I failed my driving test :(

gingaman

So, 3rd time unlucky... This is getting frustrating and expensive

rower63

gingaman wrote:

So, 3rd time unlucky... This is getting frustrating and expensive

my sympathies . took me 3 tries at age 24.

Koncordski

gingaman wrote:

So, 3rd time unlucky... This is getting frustrating and expensive

Yeah, took me 3 or 4 back when i was 18. You'll get it.

rubertoe

gingaman wrote:

So, 3rd time unlucky... This is getting frustrating and expensive

Keep plugging away. i passed 3rd time 7 days before my 33rd birthday.

EKE_38BPM

My mum took something like seven tries in her mid-fifties. She is a better driver than my dad who has been driving since he was in his early twenties.

On an unrelated note, I was in France for a few days and the driving over there is fantastic! I was on a motorway over there for almost an hour at 9am and only saw 10 other vehicles. I see more than that in 10 seconds over here.

gingaman

Passed this morning! It took me four attempts to pass, I am happy I finally did

mtb-idle

EKE_38BPM wrote:

My mum took something like seven tries in her mid-fifties. She is a better driver than my dad who has been driving since he was in his early twenties.

On an unrelated note, I was in France for a few days and the driving over there is fantastic! I was on a motorway over there for almost an hour at 9am and only saw 10 other vehicles. I see more than that in 10 seconds over here.

I drove to Lourdes last month to follow Le Tour round the Pyrennees and can echo this (echo this).

There was a section just past Pau which was 85 miles long. In about sixty of those miles i saw just two other cars, an open top Merc which I overtook and a Skoda estate which overtook me. Other than that it was totally empty.

as well as rding 3 HC climbs I also stopped off around Arcachon for a few days. It's really, really great for cycling with cycle specific routes which are about 300 metres off the main road and go on for miles. There was a section I rode which was about 5 miles and the tarmac was perfectly flat, high quality and all one piece, no repairs, patches, cracks or anything, just smooth, rolling tarmac.

Back on track though, well done Gingaman

UndercoverElephant

gingaman wrote:

Passed this morning! It took me four attempts to pass, I am happy I finally did

Congratulations! Now you'll actually learn to drive.

roger_merriman

gingaman wrote:

Passed this morning! It took me four attempts to pass, I am happy I finally did

Well done!

Re the French driving, been in the Channel Islands with the bike, almost too considerate driving, not overtaking unless, until they are very sure.

Mind you considering most of the roads are narrow lanes, drivers seem not to have got good awareness of there cars size and space around the cars.

Admitly I grew up and learnt to drive in similar though much steeper and narrower lanes.

sketchley

Congratualtions!

24 years ago (almost to the day) I passed my driving test first time after just 14 hours of lessons. Now the DVSA say the average is about 46 hours of professional practical driver training and a considerable amount of private driving practice in order to pass. This seems to fit in with the number of lessons my wife does with her pupils before they go for test. However it is fair to say the quality of teaching and the level of testing has gone up somewhat.

rubertoe

Well done.

I bet you feel great.

you think learning to drive is expensive.... wait til you are a car owner.

warreng

EKE_38BPM wrote:

My mum took something like seven tries in her mid-fifties. She is a better driver than my dad who has been driving since he was in his early twenties.

On an unrelated note, I was in France for a few days and the driving over there is fantastic! I was on a motorway over there for almost an hour at 9am and only saw 10 other vehicles. I see more than that in 10 seconds over here.

I beg to differ - we were driving back to Calais and were about an hour away on the A6 and we were run off the motorway by a lorry. We went through a gap across the central reservation across 2 lanes of oncoming traffic at 60mph and came to a halt in the hard shoulder. Lost the exhaust and a tyre. Still, cheap Belgian beer in Carrefour while waiting for the car to be mended

roger_merriman

rubertoe wrote:

Well done.

I bet you feel great.

you think learning to drive is expensive.... wait til you are a car owner.

Only if you make it so, if your paying for finance or size/power of the car, ie insurance/fuel, stuff like tyres etc.

I have a old car that frankly, makes buses/trains look expensive. for six months I couldn't drive, getting to work was remarkably slow and expensive. As for intercity journeys, the disparity in time and cost is laughable.

sketchley

roger merriman wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Well done.

