Category Archives: Beginning drivers

A Couple of the Typical Ways to Fail a Road Test

There are innumerable ways to fail a driving test. Most of these scenarios are very predictable, and with my vast experience I am constantly pointing out to my students these situations.

For example, I have a student who started lessons with me with absolutely no experience. She has been diligently practicing since February and has a road test scheduled for early August. The first few hours of lessons were filled with the usual hard braking and uneven acceleration and wild steering, but things started to settle down and smooth out and excellent progress was being made. During a recent lesson I forced myself to keep quiet and let the student make the decisions of when it was safe to make a left turn. She was waiting in an intersection for a safe gap to make her turn. She watched the oncoming traffic come to a stop and was still waiting in the intersection when the light turned red. I had to tell her to go, and if it was a road test – fail. A very typical way to fail: not clearing the intersection after the light turns amber and red. At the Point Grey licensing office this often happens on the first left turn. I was once sitting outside the office and witnessed my hapless student fall victim to this all-too-common gaffe. Thirty minutes to go and already failed.

Another student was a very competent driver when I met her. Her mother must be a great driving teacher because both this student and her brother, a former student, were awesome drivers when I met them. This is the type of student who should, without a doubt, pass her road test. However, during her road test she was the victim of one of the classic failure scenarios. She was at a stop sign waiting to make a right turn. There was a car coming from the left with its right signal on. Assuming this car was turning, my student shoulder checked to her right, all looked good, and she started to go. The examiner stopped her – the car with the signal on wasn’t turning. It doesn’t matter whose fault it was, the result is a failed driving test. Another quick look to the left would have prevented this unhappy situation, but under the pressure of the road test anything can happen.

Now this student is on her second road test. Everything is going great until another one of the classic failures comes up – speeding in a playground zone. Even though we had driven through that speed trap numerous times, a temporary lack of focus led to the inevitable failure. Fortunately, this student passed her next road test.

This how competent drivers fail and borderline ones pass: the borderline ones manage to squeak through the test by not missing signs and not doing anything dangerous. Their driving is not great, but through luck and focus they don’t give the examiner the ammunition he or she needs to make them come back for another attempt.

As the owner and instructor for New Day Vancouver Driving School, I teach new, inexperienced drivers. I can help you prepare for the Point Grey Class 7 road test and the Point Grey Class 5 road test. If you have failed your road test, I can get you ready for your next attempt. Don’t go into your road test without arming yourself with the valuable information that can not only helping you pass, but also preparing yourself for the multitude of situations that arise in everyday driving. If you are looking for a friendly, professional driving teacher in the city of Vancouver, give New Day a try.

 

"Dangerous Driver" Passes Road Test

As a driving instructor, I am not allowed to make comments about driver examiners. For example, before a road test, I never tell my students my feelings about the potential examiners. You see the examiners huddled together, and the examinee wonders, “Which one am I going to get? I hope I get a nice one.” I tell my students that they’re all the same, but of course they’re not. After the road test, my students always tell me about their road test experience and the behaviour of the examiner during the test. This is not Las Vegas – what happens on the road test does not stay on the road test.

Recently one of my students came for her road test using her own car. In the pre-trip portion of the road test, instead of turning on the headlights when requested, she turned on the parking lights. Well, the examiner apparently did not like this. During the road test, the examiner, according to the student, kept badgering her to find out who her driving instructor was. She basically told him that this information was irrelevant to the road test at hand. He then proceeded to give his opinions about the driver training industry, and how he was very unhappy with the poor level of instruction these days. They can’t even teach their students how to turn on their headlights. He mentioned the name of one driving instructor and asked her if that was her teacher. She told him that she didn’t know who that person was, but no, this examiner would not let the topic go. The stressful road test had another layer of pressure added.

Now, let’s go to the end of the road test. The car is parked, and now is the time the examiner is supposed to give his verdict. Not this one; he proceeded to point out the examinee’s shortcomings and tell her that she was a “dangerous driver.” She assumed that she had failed. He then told her to come into the office so he could take her picture. What the hell? Did she pass? What’s going on? Inside the office, she eventually realized that she had passed.

When my client related this bizarre adventure to me, she expressed her astonishment with the whole experience. Why was the examiner so concerned about who had taught her how to drive? (She had learned from her brother-in-law, with some extra help from me.) Why did she pass if she was a “dangerous driver”? Why didn’t the examiner tell her at the end of the road test that she had passed? Anyway, all this goes to show that you can pass your road test even if the examiner thinks you are a “dangerous driver”.

Now a word from our sponsor: New Day Vancouver Driving School conducts driving lessons in the city of Vancouver. We teach beginning drivers. We can help you prepare for the Class 7 or Class 5 road test. If you have failed your road test, we can help you get on the path to successful re-attempt. Take control of your driving with the road test expert – New Day Vancouver Driving School.