1sr Day C+E Training and 2 Schoolboy Errors

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

OK so here it is, I flew through the 8hrs C training in December 2011 and passed first time. Still on a high I immediately booked an assessment drive on C+E which I did a couple of weeks ago and again they said, star pupil you will only need 8hrs to brush up so I booked the 2 x 4hr sessions for today and tomorrow with test on Friday.

Turned up at 6.45am for the 7am start :open_mouth: and after brief intro with the instructor we went out to the vehicle. Now even at 7am in the cold and dark it didn’t take me long to see we were abut to unlock an Artic, which was a bit of a shock given the fact I did my assessment in a Wag & Drag and booked my training and test in a Wag & Drag :confused:

Anyway, after much apologising from the instructor and blaming it on the admin staff in the office we swapped onto a rigid and set about connecting it to the trailer. It was at this point that we realised whomever had used the trailer/rigid last had failed to put the leg handle back in. So we waited 10 mis for another rigid that had already left, to return with a handle and got the thing hooked up. We then found that whomever had done one with the leg handle had also failed to put the trailer reg plate back in the rigid so we were still unable to move :cry:

After much searching and further apology, my instructor who by this time was exhibiting the patience of a saint had arranged for the original rigid to return again, and swapped vehicles with the crew because that rigid actually had its trailer plate to hand.

So, despite a 7am start being booked we got out of the yard just before 8am and I thought I was settling in to it quite well. Until that is, I came to a roundabout and made my first of two schoolboy errors. I have no idea what I was thinking but for some inexplicable reason I chose to ASSUME the car on the roundabout that was not indicating was exiting at the junction prior to where I was joining. Needless to say as I set off he continued on around the roundabout and so I had cut him up… An instant fail had it been test day :blush:

No more than 30 minutes later, white van man comes up to a side road and joins the 2 lane single carriageway main road I am on, which has an active bus lane which I am fully aware of and staying out of. (you know where this is going don’t you) !! Sure enough, white van man then moves to the middle of the road, slams on and waits to turn right into the next junction on the right. Do I slow down and wait until he clears as I know full well I should do :question: not a bit of it, I do a perfectly executed lane change with mirrors and everything and pass him on his nearside, straight into the bus lane and another fail if done on test day :blush:

What is it that makes us do these inexplicably stupid things :unamused:

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and as they say, err, learn and move on :sunglasses:

Mark.

2

iDriver:
What is it that makes us do these inexplicably stupid things :unamused:

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and as they say, err, learn and move on :sunglasses:

Mark.

Hi Mark.

Don’t worry. We all have blips in our training. No-one is exempt. And maybe the unsettling of the wrong vehicle and then the problems with the W&D trailer put you out of sync, as I guess you probably were psyching yourself up this morning.

Just think that come Friday you will be the proud owner of a pass certificate as you won’t make those mistakes twice :unamused:

Best of luck mate.

Dean

Best of luck for tomorrow

3

Hiya Mark!

Nothing new there mate! I failed my first two C+E tests (in an artic, not W&D) by making two seperate & really stupid mistakes I would never normally do in real life. It’s just one of things you do in new (or test) situations. You sound as though you have it all sussed out though and I’m sure you’re gonna fly through first time matey.

Just don’t panic, keep looking in those mirrors (or at least pretend! :wink: ) and remember that if it looks too tight to continue then don’t, and also make sure you give way if in any doubt. All the very best for Friday mate! :sunglasses:

4

Well todays 4hrs went much better (read - No obvious fails) :slight_smile: Now if only I can do that tomorrow on test :question:

Its such a fine line between pass and fail I genuinely believe there is an element of luck involved. For example, I came up to a give way line today where I was to join a major road from a minor road and there was a stream of traffic from the right all indicating to turn into the road I was exiting. The instructor said I was too hesitant until I pointed out car 3, by now car 2 was not indicating so as car 1 and 2 cleared if he was in fact going straight on and not turning then I would be a big lump of steel crossing his path.

On test day that level of conversation would not take place and so I could have been marked down or even failed despite the fact I took the right (read safe) course of action.

If that is the case then i would just put it down to not being my lucky day and with heavy bank balance simply book another test asap. However, if I were to fail because of a school boy error on my part I would be beating myself up for days. So pass or fail tomorrow, fingers crossed I have the schoolboy errors behind me and a bit of luck with me :smiley:

M.

5

iDriver:
Well todays 4hrs went much better (read - No obvious fails) :slight_smile: Now if only I can do that tomorrow on test :question:

Its such a fine line between pass and fail I genuinely believe there is an element of luck involved. For example, I came up to a give way line today where I was to join a major road from a minor road and there was a stream of traffic from the right all indicating to turn into the road I was exiting. The instructor said I was too hesitant until I pointed out car 3, by now car 2 was not indicating so as car 1 and 2 cleared if he was in fact going straight on and not turning then I would be a big lump of steel crossing his path.

On test day that level of conversation would not take place and so I could have been marked down or even failed despite the fact I took the right (read safe) course of action.

