MisterMMM.com: Taking the driving test - part 2

February 23

Some people will change how they drive because this is 'special', it's the driving test after all is said and done, but it should not be different. It really should just be another driving lesson, but someone else is giving the directions.

I know that the examiners like to be called examiners, but they don't examine really: they just give directions and watch. I know that the driving test is called a test, but it's not really: it's just an opportunity for the examiner to see how you would 'normally' drive. The key word is normal, because it's not normal to be observed in this way.

Just drive as normal and treat the examiner as simply an observer. They want to see that the skills are in place to drive on your own, and if they are, they give you a licence to go drive unsupervised. If you know what you are doing then it should actually be no big deal.

Most of my drivers go to test, and all of them are nervous. Some all the time, some once we get to the test centre, some only when the driving starts, but different things happen to different people. Most of the drivers when they pass, agree that really it was just like another driving lesson. Nothing came as a surprise to them, other than nothing was surprising.

But some get really nervous. One lad lost all his colour and went grey when the examiner came into the waiting room and called his name. He was holding his licence out, but shaking it so much that the examiner could barely get hold of it. I thought he might faint, but he went outside, answered the questions, etc, and then got in the car and drove off. He said after, that once he was in the driving seat, he calmed right down, because he knew how to drive, it wasn't a problem! He passed.

One driver I knew was going to fail because of nerves. I had never seen anything like it, and the lesson the day before didn't give me any warning of what was going to happen. So, on the day of the test, we drove off from the house, and immediately attempted to drive out into the traffic without looking or slowing down. NOT SAFE! This continued through all the attempted manouvers even to the point of me doing the braking to avoid crashing into stationary cars. Of course, they failed the test, but did so with the bay park in the test centre, right at the beginning of the test. They did the bay park without looking around even once. The examiner gave me a serious look, but I didn't know the driver was going to do this!

Anyway, another driver was so nervous that she couldn't understand what the examiner was saying, and said so, and the examiner was very helpful. They have seen nervous candidates before. Anyway, no point in a briefing as the driver barely understood the Show Me, Tell Me, questions. She went off and passed. Nervous but safe! That could be my advice for the test. If you're nervous, that's fine! If you're safe, that's good. Just keep safe and bore the examiner into giving you a licence.