Test in Rathgar on Wednesday 28th

martnsav

Hi, am doing my test in Rathgar next week and am looking for any advice or tips. This will be my 3rd time to take it. I'm a good driver but my problem is my nerves go to pieces and I end up making stupid basic mistakes. Any ideas? Thanks.

brian076

Have you taken any pre-tests? I used to be a tester so if you want to PM me I'll give you as much help as I can

martnsav

Yea Brian, thanks, took pre-test during week - nerves got the best of me and would have failed if it was the real thing. Having another one before my test next week. Have had 6 hours of lessons over past week too. Have been driving for 8 years with no problems whatsoever. I always get very jittery before any test so that seems to be my problem....

brian076

It's a difficult one, everyone is nervous doing a test, some more than others. There's no point saying just relax because your not going to. How are the nerves affecting your driving? are you cutting out or just not concentrating

martnsav

Concentration fine, not cutting out - main problem is not being smooth on the clutch and brake (jerking). Am using instructors car so am not used to it which is part of the problem. I think I'm going to have to take the attitude that "its not the end of the world" and just try and do my best on the day. Thanks for your feedback. Fingers crossed.

DriveSkill

Its understandable to be nervous during the driving test - most people are, but you need to find someway of minimising the impact it has on your driving.

Try and figure out what is making you nervous - Is it a fear of failing ? Is it a fear of being in a accident ? Is it a fear of not being able to remember something during the questions etc ? Then try and rationalise it away. Failing a driving test is not the end of the world, chance of being in an accident are pretty slim during a driving test etc.

One option is 'medication' !! Now I'm not a doctor or pharmacist so I'm not going to recommend anything but its certainly an option to go speak to your doctor or local pharmacist and ask their opinion. There are several 'over-the-counter' options and also some perscription options. You need to definitely tell them its for use during a driving test as you cant take anything that will make you drowsy or impair your judgement in anyway. Believe they wont find it an unusual request! If you do this, do a trial run before the day of the test just to make sure there are no strange side-effects!

Another option - although probably not at this stage for you - is a psychologist (dont laugh , and dont be insulted either please). It is actually true that some people can drive perfectly well in normal circumstances but come the test they fall to pieces and no amout of further lessons etc will help as they 'know' what they should be doing but just cant do it on the day! To be going down this route you'd need to be on maybe your 7th, 8th or 9th test and obviously only applies to people whos primary issue is being overly anxious or nervous about the test (or driving in general). A psychologist wont cure a bad driver

Other than that, try and concentrate on the immediate task at hand during the test. If you are asked to turn left then get into your routine of Mirrors, Signal, Position, Speed & Gear etc and do it to the best of your ability and then move on to the next instruction from the examiner. Forget the last corner or junction and definitely dont dwell on any potential mistakes you may have made. Equally dont be thinking something that hasnt happened yet !! i.e. dont be constantly wondering is the reverse maneouver coming up now ????

In any case I wish you the best of luck with it and drive safely!

Declan.

Assets Model

martnsav wrote: »

Hi, am doing my test in Rathgar next week and am looking for any advice or tips. This will be my 3rd time to take it. I'm a good driver but my problem is my nerves go to pieces and I end up making stupid basic mistakes. Any ideas? Thanks.

Have you taken the test in rathgar each time? I did my test there today and thextester was lovely really put me at ease. Maybe try rescue remedy? I find the pastilles really good. Also get lessons from a good instructor?

Dexter2008

First of all Wish You the best of luck & Calm Nerves for your Test.

Second, if it makes you feel any better, there are scores of other people around(including me) who feel the same as you - we drive pretty normally when we are on our own; but tend to make the silliest of mistakes when we have the tester in the bright jacket sitting next to us. Since I am in the same boat as you (i too have flunked twice at the Dun Laoghaire SGS centre), I dont think I'm in a position to give you any constructive tips to get over the nerves. But see if you can shift the focus away from the whole thing about being tested, and look at it as 40 minutes where you try and put whatever you have learned into practice. Try not to focus too much on how friendly/not friendly the tester is - rather try to keep you concentration on doing the basic things correctly.

Cheers!