Hello,
had my test yesterday and unfortunately i failed.
The examiner said i was too quick on approach to junctions and past parked vehicles which resulted in 1 steering fault (serious) planning and awarenes fault (serious) as i caught the kerb on a tight left turn up to a bridge.
What i thought was ok speed wise was in the examiners eyes way to fast, think i literally have to crawl around peterborough, i have to learn pick myself up and try again but this speed issue seems to be causing me know end of problems. speed on junctions is about 20 to 25mph at the moment in 5th or 6th depending on the size of roundabout etc.
I have a test rebooked for a weeks time (28th) and its at 8am when i usually drive my best. On the day of the test i drove the hour before the test without fault said my instructor and i always seem to drive well first thing (why i have no idea). I had 16 minor faults seems way to many but all speed related!!
Think i need to brake for a junction infront of where it is and pretend the junctions are earlier than they actually are, to give a more slower feel to the drive and smoother, which inturn will give a better awareness im thinking?
So sorry to hear you failed , thing is you know what went wrong so will be better prepared for it next time just slow up for the junctions , it really does give you loads more time stuff anyone behind you (they not on a test !!!) when your not trying to do too many things at once your mistakes will not happen as more time to think about everything , whenever a mistake happens for me its always lack of concentration and not giving myself enough time for gears mirrors and looking past junc rbt etc to see what other traffic up to , im sure you`ll crack it next time
good luck
In class 2 I always approached big roundabouts a 5th and if slowed down enough to keep going then do so but smaller ones and junctions would approach in 5th range switch down and ready to drop into 3rd never really bothered with 4th found it a gear of not much use as used to block change from 3 to 5 anyway and then that way you have to be slow enough to allow 3rd gear hope this is of use to you and sorry about the fail but as you know where you went wrong you can nail it next time
Not massive help to you as there are many different gearboxes but i have just passed my class 2 and i used 4th (like car 2nd) low range, slow the truck and got the gear in early (truck slow 20ish) thus 1 less thing to worry about (unless you need to stop & use 3rd) helped me as was better pepererd to act at jct’s roundabouts ect which improved my awareness and planning so hardly had to stop which went down well with my examiner, as aready said dont wory about slowing the traffic behind you, if you do stop you can still block change 3rd to 5th but as before many different gear boxes so might not be right for your vehicle thou
Your instructor is best placed to give you advice as he has seen your driving the most. However I am sure he would not mind you getting some general adivce.
16 faults is quite a high number. High enough to fail even without the 2 serious faults. You havn’t said what they were all for but it seens that excess speed played a big part on the day.
Is there any reason you feel the need to rush into hazards? Some candidates mistake making progress when the road is clear for the need to speed when it is not. This is not the case. For example when passing a longish line of parked vehicles we teach to look continuously at the left mirror when passing them with the very occasional glance forward. This automatically forces the driver to slow right down to feel comfortable looking at the left mirror when driving forward.
Imagine the actual junction is actually 20 yards closer than it is. Get your speed down to around 15mph by this imaginary point. For roundabouts convince yourself that you will have to stop. This will get your speed down as if to stop then make a final decision about going or stopping only when you have a good view into the road on the right.
For left turns, as you did hit a kerb, try to imagine that your centre line continues round to the left to join the centre line of that road. Keep your offside wheels just about on the line until you see the rear wheels miss the kerb then come back to the left.
I could go on and on but you probably know in your own mind what is needed. If you still cant seem to slow down enough then try to pretend it is snowing and icy. Drive like you would fully loaded in the ice.
the vehicle is a volvo fl10 s reg 30ft long and i have only ever used 3rd 5th 6th 7th 8th gears, i will try to go slower and see what my instructor says, ive not been told any specific speed on junctions or for passing traffic (stationary) just to slow down but feel i need more input than that?
Try getting into the habit of bring the speed down much earlier on approach, make a real point of it, easy progessive braking, if you had a load on chances are its going to shift if your braking heavy at the last minute.
Its not nice when your loaded up and someone appears on a roundabout and you have to anchor up, as said above assume your going to have to stop.
Your instructor is best placed to give you advice as he has seen your driving the most. However I am sure he would not mind you getting some general adivce.
16 faults is quite a high number. High enough to fail even without the 2 serious faults. You havn’t said what they were all for but it seens that excess speed played a big part on the day.
Is there any reason you feel the need to rush into hazards? Some candidates mistake making progress when the road is clear for the need to speed when it is not. This is not the case. For example when passing a longish line of parked vehicles we teach to look continuously at the left mirror when passing them with the very occasional glance forward. This automatically forces the driver to slow right down to feel comfortable looking at the left mirror when driving forward.
Imagine the actual junction is actually 20 yards closer than it is. Get your speed down to around 15mph by this imaginary point. For roundabouts convince yourself that you will have to stop. This will get your speed down as if to stop then make a final decision about going or stopping only when you have a good view into the road on the right.
For left turns, as you did hit a kerb, try to imagine that your centre line continues round to the left to join the centre line of that road. Keep your offside wheels just about on the line until you see the rear wheels miss the kerb then come back to the left.
