I just badly failed my pretest.

FeckArseInc

I just did a pretest and tried to do everything to the best of my ability.

Granted I didn't get any instant grade 3 fails, but I was told that a pass mark is 8 faults or less. I got 28. Mostly for not using my mirrors and observations enough when moving off and turning about.


I feel bummed out and depressed and can't catch a break with this driving. I feel like I'm just never going to get it.

My exam is less than two weeks away. The first one and I've been at this for more than two years.

Could anyone ever be worse at this than me?

J_R

FeckArseInc wrote: »

I just did a pretest and tried to do everything to the best of my ability.

Granted I didn't get any instant grade 3 fails, but I was told that a pass mark is 8 faults or less. I got 28. Mostly for not using my mirrors and observations enough when moving off and turning about.


I feel bummed out and depressed and can't catch a break with this driving. I feel like I'm just never going to get it.

My exam is less than two weeks away. The first one and I've been at this for more than two years.

Could anyone ever be worse at this than me?

Hi,

Take a proper lesson with an instructor who will actually instruct. Where, what was the benefit of sitting back allowing you to make the same mistakes again and again. ??. (Except to the instructors bank balance)

Would it not have been a more productive lesson if your instructor had, after the first junction pulled you over, parked, explained what you were doing wrong and then with the aid of diagrams explained exactly the correct observational procedure. Then for the remainder of the lesson, with ongoing feedback from the instructor you could have been working on your observation. At the end of the lesson you should have at least sorted out one problem, perhaps a few others.

A "pretest" is only beneficial if the pupil is at or above test standard and even then the only additional thing the pupil learns is driving in silence.

Take a few lessons with a good instructor who will work on your problems for the full hour and you will be fine.

JustAThought

Well - you know where you went wrong - mirrors & observation. Not a disaster - sloppy driving: particularly for a test . So now you need to fix it.
My instructor me that I would fail on observation as noone doing to the standard in real life so you had to be super particular in a test environment. Use the 5 point check test. There are 5 observation points you have to check every time you want to pull out; front windscreen, rear mirror, side mirror left, side mirror right, over the shoulder/blind point on the side you are pulling out on...
Try testing that when practising., it will be a pain in the neck and no one drives like that all the time but for your 20 minute test..,

jimgoose

JustAThought wrote: »

Well - you know where you went wrong - mirrors & observation. Not a disaster - sloppy driving: particularly for a test . So now you need to fix it.
My instructor me that I would fail on observation as noone doing to the standard in real life so you had to be super particular in a test environment. Use the 5 point check test. There are 5 observation points you have to check every time you want to pull out; front windscreen, rear mirror, side mirror left, side mirror right, over the shoulder/blind point on the side you are pulling out on...
Try testing that when practising., it will be a pain in the neck and no one drives like that all the time but for your 20 minute test..,

Yes, they do. It's the correct way. You should also start with a blind-spot check over your shoulder to the side your pulling away from, first.

OP, never fear - an awful lot of people make a bags of observation and it can take a while to "get it". Go to your ADI and tell him/her what's bothering you.

jimgoose

J_R wrote: »

...A "pretest" is only beneficial if the pupil is at or above test standard and even then the only additional thing the pupil learns is driving in silence...

Oh, I dunno - a pretest is occasionally useful that way for revealing the full extent of the horror in one go! :pac:

Del2005

FeckArseInc wrote: »

I just did a pretest and tried to do everything to the best of my ability.

Granted I didn't get any instant grade 3 fails, but I was told that a pass mark is 8 faults or less. I got 28. Mostly for not using my mirrors and observations enough when moving off and turning about.


I feel bummed out and depressed and can't catch a break with this driving. I feel like I'm just never going to get it.

My exam is less than two weeks away. The first one and I've been at this for more than two years.

Could anyone ever be worse at this than me?

I found that if you have your mirrors set up correctly, where you can just glance to see them, that the testers don't notice you looking so make sure that you have the mirrors set up so that you need to move your head to check them.


How many lessons have you had?

caldew

Please do not do what Del2005 suggests. The testers tend to know what they are doing. They say at the start of the test you should drive in your normal manner. Do so.

ProudDUB

jimgoose wrote: »

Yes, they do. It's the correct way. You should also start with a blind-spot check over your shoulder to the side your pulling away from, first.

OP, never fear - an awful lot of people make a bags of observation and it can take a while to "get it". Go to your ADI and tell him/her what's bothering you.

I agree. Don't feel bad OP. You clearly had a crap teacher if you are this far out from starting out and you still don't know what you are doing wrong. They are the one who should feel bad, not you.

Anyway, as another poster said, any time you are moving off (including being stopped in traffic) a 5 pt observation protocol needs to be done:

1. blind spot on the passengers side is the first check you do (you need to look as far back as behind the shoulder of the person in the passenger seat) then...
2 passenger side mirror.
3 rear view mirror.
4 drivers side mirror.
5 drivers side blind spot.

Each one need to be done distinctly and slow enough so that the tester knows that you are actually looking at what is around you & taking in what is there. A quick, cursory glance will show you a car beside you, but it may not show you a kid on a bike. The trick is doing your observations slow enough to genuinely take every thing around you in, but not so slowly that it stops you from moving off in time and holding up traffic. You'll get dinged for lack of progress if you do.

As well as making these 5 observations, It is important that you be seen to be making them. Turn your head and/or your shoulders distinctly when doing each one of your checks, especially the blind spots. The tester will be sitting beside you and will be looking at the road, or down at his tablet. He can't see your eyes or where you are looking, unless you move your head enough to show him.

When coming off a roundabout, or turning, you must check the side mirror in the direction of where you are turning. When just driving down the road, with no turns involved, you should still be checking all of your mirrors on a frequent basis too. Don't just keep staring blindly ahead.

Best of luck in your test.

J_R

caldew wrote: »

Please do not do what Del2005 suggests. The testers tend to know what they are doing. They say at the start of the test you should drive in your normal manner. Do so.

+1

Hi,

Adjust your mirrors correctly. Do not exaggerate you obs checks in anyway whatsoever. There is no need.

Several reasons why you should not exaggerate :-

1. You are implying that the examiner is a moran who can not do his job properly without assistance from you.
2. When you forget to look it is blatantly obvious.
and
3. Exaggerated movements can make you look ridiculous.

The examiner gives you excellent instructions at the start of the test when he says "Now drive normally" - do just that. And if you have had a good instructor you will pass. And continue drive in a similar manner for the remainder of your life.

FeckArseInc

I just did another pretest. This time it was a massive improvement.

I almost passed this time. It's still borderline between a pass and fail but it's a major step up from last week.