I bet you feel great.

you think learning to drive is expensive.... wait til you are a car owner.

Only if you make it so, if your paying for finance or size/power of the car, ie insurance/fuel, stuff like tyres etc.

I have a old car that frankly, makes buses/trains look expensive. for six months I couldn't drive, getting to work was remarkably slow and expensive. As for intercity journeys, the disparity in time and cost is laughable.

Agreed, I have a 11 year old Ford Focus with 120k miles on it, had it since 6 months old with 8k on the clock. Cost £8.5k now worth £700, no major mechanical issues. That work out about 7p a mile. On the other hand I also have a BMW Z4 that I brought new last year, probably depreciated about £8k from what I paid in 14 months and I've done 12k miles in it which is 66p a mile, but it is a fun car to drive. Really wish I hadn't worked that out by the way! Of course you have to add, Petrol, insurance, tax, servicing, tyres etc to this, plus if you finance the car then you can add even more to this.

That being said a return to work on a Oyster card is £12. That's for 24miles which is 50p a mile.

I've done 6000 miles on my two bikes at total cost of £6k (just for the bike) I could probably get £4k for the pair currently which mean they are running 33p a mile. No petrol, but there is clothing, shoes, food, beer, insurance to add on......

So there you have it bikes are cheaper.......

The Rookie

Well done on passing....

Driving in France is nice with the lower traffic density, just got back from Florida where the driving was horrendous, 4 lanes of highway with about 1/2 second gaps....

meanredspider

Can't help but tag onto this thread. My daughter failed her test yesterday. A "serious" fault noted was one occasion where she didn't change up from 4th to 5th on a single carriageway road. The car is a 65bhp Fiat 500, it was pi55ing with rain and there was a lot of traffic. The Fiat is only at 3000rpm in 4th at 60mph (she was doing less than 60). 5th gear is 600rpm less - and puts the car into part of the rev range where nothing happens when you move the throttle pedal.

I asked the examiner to clarify this "serious" fault. He started by saying it was if she didn't know what 5th gear was for. I said that I'd been taught in advanced driving courses to stay in a gear that gives you control, especially in adverse conditions. He said "But she's not advanced - she's a learner" (which struck me as bizarre). I asked him to explain how it was unsafe. He said that they have to assess on "Eco-Safe" driving (I later read on the form that they can assess and comment on Eco-safe driving but it can't be a reason to fail). We had quite a long discussion about it because I simply can't see what's "serious" about it. Anyhow - rant over...

elbowloh

meanredspider wrote:

Can't help but tag onto this thread. My daughter failed her test yesterday. A "serious" fault noted was one occasion where she didn't change up from 4th to 5th on a single carriageway road. The car is a 65bhp Fiat 500, it was pi55ing with rain and there was a lot of traffic. The Fiat is only at 3000rpm in 4th at 60mph (she was doing less than 60). 5th gear is 600rpm less - and puts the car into part of the rev range where nothing happens when you move the throttle pedal.

I asked the examiner to clarify this "serious" fault. He started by saying it was if she didn't know what 5th gear was for. I said that I'd been taught in advanced driving courses to stay in a gear that gives you control, especially in adverse conditions. He said "But she's not advanced - she's a learner" (which struck me as bizarre). I asked him to explain how it was unsafe. He said that they have to assess on "Eco-Safe" driving (I later read on the form that they can assess and comment on Eco-safe driving but it can't be a reason to fail). We had quite a long discussion about it because I simply can't see what's "serious" about it. Anyhow - rant over...

Yep, sounds like bull to me! I was also told to stay in the lower gear in bad conditions as you have more control, but not on advanced courses, just in regular lessons.

rubertoe

I had my test in london,

I never got out of 3rd.

pblakeney

rubertoe wrote:

I had my test in london,

I never got out of 3rd.

That must have been a tricky three point turn!

rubertoe

PBlakeney wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

I had my test in london,

I never got out of 3rd.

That must have been a tricky three point turn!

Black cab, innit.

pblakeney

rubertoe wrote:

Black cab, innit.

Anything to avoid the congestion charge, eh?

meanredspider

Funnily enough the (Highland) cab I was in today was happily rolling along at 60 in 4th - it's not like Highland cabbies to waste fuel or wear their engine. I wondered whether to point out the "serious fault" he was making...