If that is the case then i would just put it down to not being my lucky day and with heavy bank balance simply book another test asap. However, if I were to fail because of a school boy error on my part I would be beating myself up for days. So pass or fail tomorrow, fingers crossed I have the schoolboy errors behind me and a bit of luck with me :smiley:

M.

Sounds like a good day.

Good luck for tomorrow :slight_smile:

6

iDriver:
Its such a fine line between pass and fail I genuinely believe there is an element of luck involved. For example, I came up to a give way line today where I was to join a major road from a minor road and there was a stream of traffic from the right all indicating to turn into the road I was exiting. The instructor said I was too hesitant until I pointed out car 3, by now car 2 was not indicating so as car 1 and 2 cleared if he was in fact going straight on and not turning then I would be a big lump of steel crossing his path.

I know exactly what you mean there mate.

It really annoys me when these cretins don’t use their indicators when turning off before reaching your location. As if we are all mind-readers!! :unamused:

Anyway, just relax and enjoy the test. It isn’t the end of the world if you don’t do it first time.

All the best of luck if you need it! :open_mouth:

7

It does matter if he don’t pass first time, after all he’s been told he is a star pupil and only needs 8 hours to be an artic trucker, no pressure then :laughing:

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Fingers crossed for today mate

Jen x

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Oh well just got back with my FAIL sheet :frowning:

Now despite my comments about luck or schoolboy errors I am not quite sure which category this one falls into. I did a perfect reverse, the coupling exercise was perfect and after I got back I was of a view I had done a real solid drive… Wrong :exclamation:

So I will let you decide if it was bad luck or my own stupidity :blush:

Told to pull up at the side of the road when its safe to do so. It is on a busy single carriageway two lane A road, its nice and straight but a little busy. I stop as required, no issues and then I am told to set off when I am ready.

I select the right gear, I do the mirror checks and see 5 or 6 cars stationary behind me due to on coming traffic that has prevented them overtaking me as I stand at the side of the road. I indicate, let parking break off and set off, before i have even gone from 2nd to 3rd, the first 3 cars have set off on an overtake and the first 2 do so without issue. The third car who has simply followed car 1 and 2 now finds when 1 and 2 move back across that the closing gap is now getting tight and cuts in on me to avoid a collision.

I have already eased off the gas but the examiner says I should have stopped :question:

ReTest booked and wallet £240 worse off :cry:

10

Sounds like plain bad luck matey.

You’ll do it next time so keep the head up and crack on.

11

Very unlucky. Had it not been so busy, you’d have a pass certificate in your hand.

When is the retest booked for?

12

Sorry to hear you failed.

This is how it sounds to me: cars had stopped behind you because they couldn’t overtake. You did all the right stuff - except for realising that the thing that had stopped the cars overtaking ie oncoming traffic had now changed and there was the opportunity for them to pass you.

You should have planned for that. Sorry, better luck (and planning) next time. Pete :laughing: :laughing:

13

Had it not been so busy, you’d have a pass certificate in your hand

Sorry Dean. Wrong way round! If it had stayed busy he would have been fine!! Pete :laughing: :laughing:

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Peter Smythe:

Had it not been so busy, you’d have a pass certificate in your hand

Sorry Dean. Wrong way round! If it had stayed busy he would have been fine!! Pete :laughing: :laughing:

Fair point. Re-read it and yes that makes sense :frowning:

15

gutted for you mate know how your feeling right now go out have a few drinks to banish them blues and gear up for the retest next time you`ll nail it im sure

Jen x

16

Don’t feel to gutted, you can’t be a star pupil all the time, :astonished:

17

Cheers All,

Such is life, worse things happen and if this is the worst thing that happens to me for the rest of my time on this rock, I will be a VERY grateful man :wink:

Mark.

18

Hi mate bad luck yep know how it feels :blush: three fails in CE :smiley: two of them on the same roundabout but going in different directions …rest of test i.e reverse couple uncouple spot on … but 1st test went into a bus lane aswell (i had been training all week and the bus lane was inactive ) so got used to using it then a late test and it was active simply forgot to check the signs … :laughing: best of luck next time mate :smiley:

19

Ah, sorry to hear the bad news there mate. But don’t beat yourself up. :confused:

You sound as though you are in exactly the same situation I was in a few weeks ago. I knew I could reverse ok, couple & uncouple ok and I knew I could drive the thing around the roads ok. It is just whether or not you make a silly little error or not, and we are all human and we all do make them. :blush:

I thought I had passed on my first and second C+E tests, but was told of a very simple single error after we got back to the test centre which caused me to fail both. But I knew that I was bound to get through one of them eventually without making a serious error and luckily I did that on my last one a few weeks ago. :laughing:

So, try and forget the single error and just think to yourself about how well you done everything else and just for one little error, you would now be a C+E driver.

Stay positive mate. You know you are good enough! :sunglasses:

20

sorry to hear the bad news, apart from the apparent point of fail, sounds like you had a good run, all the best for the retest :slight_smile:, i know its ill on the pocket, it happened myself for c and c+e, however, will be worth it in the end

James.