Failing your driving test.

One of my best friends failed her first test because she braked for a squirrel.

That kitten excuse is great. I'm gonna remember that one in case I ever get pulled over.

Emergency stops are compulsary too - the examiners's script was something like "when I tap my hand on the dashboard, stop as if a small child has run into the road". I skidded on mine, but it clearly didn't matter.

(also, I stalled the car on a roundabout Give Way line; but, as I did a textbook recovery from it, I didn't get failed.)

Here is my experience - my old Wolseley 1100, a really nice example in good cond. etc, I was driving it to work one winter, and being an inexperienced driver, I hauled on the brakes b/c a squirrel ran out into the road. I hauled on the brakes on an icy patch, the car spun off the road, and totally fucking smashed to pieces on a gatepost. I could have been killed, but I was lucky to be barely injured, all for the sake of a fucking fluffy-tailed forest rat! One of the stupidest things I've ever done!

I failed the first one. I did so well on the 3 point turn and parallel parking but messed uo right hand turns! The second time my instructor had pointed out all the tricky parts on the route before hand, so I got those, but I did mess up pulling out from parallel parking, and I was convinced I had failed.

"Which button for the guns?"

I'm thinking I got to be at work/band practice/boozer and ain't got time for triflin' nonsense.

i remember going to driving lessons with my best friend and i was having no problem driving. when it was his turn i almost died. he was horrendous and still is to this day. all brakes....the instructor who was also our phys ed teacher had Tim make a right hand turn....of course Tim was going about 65 at this point and didn't hit the brake just turned right dukes of hazzard style. the instructor slapped him in the back of the head.

Failed the practical first time in July (on things like 'overcaution' and 'undue hesistation') but passed down in Tunbridge Wells (there were no free retest dates in Greater London for 4 months+) in September. And yes, we've had an unfortunate coming together with a bus since, but generally she's pretty confident despite the deluge of information (sometimes seemingly contradictory) you get thrown at you at UK intersections. I will probably never drive on London roads.

i think driving test in the UK might be more difficult than they are in the US?

I actually failed my first test, because I changed lanes without signaling (and I did that to avoid smashing into a stalled car).

My driving test wasn't exactly a cakewalk, but neither was it especially challenging. I think the worst parts about it involved turning left while stopped at a stop sign and parallel parking, and seeing as though I really worked hard on the whole turning left thing with my dad, only the parallel parking thing dared to trick me (I did somehow manage to do it, though). Everything else was, like, turn right, turn left at a street light, stop at a stop sign, change lanes, park into a diagonally-running space in a parking lot, park into a "regular" space in a parking lot, back up, and do a three-point turn (another thing I'd worked hard on with my dad). I think it took me maybe fifteen minutes to do everything and the only things I was chided on were (a.) missing an opportunity to turn when doing that whole "turning left while stopped at a stop sign" thing and (b.) driving a bit too slow while changing lanes. But they still passed me.

The written part of the test was DAMN easy, IIRC. Lots of common sense questions about the rules of the road, "what would you do?", etc. It was approx. 50 questions long and I think I was finished with that part of the test in three minutes, spending most of my time just going over each question. I *think* I aced that part.

(And I've had to drive either my mom and dad or just my mom for such a long time that my "give my parents no reason at all to gripe about the way I drive" method of driving has influenced the way I drive when Mom isn't there at all. So 90% of you guys, the Other Drivers On The Road, will probably view drivers such as myself as an aggravation. But hey, I've yet to get into any accidents *knock wood* or get any tickets, so....)

It's £50/£100 here in camden, even if your are a minute over your meter time.

I'm doing my theoretical on friday. I have done the "mock exam" and I think the mock is actually not meant in the "this is not a real one" but more like "hahahaha YOU WANNA DRIVE A CAR?". *sigh* Some of these pictures are so fuzzy! How the fuck do you see it's a CROSSROAD? Or how the fuck do I know what sort of penalty a "kicked a policeman in the shins" is? Huh? Ridiculous. But yeah I gotta do it. I have my car already (freebie from PIL yipee) and my daughter is already running around telling everyone "mommy and ophelia will DRIVE!" LE FRIGGING SIGH.

Nick, how many times did she have to take her exam?

how the fuck do I know what sort of penalty a "kicked a policeman in the shins" is?

okay this is a much more interesting driving test than the one I took

Ok, that was uh sort of made up. but some of these things they ask! I mean, SERIOUSLY. I also have no concept WHATSOEVER of what "50 km/hour" is so how the fuck do I know if that's too fast for stopping at an orange light?

Apparently you have to STOP IMMEDIATELY if you see a horse in distress (this does not include Alanis Morissette though).