Driving test - nerves!

I failed twice and passed (amazingly!) on the third go around. I was recently rear-ended and had a close encounter with a gate but apart from that I have been a pretty good driver for 8 years.

(Apart from that one time where I accidently drove onto the wrong side of a dual carriageway soon after passing because I was concentrating so hard on not making the same mistake and got confused. Oh and that time in France that my wife and I pretend never happened. )
 
I know of two people who passed recently, both doing the test for the first time and neither thought they had drove particularly well in the test. Might it be a little easier to pass at the moment given that the number waiting for tests will be in the headlines big time in another few weeks (with the new restrictions for learners being brought in)?
 

Jeez if they passed you Sylvester, they should definitely pass me

I think I am going to try and take the attitude that it is not the end of the world if I don't pass, I'll just have to apply again. Maybe that will ease my nerves, if I don't put so much pressure on myself. What gets to me though is that I have two friends who passed, one who is quite obviously not a very competent driver (clipped the edge of a bus a while ago and nearly lost half her car through fidgeting) and one who passed straight after doing her lessons, yet still doesn't really feel confident on the open road herself (she told me this) and I feel so envious as to how they passed. My friends mother passed on her 5th attempt. She did no prep for it (as opposed to the previous 4 times) and just threw caution to the wind as she was convinced she would fail again. Lo and behold, she passed.
 

Heres hoping
 
deedee80 said:
Hi all, I have my driving test this wednesday in fonthill and had a pre-test on Sat.
Click to expand...

A positive frame of mind goes a long way. Try to get this test in perspective and tell yourself that its not the end of the world if you fail but that you do intend to pass

I was in Fonthill some time back a few times when getting the NCTs done on our cars and I noticed that the driving testers appeared very pleasant and for want of a better word 'nicer' that than some others I had come across. I think they were SGS employees.

If you have a read through previous threads you might get some advice.

One bit of advice I would always give to everyone is to make sure you arrive in plenty of time before the test. Wait for a spot to come free where you can reverse the car into a spot before going in to the test centre. This will automatically put you at ease.

Good luck with the test.
 
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A tip for reversing around the corner - don't go messing about with mirrors.

Line your car up along side a straight kerb. Look over your left shoulder in the normal way you would when reversing and pick a letter off the garage sticker on your back window which lines up with the kerb (if you don't have anything on the window, get someone else to help you put on a small sticker at the right spot).

Now you can reverse around the corner and as soon as your sticker & the kerb line up, you will know you are the correct distance from the kerb!
 
Thanks all!

Sam H, I was practicing reversing around a corner for ages last night. Felt very uncomfortable looking over my shoulder so will stick to the mirror and try judge it that way. My Dad was trying to explain to me the way you do it though.

Sue ellen, thats good advice re reversing into the space. I am going to do that.
 
Yes - first attempt. Glad to see you're not on line BTW as you should be in bed by now.
 
Hi guys - well I had my test...and I passed!! Woohoo what a relief! I didn't do anything in particular to combat nerves. I just decided that once the question bit is over, if it goes well I should relax a bit cos I know how to drive well (I think I was forgetting this ). Plus I did a pretest this morning which was a huge help. Thanks for all your tips and advice!
 
Well done DeeDee & good luck to Mrs Caveat in the morning (actually later today, I've just seen the time!).
 
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