Motors DSA Theory test & Practical Test help and advice thread

did you pass?

 

If this is even remotely representitive, then common sense should get you through.

 

I did actually pass my theory test! if you want to pass you must know the highway code and your road signs and have decent reaction times for the hazard perception though we are mostly gamers so we have that anyway,

now its time to update the thread with the practical test

 

Good luck

 

I failed my practical test twice, my advice is to stay as calm as you can.
You know exactly what to do, and you can do it 100% on the mocks. just keep as calm as possible, you know how to control the car. keeping your nerves under control, because if you put pressure on yourself that is when you will start to make silly mistakes.
I failed twice but it was silly mistakes caused by pressure both times. take a few extra seconds before you make a decision.

 

just keep reasding the highway code. and doing the mock tests.. you'll get it eventially.
try to work out the meta for road signs. (red border = mandatory, triangle = warning, blue - motorway).. and remember. all of the rules you're trying to learn were written in the 60's, by a bloke with a stick up his arse, and who was terminally allergic to fun, and thought the austin princess was the height of technology. ergo, if there's more than one possibility, thing "what would the guy in the beige austin princess do"..

that and keep repeating the stopping distance table to yourself till you see in in your sleep.


as for the hazard perception test... you're supposed to click when there's actually a hazard, not when you see a hazard developing.

the car approaching the junction ahead is NOT a hazard, (but it is developing). the car AT the junction ahead is the hazard. if you've had any experience driving at all, when you think you see a hazard, count to three, out loud, THEN CLICK.

golden-1. who's currently studying the highway code and hazard perception course, and considering going for his direct-access motorbike test...

 

I failed my first hazard perception test as I thought the intention was to click when something was an issue, e.g. a pedestrian has stepped out in front of you.

Second time round I went in with the mindset "there's a guy who might step out on the road, a car on a side street, some lights that might change, it could start raining, a branch could fall off that tree..." passed no problems.

People say it'll fail you if you click too much but I've never heard of it happening, I clicked for whatever I felt like and it worked out.

 

I've actually failed my practical test.

But the thing i failed on, is now im not kidding but it was the FINAL turn before going into the test centre, I needed to turn right there was a car coming i misjudged its speed it was really flying down over the speed limit, all had to do was to wait for it to pass and then turn, however i didnt realise it was so fast and i turned and failed for it, couldn't believe it right at the end as well

 

Oh man, that sucks.

However, at least you know what you did and can use that when you have another go.

 

Failed my practical 3 times. 3!

Had this examination center in the middle of nowhere with the most miserable old s##t you could imagine. Fairly sure I could have driven around Northallerton for the rest of my life without passing a test there.

Changed driving center and passed 4th time easy as you like.

Just don't give up/get too vexed, was such a stress looking back as I had a job the following week i needed a car for!

 

All I'm going to say on the subject is that I know someone who's taken 120 hours of lessons and has yet to pass their test. I've only done one professional lesson and no revision besides a couple of quick goes on practice papers for the theory. The rest of the time I've been going out with my dad and I've learnt more about the theory that way through sheer roadcraft than actually trying to learn the highway code.

 

I was speaking to my instructor as I was still quite down over my fail and he mentioned two people also failed recently and he told me why and in my opinion as bad as mine was on the final turn the first person was just as bad and the last person was even worse (harsher)

The first lad failed for stopping on a green light as he was nervous

and the second drove all the way through the route perfectly and back at the test centre he forgot to put the car in neutral and he brought the clutch up, the car jerked and he failed for it

 

Both are bloody good reasons for failing.

 

Stopping at a green? That's impeding the flow of traffic and increasing the risk of an accident as other drivers are going to assume you're moving when the light is green, not sitting like a lemon. Justified major. Being overly hesitant is one way to fail a driving test, guaranteed, as it's showing you don't have enough time behind the wheel.

Stalling the car? Bit more marginal, but they were still in control of the vehicle at that point in time. The test doesn't end until you turn off the engine and get out.

 

I would argue both your case and the green light were very valid reasons to fail, as you're forcing traffic to change their speed and or direction when they shouldn't have to, which is a straight fail.
The stalling incident though really is harsh, especially if they are still in control of the vehicle as they are showing good reactions and instincts to the incident.

 

I dont think he stopped on a green light as in driving then stopped on green i think it would of been red light but going green but not realising its gone green

 

Ah, well not moving off when lights go green either demonstrates you're not paying attention (bad), hesitation (bad) or generally something else bad. Either way, bad!

 

Everytime I get in the car the instructor usually says so and so went for a test and how they failed, another one he mentioned was a women who driving all fine but it was on the manouvre she got the turn in the road

and when she was reversing cars came so she stopped and giveway like shes been taught that was fine but the problem was, when you reverse you are suppost to look out the back window well she did do that as she was reversing but she stopped for the cars and started reversing again even though it was only a tiny bit she had to reverse she didnt look back again so she failed

its always little little things they are failing for

I understand failing for speeding for example 32+ in a 30
and also failing for not checking mirrors/blindspot
driving badly as in oversteering understeering etc
pulling out in front of others

and loads more faults


cant remember if i mentioned this already but my instructor said last year he took 62 people for a test and 30 passed first time

this year he's already took 30 people and only 9 have passed first time, he says they are a lot more strict now

 

I had a big break from driving after failing my first test and then re-started my lessons well before my 2nd test, anyway I have had my second test in the past two weeks and I failed for stalling. Just one major and a few minors

The thing is though when i stalled there was nobody behind me i as the first one at the lights, when i asked at the end he said that the lights changed and we missed them due to the stall thats why i failed. Not sure about you guys but how is it a reason for fail? As no one was behind I didn't slow anyone down.

 

The driving test is not a logical test of driving ability, it's about jumping through hoops. You don't get a say and just have to accept the grading they give you.

Try to learn what you can from the experience and give it another shot