!

He gave me some very basic feedback at the end, but it just what was on the report.

As for the route, we went through Rathgar, by Nutgrove shopping centre and we went through Churchtown - I remember seeing the Dundrum bypass at one stage. I was driving for about 30 to 35 minutes, although it felt like about 5 hours.

Seriously good luck, I am sure you will do fine. He really was a fair marker. There was nothing on the report that I don't agree with.

CommanderC

Oh and I just remembered that during the test, this same tester whispered one of his instructions to me.

He whispered 'go straight', or something I thought sounded like that. As I didn't hear what he said and so I got confused and ended up getting into the wrong lane. At that stage I was completely flabbergasted and he seemed really pissed off. I was all out of sorts by then and knew there was no way I was going to pass.

snotlout

CommanderC wrote: »

Oh and I just remembered that during the test, this same tester whispered one of his instructions to me.

He whispered 'go straight', or something I thought sounded like that. As I didn't hear what he said and so I got confused and ended up getting into the wrong lane. At that stage I was completely flabbergasted and he seemed really pissed off. I was all out of sorts by then and knew there was no way I was going to pass.

Hi CommanderC,
Thankyou for the information, I will post tomorrow if successful or not

Snotlout

spiderman1885

Pretty poor fail today! Car had been acting up over the last few weeks paid €300 for the software to be reloaded and appeared to fix the problem, but on my drive over the problem resurfaced so I had to make do with my problematic car, forced me into cutting out 4 times - absolutely gutted! Had the car been fine I would probably have passed - straight back to the garage with my car after the exam!

CommanderC

snotlout wrote: »

Hi CommanderC,
Thankyou for the information, I will post tomorrow if successful or not

Snotlout

There were other testers there who seemed very nice. There were about three others who all smiled and said hello, at least, to me while I was in the waiting area. Fingers crossed you will get one of these guys !!!

GOOD LUCK !!!!!

snotlout

CommanderC wrote: »

There were other testers there who seemed very nice. There were about three others who all smiled and said hello, at least, to me while I was in the waiting area. Fingers crossed you will get one of these guys !!!

GOOD LUCK !!!!!

Hi CommanderC,
Just to let you know I passed this morning in Rathgar. I am thrilled as I was so nervous. I think I must have got one of the nice testers that had said hello!

Snotlout

KnocKnocKnock

snotlout wrote: »

Hi CommanderC,
Just to let you know I passed this morning in Rathgar. I am thrilled as I was so nervous. I think I must have got one of the nice testers that had said hello!

Snotlout

Hi Snotlout,

I have my test in Rathgar on Friday and I'm very nervous, especially as I don't know the area very well. What route did he take you?

lukegriffen

hi knockknock

i passed yesterday in rathgar on 1st go, tester was nice, he took me right out of centre, down rathgar road, R into frankfort, then into cowper (cowper downs for u-turn), palmerston, then reverse around corner was in temple hill; then hill-start at dropping well, continue take R onto orwell rd, then braemor pk, dodder road, back to orwell road and finish.

Here's my tips below, they've probably been re-iterated many times...
firstly go slow, gives you more time to react to reactions.

leaving test centre
- make sure you crawl out / stop at path for pedestrians, before continuing on to road. if you go left & then straight on, you need to be in right-hand lane

observations
- mirror mirror signal
- always check mirror before you touch break (coming up to speed bumps, always mirror then slight break just before you hit the bump)
- if you need to move out slightly, due to cyclist/parked cars,check R mirror, move out, then check L mirror before moving back in
- every time you turn into a new road, once you've completed the turn, you check your mirror
- i must have been checking my mirror literally every 7 seconds !

Don't beckon anyone, if you have the right of way, keep going.
If some other cyclist/pedestrian is hesitant to do something,eg. cross in front of you, just wait a moment or two to see what they're going to do, and if they stay put, then drive on

Hazards
- if you see a hazard up ahead, immediately check mirrors (main & R, in case you have to move out), and slow down if necessary, or drop gear if need be. it shows tester that you've anticipated a hazard up ahead. A hazard can be anything, eg. cyclist/parked cars. if you see kids playing football, they don't want you breaking/slowing 20 metres away from them, they want you slowing down 50 metres away from it.

