failed my 1st artic test this morning. 3 minors 1 serious. the serious was when two cars were parked opposite i thought there was enough rooom for me and the oncoming car to get through. the examiner thought not and i apparantly caused the other car to slow down. bugger. I was well nervous aswell. stumbled my way through the safety questions. Incidently can anyone tell me the correct answer to “how would you check the suspension” can’t remember what i said but i know he gave me a very funny look and a point for it.
gutted 
you check suspension outside with a visual look at it ie, cracks, chips rust on springs
hope this helps
bigcheese:
you check suspension outside with a visual look at it ie, cracks, chips rust on springshope this helps
Or
airbag condition - air leakage - ride height
tramp:
failed my 1st artic test this morning. 3 minors 1 serious…
…gutted
3 minors & 1 serious - that was [ZB] close - although you did not get the blue bit of paper, you did very very well.
I expect you will pass next time with a piddley score like that 
Hi tramp, although you failed, your score tells me something… 
It looks to me that you’d done an almost perfect drive until your little overtaking incident.
I also think that, if the car hadn’t slowed down, you might have passed your test.
This also demonstrates that luck can play a large part in the outcome of a driving test, so perhaps you were just unlucky on the day.
After you’ve passed your LGV test, this ‘fail’ will quickly recede into the distance.
Trust me, cos my failure at first test did. 
Good Luck for next time. 
Luck does play a massive part on the day.
Going by the number of minor errors you scored it will be a pushover next time.
Speed Freak:
Luck does play a massive part on the day.
I’ve yet to find a senario where luck played a part in a fail - been plenty who claimed something was unlucky but, when a good bit of forward plannng is applied and all the ‘what ifs’ have been considered, it was found that luck had nothing to do with it.
Unless someone can prove different…
ROG:
Speed Freak:
Luck does play a massive part on the day.I’ve yet to find a senario where luck played a part in a fail - been plenty who claimed something was unlucky but, when a good bit of forward plannng is applied and all the ‘what ifs’ have been considered, it was found that luck had nothing to do with it.
Unless someone can prove different…
Hi ROG, Whilst what you’ve said is perfectly true, you might have missed my point…
I:
I also think that, if the car hadn’t slowed down, you (tramp) might have passed your test.
We weren’t there to see, but let’s imagine that there are two possible scenarios…
#1 tramp got a bit close to the parked car before he swung out to pass it.
He then swings out, causing the oncoming car to take avoiding action. (Either braking or swerving.)
As we know, this is tantamount to an offence, never mind grounds to fail a driving test.
So if this is what happened, tramp clearly deserved to fail, and there’s no question about it.
#2 Using good forward planning, tramp decides that he can pass the parked car safely and that there’s plenty of room for the oncoming vehicle, even though he might need to straddle the white line(s.)
Now let’s imagine that #2 was the case and consider that there are two kinds of driver who might have been driving the oncoming car.
Driver “a” is an experienced driver who knows the width of the car.
In this case, there is nothing further, because no avoiding action was taken, then tramp goes on to pass his test with a very creditable score.
Driver “b” is inexperienced and over-reacts to a massive ‘juggernaut’ coming straight at him/her, with unfavourable consequences for tramp
So what was tramp supposed to do??
With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, in this case it would have been better to ‘risk’ copping a ‘minor’ for undue hesitation if the examiner was being strict.
Before considering that, let’s imagine that the oncoming car was being driven by a complete plonker and that in reality there was actually plenty of room.
Strict application of the criteria (and the law) says that a test candidate fails if another vehicle brakes or swerves. Clearly, there must be a line drawn on this point, but I wonder whether driving examiners use any discretion if they see that another vehicle is being driven by a complete plonker??
I think this point might open up a debate on this issue, so what do the other LGV driving instructors on this site reckon??
Does luck play some/any part in a candidate passing a driving test??
I still think it does.
Guys, we seem to be falling into the trap many other forums fall into. We seem to be struggling with other peoples opinions.
It remains my opinion that luck plays a huge part in any driving test - Had the car drver slowed or been a few seconds earlier or later then tramp could have negotiated the parked cars unmolested.
I considered it lucky when I negotiated Bathgate during my Class 2 on a Saturday when the town market was closed. Had it been open the town would have been mobbed and could have created a scenario similar to tramps. Luckily it was quiet and I passed.
