Recently someone was stopped from taking the practical UK driving test because the private car presented had faulty tyres, and it made me think if most pupils are merely interested in passing the UK driving test and nothing more!

The person was given about 5 minutes by the driving examiner to change the tyre, but the pupil’s mum who took the pupil for the driving test had a bad back and thus was unable to do it, and the pupil did not have a clue, so the driving test was cancelled!

When I took the driving test in 1991, things where very easy, you only had to take a practical driving test, with an oral test at the end to check your knowledge of the highway code, no theory, hazzard perception test or ‘show and tell’!

The goverment has obviously found out that a lot of newly qualified drivers in those days did not have enough knowledge to cope in the real world hence these new requirements including ‘show and tell’.

The DSA does not require a pupil to know how to change a tyre or fill a tank with petrol, hence a lot of approved driving instructors (me included), do not cover these topics unless a pupil specifically requests to be taught these things.

So here is my question do you think that you as a learner should be taught these things or have you got too much on your plate already? I know that in this country breakdown services are available so once you have passed your driving test, you don’t really need the knowledge, as you can call someone to do it for you, but what happens if you are driving on an isolated road, it could take 30 – 60 minutes for help to arrive, and in that time you could be vulnerable. A tyre change would take 10 minutes!

You don’t need an instructor to teach you how to change a tyre, or fill a car tank with petrol, a friend or family member could do that!

Some food for thought, and action required! Let me know what you as a learner feel, or even newly qualified drivers having passed the driving test if you feel you are now ready for the real world.

Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

Bad Lesson before Test Day

A mock driving test is a good way of finding out how prepared a learner driver is for the real DSA test, so it is quite common for your driving instructor to conduct a mock test in the days running up to your appointment at the driving test centre.

A mock driving test can reveal a lot to the learner driver even if it is conducted by your own ADI, as just having your instructor next to you only giving directions and not answering those little queries or prompting you about developing situations on the road can bring home the fact that you are not quite as independent with your driving skills as you thought you were during mormal driving lessons, and therefore you can not be able to tick the number 5 box on your DSA drivers record.

If you have a mock driving test with a different approved driving instructor, this could help the candidate get used to being a driver in a car with a different or strange person assessing your skills as will be the case on the day of your DSA driving test, so you have a chance of dealing with the nerves in an examination environment.

Bad Mock Driving Test

As with the real driving test, anything could happen during your mock assessment, and as a driver that claims to be at the required DSA standard, you should be able to deal with the situation safely, and under control, this is why it is important that you have had plenty and enough practice in varied conditions allowing you to have the experience and knowledge to pass the driving test.
The good thing about having a bad mock test is that it highlights any weaknesses you might have, a learning experience that you can use during the DSA driving test and the knowledge that it was not the real thing.

If necessary and there is time, you can reschedule your driving test (not usually very popular here in london with test centre waiting times between 6-8 weeks), take additional tuition to iron out any outstanding issues or just take more time to practice those multi-lane roundabouts that you had problems with on the mock test.

If you haven’t scheduled a mock driving test with your instructor or a different ADI, why not get one before you appointment with the DSA driving examiner, it could help you with that all important pass on your test!

Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

What the DSA Examiner is looking for

On the UK driving test, you will be doing a lot of moving off and stopping, so its important you know what the DSA examiner is looking for, anytime you don’t do what is expected, you could get a driver error, and if that error is classified as serious or dangerous, then you have blown the driving test!

Here are some driving test tips that you should bear in mind when in the car with the DSA examiner during your licence assessment that should help achieve that desired result you want, a pass!

According to the DSA DL25 report form which you get with your driving test, here is what is expected:

Moving off during the Driving Test

‘You need to move off smoothly and safely on level, sloping roads and at an angle taking the correct precautionary observations.’

This applies not just to moving off from the side of the road, but also everytime to stop in traffic, at signals, a junction or roundabout during the driving test.
The POM Routine
Get the car Prepared.
You need to do is take effective Observations, and depending on the situation you will be doing either an all round vehicle check (6 point) for moving off from the side of the road or 4 point (all mirrors and road ahead) for moving off when in traffic.
Then Move Off. When you move off during the driving test, you need to make sure you do so smoothly and under control, and that your car does not affect the safety of other road users (Pedestrians, Cylclists, Motorcycles and other cars).
If you stall the car during the test, don’t panic, first secure the car by puting the handbrake on, then you can either put the clutch down and restart the engine (if you stalled in first gear while going forward or reverse gear while going backwards) or put the car in neutral and restart the engine, and then continue from there. You will get a driving error for stalling on the test, but as long as you don’t lose control of the car by allowing it to roll forwards or backwards you won’t fail the driving test for stalling.