Turning Right
-if there's 2 lanes, you need to be practically on the white line in middle, you don't want to block the left hand lane
- if busy junction and you're first in line, nudge up and turn R if/when the lights go red. If you're 2nd in line, stay behind the white line until first car goes.
- if you drive on braemor park past mount carmel (on your right) and take the right to go down steep hill on braemor rd, take the R at end as practice. Don't drive over the white horizontal lines just before traffic lights. Also if your test is at 4ish, there are a lot of cars picking up school kids just on the curvy dodder road , so go v slow after you turn right.
- on Dropping Well junction, there is a filter light for right turn, but if all clear, you don't need to wait for this if you have a full green light (ie. not a straight green arrow)

On the straight
- if long clear road like orwell road, make sure you get up into 4th and up to 50km in case they do you for slow progress

Reverse corner
- if you screw up the reverse, you can go forward to adjust the car then back again, you won't get failed for doing this(thats what my instructor said anyway).
- make sure you stop half-way through reverse turn to check over your right shoulder & look all around. If any traffic/people come just pause the whole manoeuvre until clear

Finally, it's quite disconcerting when you see the tester start marking X's on the sheet. You can count them like i did, but bear in mind some of them may be only minor marks :-)

Best of luck

snotlout

KnocKnocKnock wrote: »

Hi Snotlout,

I have my test in Rathgar on Friday and I'm very nervous, especially as I don't know the area very well. What route did he take you?

Hi KnockKnockKnock,
We went out of the centre and turned left. We went through the traffic lights and turned right at the bottom of the hill, We then did our hill start. I think we continued on but be carefull as there is a really sharp bend in the road you need to go very slow around it and be aware of it. We then went up past nutgrove shopping centre left at the roundabout and into a housing estate did the turnabout and reverse around the corner too. We drove around the estate and ended up out near the old churchtown training centre and I think we then went back to the centre. Sorry it's a bit vague but cannot really remember the route as I was concentrating so much on my driving!. Just be calm and take your time in the estate and keep up with traffic on the main roads. Remember he is under more pressure than you as he has to get everyhing done in 30 minutes.

Snotlout

areyawell

So failed my driving test for the second time.
Got three grade 2's for Hazards which I have no idea what for. Didnt get one reaction to hazards the first time I did it. Met no bikes, pedestrians or anthin on the route. Asked the instructor and he wouldn't tell me at the end of the test.

One grade 3 for oberservation turning left in a housing estate. It was a T junction and there was a road on the right leading onto the road I was going onto. Said at the end of the test I never looked right. Of course I looked frickin right! No one is that stupid to go left without looking right.

1 Grade 2 for Rules/Checks - I knew everything about the engine, and all the signs still got a grade 2. How i got a frickin grade 2 there I dont know. Didnt get any marks the first time I did it.

1 Grade 3 for Obeservation on reverse? I looked in the left mirror reversing and also out the back window. looked all around me as well and all the mirrors to see if anything was coming. 2 Driving instructors said I was perfect at it. Got no thicks for using mirrors

Other couple of ticks on observation,. Do I need to turn my head 180 degrees or sumtin and tell him I'm looking right or sumtin. Second time doing it on the same route and got way more thicks than last time. Of course the test was in the highest failure rate centre in Ireland, KILKENNY. I failed the test the first time because I hit the kerb on reverse. Woulda passing it otherwise.

starlit

Turn your head 360 degrees from what I have been told.

Did you hesitate at all with the theory questions you got marked down on? Usually if you get a certain number wrong or say make a mistake in more than one you could be marked down on it.

Ya looking at your mirror isn't enough you kind of have to overdo the observation if you don't observe enough you get marked down on it. Overall observation is key and edge your head forward and car forward if your view is obstructed in anyway. At a junction its very important to look left and right the same as you would crossing a road. You could look so quickly that they may not see you doing it so they have to really really see you do it by turning your head not just looking, using your mirrors or just your with your eyes alone.

