Some information you should know before you begin your driving test

Your driving test will start with an eyesight check and some vehicle safety questions. You will then start your practical driving test which will include some specific manoeuvres.

The driving part of your test will last about 40 minutes. Throughout the test your examiner will be looking for an overall safe standard of driving, including when you are carrying out the set exercises. You can make up to 15 driving faults and still pass the test (16 or more results in failure). However, if you commit one serious or dangerous fault you will fail the test. You should however be aware that some test examiners can be very strict, and could fail you for a very simple mistake that you could kick yourself for afterwards.

Some examples of these are things like;

- Driving a couple of mph over the speed limit for a short amount of time.
- Driving to much below the speed limit (believe it or not)
- Trying to pull out of a T-junction whilst in 3rd and stalling.
- Not checking your rear and side mirrors enough (every 6 - 10 seconds)
- Not observing properly during manouvers
- Ensuring that you brake enough for corners. This is obvious in most cases but some corners are sharper than they seem, and can suddenly become sharper angles.
- Not completely stopping your car during a manouver (especially reversing) if you see pedestrians or other hazards, such as another car, motorbike or cyclist, anywhere around your car.

All of these things can be avoided, providing you stay calm, concentrate, and remember what you were taught by your instructor! Nerves play a big part in your overall performance on your test, you can take herbal remedies to help this, such as 'Rescue Remedy' and 'Calms' which you can purchase over the counter at a chemist.

If you have any similar experiences that you would like to share then please feel free to share via posting comments. I will be posting more information on a regular basis so check back regularly!

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