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The Practical Driving Test Please note that as of October 2007 you must present both parts of your driving license to the examiner on test day! The Practical Test is approximately 35 to 45 minutes long and the examiner will mark driving faults committed by the candidate on the test report form. There are three categories of driving faults, and these are: Driver Faults - relatively minor faults that do not cause a problem for other road users, and you are allowed up to 15 of these. Serious Faults - these are faults that affect other road users or habitual Driver Faults (where you keep committing the same fault repeatedly). Even 1 Serious Fault constitutes a test failure. Dangerous Faults - these are faults where the error was so serious that there was actual danger, either to the occupants of your car or to third parties. Again you are allowed no Dangerous Faults. On 'Test day' we usually have a two hour session, which consists of an hour before the test to warm up and go over any last minute problems and then the hour of the test itself. We aim to arrive at the Test Centre a few minutes before the test time (not too early so we don't interfere with the earlier tests returning to the Centre) and we then wait in the waiting room (where there are toilets available) for the Examiner to call your name out. When the Examiner calls your name, he then gets you to read and sign an insurance and residency declaration on the test report form before you proceed outside. Once outside the Examiner will ask you to read a number plate to test your eyesight, and he will then ask you two 'vehicle maintenance and safety check' questions. These are not difficult questions, but involve showing or telling the Examiner how you would perform basic checks to ensure the roadworthiness of your vehicle - for example how you would check the headlights or indicators are working, or he might ask you to open the bonnet and tell him how you would check various fluids like oil or coolant. Don't worry about these questions, there aren't many of them and your instructor will go over them all with you during lessons leading up to the test and we usually remind you of them all before the test on the day as well. Even then if you got them wrong you wouldn't fail the test anyway, it would be 1 Driver Fault! The Examiner will then get you to drive him around the route, using the same kinds of directions that we use during lessons and along the way he will ask you to perform two reversing manoeuvres (from the choices of Reversing around a corner, Turn in the road, Reverse parking (either parallel parking on the road or into a bay in a car park)). You may also be asked to perform an Emergency Stop exercise, this only happens on around 1 in 3 tests and don't worry the Examiner will get you to stop first and explain if he wants you to do this exercise. At the end of the test you return to the Test Centre where the Examiner will let you know how you have done, and your instructor will then drive you home. |