I got marked down on that myself the observation regarding the reverse, I was observing but not enough I knew myself when I sat the test I knew I might get marked down for it but did the reverse overall ok.

Not just looking at mirrors and looking but looking all around making sure no one is obstructing you or a vehicle coming or taking note if a pedestrian came about, also looking to the front, sides, over shoulders, rear mirror, left/right mirrors, and the back window, you could be marked down for not looking at the back window happened to me in a pretest when doing the turnabout. Looking all around as well as over shoulders, blindspots, mirrors and windows, following the kerb as well, also have your mirror adjusted for the kerb if you need it in case you go out a bit far.

The thing about observation is not just looking at mirrors, its looking through the windows, over your shoulder, looking left and right, looking at your blindspots.

A grade 3 is an instant fail!? You said you got a grade 3 for observation at a junction you'd have failed due to that. You wouldn't have failed on the reverse but depending how many marks you got on it. You only hit it that only be a grade 2 fault, now if you mounted it, it be an instant fail a grade 3. You can only get so many in the reverse section and you could fail. I think its 6 under a single aspect, 4 under a certain heading or else it the other way around can't remember. Its an instant grade 3 - fail for anything considered dangerous!

Read you rules of the road book again and get a few more pre-tests before you resit the test again. Plenty of practice but don't leave it go too late to sit the test again but get plenty of practise in before hand, the more practise the better chance you have at passing. Observation is one of the main reasons why people fail.

Link to grade system and rules of the road pdf file:

http://rsa.ie/Documents/ADI/DrivingFault_Marking_Guides.pdf


http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Learner%20Drivers/Rules_of_the_road.pdf

Best to get the 'Get It' book its very good. Maybe book another test centre if you can other than Kilkenny!?

Good luck on your next test!

Smuckie

I heard that the demon tester in Wicklow centre has been suspended: does anyone know if that's true..?!

areyawell

Kilkenny is awful, I know someone who got scheduled the same test driver four times, failed them on different things every time. Its like hmm this person looks young, better fail em. Got another driving test and a different person and they passed em with flying colors. If you see the differrentiation on the results sheet for the four times they did it, its quite shocking!

Mr_Maestro

So just failed there with a single grade 3 for turning right. Did mine in Tallaght. The grade 3 was for going into the junction box at the greenhills road for turning right. I'm so used to that road that when the light turned green I moved into the junction box to wait for a green filter light.

Alas it was not to be as the green filter light did not appear to my horror. I couldn't turn right because of to many oncoming cars and the filter never went so I was stuck in the box and for that, I failed a very successful test. I got four blue grades and a single green so if it wasn't for that mothertrucker of a light I would have passed my light.

Needless to say, booked my repeat test immediately and also placed myself on the cancellation list so hopefully I'll be doing it soon.

/rant

novarock

Mr_Maestro wrote: »

So just failed there with a single grade 3 for turning right. Did mine in Tallaght. The grade 3 was for going into the junction box at the greenhills road for turning right. I'm so used to that road that when the light turned green I moved into the junction box to wait for a green filter light.

Alas it was not to be as the green filter light did not appear to my horror. I couldn't turn right because of to many oncoming cars and the filter never went so I was stuck in the box and for that, I failed a very successful test. I got four blue grades and a single green so if it wasn't for that mothertrucker of a light I would have passed my light.

Needless to say, booked my repeat test immediately and also placed myself on the cancellation list so hopefully I'll be doing it soon.

/rant

Was it a green light or a straight arrow before when you moved into the box?

Mr_Maestro

novarock wrote: »

Was it a green light or a straight arrow before when you moved into the box?

It was a proper green light when I moved into the box.

novarock

ok, you stil had control of the junction and right of way, so one car can move forward and turn even on the red.

Mr_Maestro

novarock wrote: »

ok, you stil had control of the junction and right of way, so one car can move forward and turn even on the red.

