Biblical Rain storm during test.

stek

My friend failed her test the other day becauce she could not see out the window and hit the curb during one of those extreamly heavy rain showers we've been having lately. Would she have been allowed to pull over and wait for it to die down if she asked?

pvt.joker

thats what wind screen wipers are for.
You shouldnt have to pull over no matter how bad the rain

sonicthebadger*

stek wrote: »

My friend failed her test the other day becauce she could not see out the window and hit the curb during one of those extreamly heavy rain showers we've been having lately. Would she have been allowed to pull over and wait for it to die down if she asked?

If she had asked the tester would not have answered, what would she have done in the car on her own? He cannot tell her how to drive, he can only test.

She should have pulled in and stopped then explained to the tester why she was insisting on a stop ie: freak weather conditions causing dangerously poor visibility.
When the worst of the rain had passed she could continue without danger.

Rare that rain so heavy as to reduce visibility to zero lasts longer than a few minutes. Would seem like an eternity in the test though!!!:)

Hanley

pvt.joker wrote: »

thats what wind screen wipers are for.
You shouldnt have to pull over no matter how bad the rain

Do you have windscreen wipers on your side windows? How about your mirrors??

Imagine trying to reverse around a corner blind like that.

dudara

pvt.joker wrote: »

thats what wind screen wipers are for.
You shouldnt have to pull over no matter how bad the rain

Actually that's incorrect. You should always pull in if you feel that you can't drive safely in the given conditions. Same as driving in fog.

peasant

pvt.joker wrote: »

thats what wind screen wipers are for.
You shouldnt have to pull over no matter how bad the rain

You've obviously never been in a really heavy downpour ...if you can't see, you can't drive.

Alanstrainor

It's unfortunate but it happens, they can't predict the weather. It's hard to comment without having seen the weather conditions, but in heavy rain you would be expected to turn on your dipped headlights. Now if it got extremely bad i would find a safe place to pull over, you cannot be faulted for this, and i'm sure, given the circumstances the examiner may advise when to proceed.

ztoical

peasant wrote: »

You've obviously never been in a really heavy downpour ...if you can't see, you can't drive.

+1 Have been in a couple of really awful downpours and you really can't see anything even with the wipers on max.

wil

Interesting, apart from PvtJokers silly post.
I wonder in the event of a weather advisory alert, do testers ever reschedule tests? The chance of an accident is much higher in heavy rain.

Most people would not chose to commence a journey in torrential rain and that would be sensible, a little bit different if you were on a motorway with nowhere to pull in when it happened, but as you wont be on a m-way during a test, thats not an issue.

In the event of a torrential downpour like we've had recently, I would also suggest puling in somewhere safe until the worst is over.

I doubt any tester is going to expect you reverse around a corner in a downpour with minimal visibility and fogged up rear windows.

Solitaire

I doubt any tester is going to expect you reverse around a corner in a downpour with minimal visibility and fogged up rear windows.

Indeed, BUT the catch is that it's up to the driver to pull over (not request a stop, just do it while telling the tester they're stopping and the reason for the stop), as its up to the driver's judgement whether its safe to continue - the tester won't intervene until its life-risking territory (i.e. miles past Grade 3 territory :eek:). If its a valid reason for stopping almost any tester will not fault you for pulling over if necessary,but often the applicant is so scared of being failed for pausing the test they often fall into the trap of continuing the test when its not safe to do so - which won't please the tester at all, but the tester isn't obliged to say that! Be warned!

Alun

peasant wrote: »

You've obviously never been in a really heavy downpour ...if you can't see, you can't drive.

+1

I've often been on German autobahns where all traffic has just come to a full stop because of such a downpour. Even with the wipers on full speed, you literally couldn't see the car in front. Then 5 minutes or so later it stops and you all drive off again, and a couple of km's down the road the road is often perfectly dry, so just a very localized cloudburst. I've never experienced anything like that anywhere outside of continental Europe though.

dudara

Alun wrote: »

Even with the wipers on full speed, you literally couldn't see the car in front. Then 5 minutes or so later it stops and you all drive off again, and a couple of km's down the road the road is often perfectly dry, so just a very localized cloudburst. I've never experienced anything like that anywhere outside of continental Europe though.

I've experienced it a couple of times driving in the country. The only thing to do is pull it and wait it out as it's usually very localised and over quickly.

I did once coming across someone driving a dark-coloured car in such a downpour with no lights at all on. How oblivious can a person be?

wil

Solitaire wrote: »

Indeed, ......... Be warned!

Indeed "Indeed"
That is where a good instructor comes in. In fact, almost all questions boil down to having a good instructor.
Which is why this forum is quite busy:rolleyes:

A good instructor will try to prepare people for all eventualities, even the unexpected. He should also give them the tools to judge when it is safe to drive or not.

Solitaire

I did once coming across someone driving a dark-coloured car in such a downpour with no lights at all on. How oblivious can a person be?

I nearly hit a FAST dark-coloured car when coming out of a T junction once. It was a moonless night and he didn't even have the parking lights on to warn anyone of his existence. Didn't know Stealth Car was even there until I caught him in the glow of my rear lights. Oblivious doesn't even come close... :rolleyes:

But there's different levels of torrential around here. Biblical is bad, but you MIGHT be able to proceed CAUTIOUSLY on the straight with dips on all the way up to an Apocalypse-level shower The problem is that without a pimped 1337-car with full options, heated/wiper mirrors etc. you just can't do the manoeuvres until it eases off a bit. The testers know this, but they ain't telling!

wil

dudara wrote: »

I've experienced it a couple of times driving in the country. The only thing to do is pull it and wait it out as it's usually very localised and over quickly.

I did once coming across someone driving a dark-coloured car in such a downpour with no lights at all on. How oblivious can a person be?

Very rare here. Try monsoon countries for real rain. Warm buckets of rain and steamed up windows.
Third only to heavy snow and worst of all Freezing fog.
That gave me the scariest driving of my life.:eek:

kenny11

When I did my test in Cork 2 months ago it was warm but was raining very heavy so my side windows kept fogging up even with my aircon full, i told the tester twice that I was pulling over to clear my windows and fair play he cleared his side as well.

When the test was over he told me that he would have and has in the past failed people for not clearing their windows as they would have little visibility.

bryanmurr

Hanley wrote: »

Do you have windscreen wipers on your side windows? How about your mirrors??

Imagine trying to reverse around a corner blind like that.

What part of the test was she doing when she hit the kerb?

Hanley

bryanmurr wrote: »

What part of the test was she doing when she hit the kerb?

I would CERTAINLY hope that it was either a reverse around a corner or a turnabout. If you hit it at any other time then you've no real excuse tbh.

Alanstrainor

Hanley wrote: »

I would CERTAINLY hope that it was either a reverse around a corner or a turnabout. If you hit it at any other time then you've no real excuse tbh.

What about parking at the end?;)
Best of luck tomorrow

Hanley

Alanstrainor wrote: »

What about parking at the end?;)
Best of luck tomorrow

Lol. Cheers!!

Clearly after jinxing myself now. I've another pretest tomorrow morning before it so hopefully all will go well!!

I'm really hoping it doesn't rain.