Cheeky question: is there a list anywhere of the non-obvious questions in the theory?

Question_Mark

At least 80% of the questions are, not to be too blunt, obvious.

Akin to: If you approach a zebra crossing and an elderly man is walking across it, should you:

a. patiently let him pass
b. mow him down violently


Is there a resource anywhere of the important info you need to know, like legal limits weights on trailers, necessary documentation for an NCT, and other questions that common sense won't be enough for?

Pov06

The answer may seem obvious when you are presented with 4 answers on screen but think of it this way:

What if you were driving along a road and such a situation occurred (not precisely as easy as the one you posted) and you were to make a decision, it would be a lot harder for you to make a right decision in the tiny amount of time that you have to do so. I'm pretty sure this would be a lot harder when you don't have 4 answers right in front of you.

You should study the theory questions in a way that you don't even have to think about them. It should be an instinct, especially the technical questions about braking, and mechanical stuff.

ProudDUB

Have you been using the official study guides, the book and the CD rom?

The CD rom disc is great. It has all of the questions that could possibly come up in the theory test. It has interactive mock tests that copy the real thing. It shuffles all of the possible questions that could come up & asks you 40 of them at random. Whether or not it asks you an important question (such as tire thread, or stopping distances in the rain) or one of the stupidly obvious ones, is entirely up to the mood of the computer program, just as it is during the real thing.

If you have an up to date disc and you consistently passing the mock tests, you shouldn't have any trouble passing the theory test. There are no other trick questions that they could blind side you with on the day.

Question_Mark

Thank you for the replies gents.

I don't have the CD. I have the book, I shelled out twenty quid for it.

I know the rules of the road inside out, I know all the fundamentals of safety-- it's the damn technical questions that are interspersed among them that are annoying me. I have to wade through so much that I already know, and I'm extremely tight for time at the moment!

ProudDUB

Go to your local library and get the CD ROM. It's a great way to test your knowledge in a manner that mimics the real thing, as well as getting your brain used to looking at the same question and answer format that you will experience during the real test.

cantdecide

The main thing to remember is, like any exam, take your time. If you take a deep breath and read everything carefully you'll know when you're being tangoed.

I think you get a choice of 4 (?) and you'll end up debating between 2 potential answers. My exam tip; read each one carefully and say to yourself 'answer x is right, answer x is right, answer x is right'. Then switch over to the other potential answer and say 'answer y is right, answer y is right, answer y is right'. You'll usually just feel that one case is just a little truer than the other

johnciall

A good friend of mine [And probably the best driver i know] once gave me a very simple rule for evaluating theory test questions, it's not 100% accurate but it's a decent general rule


If you preface the answer with "Ah sure you'd just..." It's probably wrong

Question_Mark

That's great (not being sarcastic) but there are some questions like what's the minumum tire thread size, what speed can you go while towing a trailor, what does ABS do - stuff where you could guess it wrong, fairly easily. The CD and book are filled to the brim with the most achingly dull and obvious stuff, Christ it drives me up the wall.

Anyway, not to whinge too much, but I take it the answer is no, you just have to read/skim the whole thing until you come to the important questions that you have to remember

ProudDUB

OP, I think you are missing the point just a bit. When it comes to passing the theory test, there are no important or unimportant questions. The questions are all of equal importance. As the questions are all shuffled by the computer, you can be asked any of them, in any random order, so no one question is more important than any other.

Yes, when you are actually driving, some things are more important to know than other things, but when it comes to passing the theory test, they are equal. If by "important" you mean technical questions that you can't guess by using common sense, then yeah, going thru the entire list one by one and memorizing the answer is the way to go.

Del2005

Question_Mark wrote: »

That's great (not being sarcastic) but there are some questions like what's the minumum tire thread size, what speed can you go while towing a trailor, what does ABS do - stuff where you could guess it wrong, fairly easily. The CD and book are filled to the brim with the most achingly dull and obvious stuff, Christ it drives me up the wall.

Anyway, not to whinge too much, but I take it the answer is no, you just have to read/skim the whole thing until you come to the important questions that you have to remember

If the questions are difficult then you need to study the book more, as you said it's only a few so it shouldn't be that hard to highlight the questions that require a definite answer and concentrate a bit more study on them.

BTW the questions you quoted are some of the basics you should know before driving and you should never be guessing the answers, there are enough people on our roads already who don't these as they where never required to learn them.

Question_Mark

ProudDUB wrote: »

OP, I think you are missing the point just a bit. When it comes to passing the theory test, there are no important or unimportant questions. The questions are all of equal importance. As the questions are all shuffled by the computer, you can be asked any of them, in any random order, so no one question is more important than any other.

Yes, when you are actually driving, some things are more important to know than other things, but when it comes to passing the theory test, they are equal. If by "important" you mean technical questions that you can't guess by using common sense, then yeah, going thru the entire list one by one and memorizing the answer is the way to go.

I should have clarified, I'm not a teenager, I know the ins and outs of driving. I agree if I was starting off all of it is important. But 80% of the questions are, to me, common sense. I was looking for a list of questions that were not. It's not common sense that 750kg is the limit on a trailer for which brakes must be attached, etc.

I wasted large amounts of time reading through questions telling me not to splash pedestrians and blare the horn at geriatrics.

ProudDUB

Then to answer your original question, no. There is no published/official/widely available list of the so called "important" questions that you can swot up on, while you use common sense for the others. The available study materials are what they are.

To be honest, I don't really see how any official body, or driving school or ADI could or would even agree to being party to such a list. It is all subjective. Your idea of what constitutes a really obvious or easy question, could be entirely to mine, or anyone elses.

But perhaps you have just identified a niche in the learner driver market and you could come up with one yourself, flog it and make a fortune? Don't forget to cut us in on the profits.