Yes, I was blocking nobody at the junction I just happened to be in the box. Thats all.

woodchuck

Mr_Maestro wrote: »

Yes, I was blocking nobody at the junction I just happened to be in the box. Thats all.

I thought that's what you're meant to do though!? If the light is green, move up into the box and turn when the way is clear. Or if the way doesn't become clear (too much oncoming traffic) then you go as soon as the light goes red (assuming it's safe to do so obviously).

Did the tester specifically say that's what you did wrong?! I really don't think that could be what failed you, unless you missed an opportunity to make the turn, you weren't positioned correctly or too slow to move off once the light went red.

Mr_Maestro

woodchuck wrote: »

I thought that's what you're meant to do though!? If the light is green, move up into the box and turn when the way is clear. Or if the way doesn't become clear (too much oncoming traffic) then you go as soon as the light goes red (assuming it's safe to do so obviously).

Did the tester specifically say that's what you did wrong?! I really don't think that could be what failed you, unless you missed an opportunity to make the turn, you weren't positioned correctly or too slow to move off once the light went red.

He never said specifically what I did wrong even when I asked him. It had to be at that junction box because I only went into one junction box. He said I was in the wrong position at the junction box, that's it. I told my instructor as soon as I got home and he was shocked that I failed because of that.

As soon as the green light came on, I moved into the box. I waited for an opening in the oncoming traffic which never arose, so I would have to wait for the filter light. The filter never came on but since I had the right of way to turn at this point I was gonna move away from the box.

Now I was doing my test at half 3 in Tallaght so it was busy, I knew this before I went into the test. Since it was busy there was cars in the oncoming lane coming through the red light just as I was about to turn. I even saw this bloke accelerate just to get ahead of me.

So now the cars are coming up the opposite lane again and I'm stuck waiting for the light to turn green for me again. The when the way was clear I moved away without any trouble.

I could have understood if I got a grade 2 for that, but I got a grade 3. There was nothing dangerous being where I was, blocking nobody, traffic moving all around me with no issues.

Ah well, next time I can guarantee I wont make any mistakes like that :cool:

fox_1973

I think I know what tester you had, cos I had my test on thursday too, fail second time round with the same tester, and my fault wasnt exactly like yours but a petty one red fault where i think he should of given it, as my sister had a test on tuesday, got a different tester, knows she faulted on something, but the tester said 'I should of given you a grade 3, but its not that bad so I gave you a 2 cos its the only one'

i know they are testers, and have a job to do, but I got told how such a good driver i was but for this one thing!!

Does anyone know if you can request not to have a particular tester? I dont want this guy again for my 3rd attempt, both times failing on one silly (imo) error that I think someone esle would of just given a grade 2 for

Superned

Had test in Rathgar yesterday and failed. Seemed like a very odd man. Asked him to repeat and instruction and he said "Ive told you once already"
Made me very uneasy the entire time as he mumbled about other bad drivers on the road.

I did have clutch issues but nothing grade 3 . He told me afterwards that he put a mark against me coming into the test centre which was my 9th. Seemed a bit to happy about telling me about that one

Superned

areyawell wrote: »

So failed my driving test for the second time.
Got three grade 2's for Hazards which I have no idea what for. Didnt get one reaction to hazards the first time I did it. Met no bikes, pedestrians or anthin on the route. Asked the instructor and he wouldn't tell me at the end of the test.

One grade 3 for oberservation turning left in a housing estate. It was a T junction and there was a road on the right leading onto the road I was going onto. Said at the end of the test I never looked right. Of course I looked frickin right! No one is that stupid to go left without looking right.

1 Grade 2 for Rules/Checks - I knew everything about the engine, and all the signs still got a grade 2. How i got a frickin grade 2 there I dont know. Didnt get any marks the first time I did it.