When moving off during the driving test, make sure you only use your indicators where necessary and using them would benefit other road users. Your indicators should not confuse.

Stopping your car during the driving test

You will either be stopping the car on the left or in the road during the driving test.

For stopping on the left, the DSA driving report form DL25 advises ‘Choose a safe, convenient and legal place to stop, close to the edge of the road where you will not obstruct the road or create a hazard. You should know how and where to stop without causing a danger to other road users.’

Mirrors, Signal, Manoeuvre (MSM)
You should always use the MSM routine before stopping the car, whether it is on the side of the road, in traffic, at junctions as the DSA driving examiner want to see you stopping safely, and not being aware of what is around you when you are about to stop is not safe.

S.C.A.L.P.
I’ve explained SCALP in a previous article, and you must use this driving routine on your test to choose a location to stop the car on the left. Don’t fail your driving test for stopping too close to a junction, blocking someone’s driveway unless the examiner specifically instructs to stop there.

As you can see there is quite a lot of things to be assessed on just for moving off and stopping, which is why you need to develop a habit of driving at the DSA standard every single time you have a lesson or are out practicing you skills with someone else supervising you.

The best way of ensuring you pass the driving test is by developing the habits that the examiner is looking for.

More Driving test tips

How many driving lessons will I need to pass the driving test?

Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

No matter how good or experienced your approved driving instructor is, he or she cannot make you pass the DSA pratical car driving test, that job falls squarely on your shoulders as the test candidate.

Your ADI will train you up to the standard required for the test (if you allow them to do their job, and they are not one of the few bad apples in the industry), will give you advice on what you need to work on, if you should change your test date or not, motivate and make sure you progress towards your goal of getting a full UK driving licence.

On the day of your driving test, all that training, advice, practice and motivation will be called to bear as you use the next 40 minutes or so during the assessment to convince the DSA examiner that you possess the required skills to safely be incharge of vehicle unsupervised. No matter what has happened in your driving lessons, the mistakes you might have made the previous day, or prior to arriving at the test centre, the examiner can only judge you on what you do during your time with him or her in the car. Even if you’ve taken a driving test with this examiner previously, they might not necessarilly remember you, and even if they have, they can’t use that previous test result to judge you!

Your passing the test depends on you!

There is only one thing you need to do on the day to get that coveted test pass certificate, drive according to the required DSA standard, leaving the examiner no room to critise anything you do! Every single day roughly 40% of the candidates do that, so there is no reason why you can’t do that as well, but you won’t be one of them if you are relying on luck, or decide to ignore your instructor’s advice, and do your own thing.
I’ve had many people go on the test, and for what ever reason have decided to take matters into their own hands ignoring what they’ve been taught, drive slowly thinking they are being safe and are surprised that they did not pass? If you are not sure why you need to drive a particular way, then why not ask you driving instructor. There is always a reason why the DSA requires things do in a certain way (pull push steering, using POM, using the handbrake at a pedestrian crossing, keeping both hands on the steering wheel), just because you don’t think it is right or convinient, or because you don’t do it in the country you got a foreign licence is irrelevant. If you want to pass the UK driving test and get a full British licence you have to do things the way the DSA wants them to do.

Don’t be a border line driver!

For the best chance of passing the tough driving test that the DSA conducts, you need to be fully prepared, confident, and have enough experience to deal with anything you might come across while out on the test route. You need to be able to do all the maneuvers at the drop of a hat, remembering you need control of the car, while being safe and not a danger to other road users.
You need to be able to drive safely in various traffic and on different road conditions, including upto the National Speed limit of 70mph (even if you know that there are no roads that go that fast on the test route, diversions could occur due to an accident during your driving test).
Only the best preparation will do, if you know someone who touched the kerb while doing a turn in the road during their test and still passed, don’t go for your test if you are still having the same problem, while driving tests should be consistent, don’t expect to pass if you touch the kerb during a maneuver.

So just to summarise, listen to your driving instructors advice regarding the skills you need to pass the practical car test, and make sure you are totally prepared before expecting the DSA examiner to pass you. If you want to be among the 40% that pass, then be the best, you are no longer a learner driver, and the test is just the chance you need to ditch those ‘L’ plates.

Thought: Why are you still using an instructor if you don’t trust their advice?

Recommended Driving test product

Focus Media’s Driving Test simulator for the PC, which is a virtual test simulator based on the DSA driving test, with many videos and senarios to help build your experience required to pass.

Subcribe to Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss future articles.

Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk