Driving test just how many fails is too many?

[Sorastro]

Watching a trailer for an up and coming new series about people taking their driving tests I believe it's to be introduced by Scarlett Moffatt.
The purpose being that apart from the fact she's a well known "celebrity" I believe they said it took her 13 attempts to pass her driving test.

Now in the dim and distant past I remember voicing my opinions on this subject and I'm afraid my opinion hasn't changed. Everyone is entitled to a driving test should they put in for one {and feel confident enough to take one} and no one should be surprised if they happen to fail the first time or for that matter the second or even third as nerves play an important part but I do believe that, as in Scarlett's case, bells should have started ringing after about the fifth or sixth attempt.

Some people are just not cut out to be drivers, I believe in one of the episodes from a previous series one woman had spent over ten thousand pounds on failed tests and she was willing to spend another ten thousand till she did pass her test, and after she got her licence there was no way on Gods earth I would have ever accepted a lift from her, she like many others out there are accidents waiting to happen.
Years ago there was a case in point of a {fairly local} man wanting to pass his driving test {this tale was told to me by his best mate} and the upshot was this guy couldn't drive for toffee but was determined to get a licence. So after numerous lessons and a few fails he discovered that when leaving the test centre on his tests he would be directed to one of three "courses"  used by the examiners so when putting in for his next test for the next couple of weeks prior every night he went out with his mate with L plates on and literally drove every inch of the three courses so he literally knew every bump and curve in the road on any of the routes so when he went for his next test whichever one it was he knew it parrot fashion AND HE PASSED.

I passed first time, that is not meant to be a boast I just couldn't afford the £3 I would have needed to retake it. I have been driving over fifty years, driving has been my career and yes over those years I've had taps and bumps {who hasn't} I've NEVER been involved in a serious road traffic collision, never been injured or caused injury to anyone and on that score I am proud, but there are people out there who just should not be on the road, they like Scarlett, somehow managed a pass one day, possibly due more to luck than judgement, meaning we end up with another one to look out for. 

All anyone needs to do is look up the first series that was on years ago and recall I think her name was Maureen and she was from Wales and she drove a Lada........remember her? frightening it was.

[Fly]

Motorcycle test. 2 parts. Passed both first time within 2 weeks of each other,
Car test passed first time.

[Alsatian]

I also paased my driving test on the first attempt, at the time I worked for Kennings and 3 days later had to take a company test in order to drive their vehicles.

In those days you took pride in having passed, but nowadays its just seen as a 'right of passage'.

[Old Cruser]

Car test second time passed

[Sorastro]

I believe it's up to the person you are taking lessons with and the test examiners who take you on your test to determine how good you are and maybe have a word with people spending thousands on lessons and {failing} test after test and not getting anywhere. In fact I always thought that test examiners SHOULD be able to voice their opinions after someone takes a test, especially if the same people re appear time after time.
The school of motoring instructor unfortunately does have an agenda, the more rubbish you are at driving the more money he will make out of you as you chase your "dream", so expecting an instructor to advise you to "Look pack it in because your cr*p" will never happen. 
As I say nerves will play a part in possibly failing maybe a couple of times, but as the weeks and months and in lots of cases years roll on and they endure fail after fail and they are still no nearer getting a licence I think it's time the examiners said something. It's no good relying on the learner to realise they are rubbish and quit as that {though not impossible} very rarely happens, no one will ever admit to being a bad driver.

About 30 years ago I took a fork truck test for the company I worked for {so I could load and unload my own vehicle} and I found that test more daunting than my driving test, plus with a fork truck you had to have a re test every 3 years and your not even on the public highway with it.

[Rheged]

I managed the Driving Theory Test Centre in Derby in 2005/06.

It was not unusual for people to return numerous times.  The record that I believe was the highest in England was 39 failures for the theory test.  It was also quite disturbing to recall, that the testing for candidates for Driving Instructor status, also had many numerous failed attempts.

Whether it was an an urban myth , I don't know, but allegedly in Germany after 5 driving test failures you are deemed as psychologically unfit to be the holder of a driving licence and are banned from further attempts to obtain one.

[Sorastro]

I managed the Driving Theory Test Centre in Derby in 2005/06.

It was not unusual for people to return numerous times.  The record that I believe was the highest in England was 39 failures for the theory test.  It was also quite disturbing to recall, that the testing for candidates for Driving Instructor status, also had many numerous failed attempts.

Whether it was an an urban myth , I don't know, but allegedly in Germany after 5 driving test failures you are deemed as psychologically unfit to be the holder of a driving licence and are banned from further attempts to obtain one.

Urban myth or no......sounds like a sensible approach to this problem and I think it should become law here.

[Sorastro]

https://medium.com/germany-101/how-to-get-a-driving-license-in-germany-in-2021-de8dab30bc2e


Just found this, it makes our driving tests look a bit tame. We could do with this here!

[Sorastro]

Update on the Scarlett Moffat learner driver series........it starts Monday 13th Feb on B.B.C.

Should be worth a look {from behind the sofa!}

I've also just found out about some new rules of the road..... particularly the pedestrians now have right of way at junctions {eh!},
cyclists can do whatever they like on junctions {THAT'S supposed to be new!} and the "Dutch reach" where you use the wrong hand to open your door virtually forcing you to glance behind you to avoid accidents.

The third one I do agree with as I've seen on many occasions drivers just swinging their doors wide open without looking so they can swing their feet out because they possibly can't walk properly, this is the main reason I always park well away from other cars in car parks where possible.