1 Grade 3 for Obeservation on reverse? I looked in the left mirror reversing and also out the back window. looked all around me as well and all the mirrors to see if anything was coming. 2 Driving instructors said I was perfect at it. Got no thicks for using mirrors

Other couple of ticks on observation,. Do I need to turn my head 180 degrees or sumtin and tell him I'm looking right or sumtin. Second time doing it on the same route and got way more thicks than last time. Of course the test was in the highest failure rate centre in Ireland, KILKENNY. I failed the test the first time because I hit the kerb on reverse. Woulda passing it otherwise.

I got no marks for Observation but had 2 for turning left. Cant figure out why stopped at every stop sign / yield and had no marks for turning right. The only thing about the observation is if you are indicating before looking in mirrors.
I got a hazard for turning right , i didnt have the right of way but the other driver ushered me on

nesthead

Had mine at in the late afternoon in Finglas. This was not a good time to do it!! I was taken through the housing estates for the entire duration of the test as the schools were all getting out at this time. There about 4 primary schools in the test centre vicinity.

I felt a bit annoyed that the entire test taken in the housing estates, it was constant "left here , left here, right here, left here and then immediately right." very hectic, would only be driving between 15-30 metres before taking a corner again, all the while moving around parked cars. It wasnt something I prepared for at all. I failed mainly for not being in the most appropriate gear for turning in the junctions in the housing estates.

I was told by my ADI that I shouldnt be too hesitant at junctions which do not have a stop sign (or I would be getting marks for lack of progress) I felt I going was slow enough to take them, (2nd mostly, but once or twice 3rd) but obviously not slow enough for tester! The tester also thought the engine was giving out. I couldnt actually hear the sound of the engine, which I realise I'm actually quite reliant on, as I had the blower on to stop the windows fogging up on the cold and rainy that it was. The needle on the rev counter wasnt dropping too low either. The car I have is only a 1l engine and can go quite slow in 3rd without much strain on the engine. Failed with 4 blue on gears.

Will book my retest for mid morning, well after schools have started. The clue is definately in the name, Road SAFETY Authority. I will go much slower next time!

witchgirl26

nesthead wrote: »

Had mine at in the late afternoon in Finglas. This was not a good time to do it!! I was taken through the housing estates for the entire duration of the test as the schools were all getting out at this time. There about 4 primary schools in the test centre vicinity.

I felt a bit annoyed that the entire test taken in the housing estates, it was constant "left here , left here, right here, left here and then immediately right." very hectic, would only be driving between 15-30 metres before taking a corner again, all the while moving around parked cars. It wasnt something I prepared for at all. I failed mainly for not being in the most appropriate gear for turning in the junctions in the housing estates.

I was told by my ADI that I shouldnt be too hesitant at junctions which do not have a stop sign (or I would be getting marks for lack of progress) I felt I going was slow enough to take them, (2nd mostly, but once or twice 3rd) but obviously not slow enough for tester! The tester also thought the engine was giving out. I couldnt actually hear the sound of the engine, which I realise I'm actually quite reliant on, as I had the blower on to stop the windows fogging up on the cold and rainy that it was. The needle on the rev counter wasnt dropping too low either. The car I have is only a 1l engine and can go quite slow in 3rd without much strain on the engine. Failed with 4 blue on gears.

Will book my retest for mid morning, well after schools have started. The clue is definately in the name, Road SAFETY Authority. I will go much slower next time!

I did mine in Finglas 3 times & twice ended up going through the estates (school times for both). Agree that it's not the best but if you're driving around the city, coping with that kind of thing is essential - learned that myself!

As for the gear thing, you're not meant to take corners in 3rd no matter how slow your car can manage in it. My old instructor used always say that 1st was for starting, 2nd for turning & the rest for motoring. If you consistently turn in 3rd then they will mark you down.

Don't go too slow next time but just pop down a gear doing the corners - otherwise you'll get done for lack of progress.

Good luck & hope you get it next time!

DGRulz

Didn't fail, didn't pass barely even sat the test. Did my questions got them all mostly right, did the engine checks all fine. Then we get to the lights, front ones are okay, back indicators are fine and then BOOM, one of my break lights is gone and they get a free €85. Sigh, back to the queue for me. Think I'll call the next attempt, attempt 3.5 :P