[daughterlearner]

I had my first driving test on Thursday. I received 4 minors but 1 major but I believe the examiner was wrong.

We were in a road with 2 lanes of traffic and the left lane was coned off and closed ahead. Me (and 2 cars ahead and a line of cars behind) indicated and waited for a space to move over into the right lane. The 2 cars ahead of me moved and I checked my side mirror and the car in the right hand lane flashed his headlight and gestured with his hand for me to move in front of him, which I did (after a quick glance over my shoulder).

When we returned to the test centre I was failed as I had ‘pulled in front of the car’. I explained that the car had flashed and the examiner said they did not flash. They 100% flashed, gestured and let me in. The examiner missed this.

My mum asked for feedback after the exam as I was so upset and asked the question ‘if she received a flash and it was safe to do so should she have moved’ the examiner replied ‘yes you can move if flashed out but the car did not flash.’

So it wasn’t a case of moving unsafely. The examined missed the flash and the hand gesture from the car behind.

It’s not such much the failing that I am upset about but the unfairness. I am now getting a dashcam fitted for my retest as I cannot trust the examiners. My mum has suggested verbalising if it happens again to the examiner ‘I am changing lanes now as the car behind has flashed for me to move and it is safe to do so’.

[daughterlearner]

@Santa it does seem very unfair that I failed on an opinion that was wrong! But it seems I have to suck it up and move on, even though I feel so frustrated

[Santa]

When I took my first test, some sixty-odd years ago, I failed because some cyclists stopped to let me make a right turn. The examiner said I had made them stop.

The problem with driving tests is that the tester is giving an opinion of your driving skills and opinions can often be debated. There is an appeal procedure, but few people consider it worthwhile to pursue it as failure can be expensive.

Fitting a dashcam is a good idea in any case, but I am not sure about "verbalising". It's something I had to do when I did an advanced driving course and found it useful, but I can imagine that it could also be pretty annoying. Take your daughter for a drive and get her to practice it and see what you think.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by Santa

When I took my first test, some sixty-odd years ago, I failed because some cyclists stopped to let me make a right turn. The examiner said I had made them stop.

The problem with driving tests is that the tester is giving an opinion of your driving skills and opinions can often be debated. There is an appeal procedure, but few people consider it worthwhile to pursue it as failure can be expensive.

Fitting a dashcam is a good idea in any case, but I am not sure about "verbalising". It's something I had to do when I did an advanced driving course and found it useful, but I can imagine that it could also be pretty annoying. Take your daughter for a drive and get her to practice it and see what you think.

The appeal process is via a magistrates' court. You can appeal if the test was not conducted according to the legal requirements. The prize for a successful appeal is a refund or a free retest: the court cannot award a pass.
In particular, the DVSA say:
"Your appeal will not be successful if it’s because:

• you disagree with your test result
• you disagree with your driving examiner’s judgement
• you think it was unfair the examiner marked a dangerous or serious fault
• you did not like your driving examiner
• you felt unwell during the test
• your car broke down during the test
• another road user did something wrong and you did not respond to it correctly"

[daughterlearner]

@Beelzebub yes I’d seen that the appeals process is next to useless and in any case will not overturn the fail.

[Rolebama]

See Rule 110.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-high...ers-103-to-158
Did the examiner saw the flash, and not the hand gesture? Did he make any reference to either?

[Mark07]

Originally Posted by daughterlearner

But it seems I have to suck it up and move on, even though I feel so frustrated

Try and take the positive out of the situation, you are clearly a good driver who is going to smash it next time.

You can go into your next test confident and reassured by this.

Life is going to knock you down at times, it's making sure you get back up that's important.