I could go on and on but you probably know in your own mind what is needed. If you still cant seem to slow down enough then try to pretend it is snowing and icy. Drive like you would fully loaded in the ice.
Hope some of this helps
Regards
John
Flair Training
i missed this post earlier, many thanks for the info and help, i will change my approach down to 15mph and assume i will stop unless its clear once im going slow enough to have a good look. The kerb insidant was because i never straddled the lanes on approach to the left turn junction at the lights and by the time i see the turn was that sharp i was in the left lane with cars at my side and so had little to no turning circle.
Sort of wish i had more training time to help correct these mistakes.
atomic7431:
The kerb insidant was because i never straddled the lanes on approach to the left turn junction at the lights and by the time i see the turn was that sharp i was in the left lane with cars at my side and so had little to no turning circle.
If you find yourself in this position again, there is nothing wrong in waiting until the cars to your right have gone and then correcting your position for the sharp left hand turn.
You probably attracted negative points for failing to see how sharp the turn was, but I am sure you would have made up for them if you had solved the problem rather than giving in and mounting the kerb.
The key with hazards is first to recognise them but more important is how you deal with them.Many can be reduced by a bit of forethought,ie what would happen if I do this…or something else.Sometimes it is best to do nothing and watch the situation develop and the potential hazard may well disappear.
I don’t know if your instructor does this but you could try doing a commentary as you drive.
You will soon slow down to a speed at which you can deal with what is happening when you find that you can’t talk fast enough.
I dont know if you are a trainer but you should or definately could be. Some very good points made and I hope you dont mind me using some in the future.
ncooper:
The key with hazards is first to recognise them but more important is how you deal with them.Many can be reduced by a bit of forethought,ie what would happen if I do this…or something else.Sometimes it is best to do nothing and watch the situation develop and the potential hazard may well disappear.
Great advice especially the part about sometimes do nothing and watch the situation develop. If more candidates done nothing in certain situations the pass rate would go up.
Hi Atomic. Sorry to hear about the test. All the posts above are spot on and you won’t go far wrong if you keep the advice they give in mind next time you’re behind the wheel.
For me, the biggest learning points were about slowing it down and giving yourself time to think and plan your line through a junction. This includes ‘borrowing’ some of the lane space beside us to make it around a corner and if we do this early enough then car drivers can adjust to what we need to do (although there’s always some car drivers who make this a challenge ). I would describe my driving on the C and C+E tests as being ‘steady’ rather than slow; assuming that you need to stop is a good policy, proceeding only when you know it’s clear to do so.
Good luck with the next one and keep us posted with how you get on.
I was always getting marked down by my instructor for approaching junctions and roundabouts too fast. He said I was still thinking like a van driver.
On the test day I thought ‘better to get a minor for hesitation or going too slow than to get a serious fault by going too fast’. Got a minor for not making progress out of the test station, but if I had rushed it I would have either hit the kerb or made a car slow down. Worked for me.
Sorry to hear about the fail mate you will do it next time just take you time when the roads not clear and when you have a clear road just go along with just under the max speed alloud for your vehicle . the speed limit sign is the maximum speed and not the speed you have to do best of luck on the 28th i failed my C 1st time with 16 miners and 4 miners in the same box totted up make a serious but under 15 is a pass I passed next time with 6 minors
sorry for failing mate but remember first time fail for truck practical tests is really high(I heard %70 )
Good luck for 28th,and I would advise you one more lesson before go to your test couse 16 minor and 2 serius is a bit much I think 1 day extra training makes so big difference.
Just a little tip I use from time to time. Make sure you’re in the correct gear for the turn - and off the clutch - a vehicle length before you start steering. This will automatically slow you down to something like a sensible speed for the turn.
As John said, your instructor should be the best one to help you with this.
All the best, Pete
Peter Smythe:
Just a little tip I use from time to time. Make sure you’re in the correct gear for the turn - and off the clutch - a vehicle length before you start steering. This will automatically slow you down to something like a sensible speed for the turn.
As John said, your instructor should be the best one to help you with this.
All the best, Pete
i canceled my re test and have decided to go else where for further training, i had concerns regarding certain aspects of the training and decided on monday of this week to have a test drive with pete smythe just to get a feel for where i was with regards to my progress and get a better overview of how different companys approach there training as i had only ever had one assesment drive before.
I start my training on monday with test on the thursday and have been advised i need another 10 hours to bring me up too standard.
Thanks pete for the advice, but unknown to you im actually coming to you on monday and had my assesment with you yourself monday morning.
i must stress to any new learner to make sure you have more than one assesmnet drive with more than one company its very important.
). I would describe my driving on the C and C+E tests as being ‘steady’ rather than slow; assuming that you need to stop is a good policy, proceeding only when you know it’s clear to do so.
best of luck on the 28th 
i failed my C 1st time with 16 miners and 4 miners in the same box totted up make a serious but under 15 is a pass I passed next time with 6 minors 
