Driving Test Errors That Won’t Necessarily Fail You

Without speaking with experts, a few new drivers may listen to their friends and family about what will fail them when they take their driving test. Unfortunately, that may not be the best way to go. We need experts in our lives to help us cope and succeed. Experts in health, education, and safety are commonplace within our society. But what about experts when it comes to being able to pass your driving test? Listening to them would make sense.

It is common to be nervous on your driving test, and the driving examiners know this. This nervousness will often cause driving errors to happen. Surprisingly to some, not every driving error could fail you when you go for either a G2 or G driving test. Yes, it may not benefit you, but it likely won’t fail you. You do not have to be a perfect driver or drive flawlessly to pass it. Here are some myths associated with failing your driving test and what will actually fail you.

5 Driving Test Errors That Won’t Necessarily Fail You:

1. Parallel Parking

One of the biggest myths about failing your driving test is not able to parallel park. Although not doing a perfect parallel park won’t cause you to fail, it can add to other poorly done skills that could fail you. However, coming in contact with another vehicle would be considered a collision and would fail you on the driving test. Bumping into the curb is an error while parallel parking on your driving test, but that won’t mean you failed the test. Also, if you do not parallel park well enough that you take your vehicle up a curb, that is considered a failure. It’s not because you could not parallel park. It was because you failed to control your vehicle during that low-speed skill. Attempting to drive with the parking brake on is not a good move, but not a failure. Embarrassment is not a failure, so release it and move on.

2. Honking

Another myth associated with failing your driving test is that you will fail if someone honks at you. That’s not necessarily true either, but it could be. If you and the driving examiner hear a horn honk, chances are that if they honked at you, you would know the reason. Reasons such as cutting off another driver, driving too slowly below the posted speed limit, or doing something dangerous would deserve someone honking in your direction. However, if you know you have not done anything wrong, stay focused on the driving task and continue with your driving test. Just because you hear the horn, it doesn’t mean you did anything wrong or deserve to fail your driving test. People honk for the strangest reasons sometimes.

3. Poor Stopping Positions

Breaking the law is an automatic failure, most of the time. For example, if you fail to stop at a stop sign, you have broken the law, and that will become a failure. However, if you stopped your vehicle at that intersection past the legal stopping position, that won’t fail you. Perhaps you saw the stop sign late because of an overhanging tree branch and missed the stopping line but stopped after it. You did stop, just not in the correct position. It is not a test failure as long as you do not keep making those mistakes. Also, if you came to a stop position but realized you did not make a complete stop, it would be better to stop late than not stop entirely. Stopping late will generally be an error, but not stopping at all would be a failure.

4. Not Listening is Not a Failure

Any preconceived idea of where you are going, such as listening to where your friends may have gone on their driving test could work against you. You could miss the directions the driving examiner gave you. For example, you were moving in a position to make a left turn because your friend told you they went left, but the driving examiner asked you to make a right turn instead. The category of not listening is not part of the driving test and is not a way to fail the driving test. The driving examiners have a lot of testing routes they may take you on. Remain open-minded so as not to frustrate them by anticipating the direction they want you to go.

5. Steering Choice

The steering technique you use will not necessarily fail you during your driving test. The driving examiner wants you to maintain control of your vehicle at all times and to drive smoothly. If your hand placement was not exactly the smoothest or in the best position to steer effectively, it may be marked as an error but won’t necessarily fail the test. For example, instead of using hand over hand technique while parking, you shuffled the steering wheel instead. Just because you have not used the same steering technique your driving instructor may have taught you; doesn’t necessarily mean you fail the driving test.

What Does Fail You?

Failing the driving test does happen, but it generally happens for the following reasons:

• Breaking the law is a contributor to failing the driving test. Errors include speeding, failing to come to a complete stop, and failing to obey regulatory (legal) signs.
• If you commit a dangerous action. Errors include failing to give the right of way to pedestrians, cutting off another vehicle, and being too fast for road conditions
• Being involved in a collision. Regardless of fault, this would be a failure. Although fault has been assigned to the other driver, the driving test would have to stop. It means the driving test would be incomplete.
• Multiple errors. It is often one of the main reasons for failing the driving test. It would mean the applicant would have many driving errors of the same variety. For example, multiple infractions of poor observation, making consistently wide right or left turns, or constantly being too cautious and giving up their right of way.

The G driving test also means you must have no more than 30 errors that do not include a violation of the law, a dangerous action, or a vehicle collision.

Get Professional Help:

Getting the advice of a professional driving instructor is always the best way to determine what is or is not a driving test failure. Let Trubicars help iron out any driving test myths you may have by having professional lessons from someone who takes drivers for their driving test on a regular basis! We can help!