Driving Lessons in Peterborough. Driving Lessons in Grantham.
Don’t you think it would be just great if you can somehow
convert a fail on a driving test to a more positive outcome? The problem is that all of us tend to get
consumed in negative emotions if we fail in anything we try, and we have a
tendency to really beat ourselves up about it.
This affects our confidence, it can even erode our ability if we let it, and
that is not a place we want to go.
Let me be clear and say I’m not for one second being
critical of anyone who does feel bad if they fail the test. I’ve had enough knocks in my time, where I’ve
tried a test for promotions, or new jobs and failed. It is perfectly natural to be affected, you
wouldn’t be human if you were not affected!
I want to provide some clarity in this short blog as to how
a person who has failed the driving test can actually use that experience to
their advantage, in a very practical way.
The fact is that the Driving Standards Agency tell us that statistically,
more people pass their driving test on their second attempt. Like many things in life, you only tend to
hear from the ones that pass first time, funny that isn’t it? The consequence of that is that you could
come to the conclusion that seeing as you are only hearing from people who pass
the test first time, that they represent the norm, they do not, more people
fail the test on the first attempt than pass it. So my first message to you is, don’t be
adding pressure on yourself by listening to any myths on this subject. But do read on, as the following could be
really useful to you.
There are 3 things you can do if you were to fail the
driving test that will help you convert this experience to a positive outcome.
Number 1. Recognise
you have taken the first positive step already.
You now ‘know’ the previously ‘unknown’ to you. You have now witnessed so much that you were
previously unaware of. Don’t
underestimate the power of this fact.
Whether it be to do with the Examiner, the test itself, how it was
marked or any other aspect, you can now say, you have seen it first hand, you
have a ‘handle’ of it if you like to think of it in those terms.
Number 2. Properly
root cause areas for improvement. It may
be very tempting to solely focus on the description of the driving fault that
occurred to cause your test fail. So for
instance, a driving fault might be classed as an ‘observation’ error on a
junction that was due to emerging from a junction too soon, as really you
should have paused and given way to traffic already in the road. It is important that you take the
advice from your Driving Instructor (who was hopefully observing the test from
the back seat), to ensure the ‘observation’ error is properly understood, set
in context, and any underlying issue is ironed out eg lack of assessment of
vision on the approach to a junction.
Number 3. Keep
juggling all the balls. It would be easy
to focus your attention on one aspect, for you to drop a ball elsewhere, and
find yourself failing a second attempt.
Avoid this by ensuring you keep yourself topped up with training so that
you continue driving to a general high standard.
Let me give you Tom’s Top Tip for this blog:
Your thoughts and feelings about the test are really important. For each driving fault that resulted in the
test fail, write it down on a sheet of paper, and list why you think it
happened. So for example, let’s say that
the driving fault that caused the test fail was due to not seeing a pedestrian
walk behind the car while you were doing a left reverse manoeuvre (reversing
left into a minor road from a major road).
On the marking sheet it might be “Left Reverse, Observation, Serious”. You might write, “Pedestrian came out from
nowhere. I couldn’t see the pedestrian
in my side mirror because it was raining, and the raindrops blocked my view in
the side mirror. I was distracted
because I thought I had finished the manoeuvre, but the Examiner told me to
carry on reversing”. Pass those
comments on to your Driving Instructor as they are very valid points you have
perceived that need to be addressed. It
may turn out the observations were lacking because you were not looking out the
rear of the car while reversing. The point is, you now have
a great place to start for further training that includes your thoughts and feelings.
What you absolutely must avoid doing at all costs, is simply
re-booking another driving test, and not doing any further re-training. Trying to deny that there is a need for
further training is an expensive mistake to make, and will almost inevitably
result in yet another test fail. On my
Intensive Driving Courses you are provided with as much further training as is
needed for the next 21 days – completely free of charge, specifically to
eliminate this common mistake people make.
To recap. There is no
harm in making a mistake in a driving test that results in a test fail. See it as an opportunity to improve. Do not ignore it though. Take these practical steps I have outlined in
this blog, show them to your Driving Instructor and you will already be well on
the way to converting this experience to an outcome where you are handed a Test
Pass Certificate on your next attempt.
I hope this is of help to you. Remember, I will be making available to you
shortly an eBook which expands on the subject of how the driving test affects
our nerves – look out for it on my website www.BIGTOM.org.uk
Please feel free to grade this blog, or comment/question
below. Thank you.
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