I also consider it lucky that a dutch artic pulled out in front of me just a few seconds early while doing my class 1 test. He pulled out at a roundabout oblivious of right of way rules on British roundabouts. I was able to lift my foot off the throttle and apply a little brake which allowed him the seconds he needed to get away. Had I been travelling a little faster or he delayed his error a second or two more, then who knows what might have happened.
I appreciate forward planning but no amount of it can allow for the selfish and unpredictable actions of other road users.
The exact same thing as happened to tramp can happen to any truck driver on any day of the week. The difference is he/she won’t have an examiner sitting next to them, looking to list it as a fail.
I hope I haven’t caused any offence in expressing my opinion
your too true speadfreak, ontop of that you get a variety of strictness in examiners, some turn a blind eye to clipping a kerb etc if its been a good ride while others fail for the most stupid reasons, in my opinion i believe if you get a good examiner your already halfway there
it’s not failure, it’s a learning experience.
You’ve got even more chance of getting right next time.
Speed Freak:
Guys, we seem to be falling into the trap many other forums fall into. We seem to be struggling with other peoples opinions.
Hi Speed Freak, I’m not struggling with anything TBH mate.
On the one hand, I’m an ex-LGV instructor and expressed an opinion, whilst on the other hand ROG is an IAM Senior Observer and current LGV instructor.
My opinion is that luck plays a part in passing a driving test, whereas ROG seems to disagree. Given that two opinions are polarised, I then sought the opinions of other LGV instructors on this site (and there are quite a few.) As I see it, that’s the state of play so far.
We shouldn’t forget that on any given driving test, the only opinion that counts is that of the examiner. I for one never forgot that they do a difficult job, whilst getting flak from their bosses just like most other workers, and due to the fact that they’re human, there will be variations in their performance.
The opinions I sought are from people that actually do the job of instructing, but hey, this is a forum, so other people are bound to chip in with their observations, which is exactly what forums are for. Your opinion is therefore no less valid, and perfectly welcome since this isn’t just a forum for LGV driving instructors. The only thing that I’ve noticed is the we might be hijacking tramp’s original topic somewhat, but the Mods will split this part into a new topic if they feel it necessary.
Speed Freak:
I hope I haven’t caused any offence in expressing my opinion
I’ve taken no offence whatsoever mate, you’re just as entitled to post a comment as the next person.
IMHO, you’ve contributed some good points to this discussion.
Speed Freak:
I hope I haven’t caused any offence in expressing my opinion
Not at all
I have a problem to which I am aware of - it is that I see things, especially driving ones, from a ‘realistic & logical’ viewpoint.
‘Luck’ does not fit in with this type of outlook and, as everyone can see from what I posted, I will find reasons to dismiss it
I regard luck as a perception and not a reality,
thanks for all your contributions and encouragements, seems i’ve started quite a topic.
i personally thought there was enough room for me and the car to get through, if i didnt there was no way i’d have gone for it. Im an experienced class 2 driver and therefore am aware of large vehicle dimensions i.e. i know if im too big to get through there. The car driver didnt seem to think so and so made a right meal of it; pulling over to the side and slowing down which obviously looks bad to the examiner. Looking back i should’ve just stopped and waited, if there’s one thing you cant rely on its a car driver. However i was worried about getting a point for hesitation. i suppose i handled it like a truck driver who had passed his/her test would not like someone ON a test.
But thats the way the cookie crumbles. If the test wasnt so expensive it wouldnt be such a big a deal. But one little mistake makes me £230 lighter.
Thinking back to my first car test, I strangely disagree with ROG about the element of luck.
I’d just turned left off of the main road, round a fairly blind corner into a narrow side street with cars parked on my side of the road, starting about 2 car-lengths from the junction. A rigid was coming towards me, signaling to turn right at the end of the road, so I tucked the car in tight to the kerb and fairly close to the parked car in front to allow the truck to pass and make his turn. I failed, after an otherwise faultless drive, for apparently getting too close to the parked car. Now I understand that the examiner only gets a short time to assess a candidate’s driving, and has no real way of knowing whether that person actually knows the size of their vehicle, but in this case I couldn’t - and still can’t - see any other sensible option. Unless, of course, stopping where I was and waiting for the rigid driver to change his plans counts as sensible!
Oddly enough I had a very similar situation on my rigid test: This time I was passing a line of parked cars on my side of the road when a car driver came round the corner towards me. The only thing I could do without forcing one of us into reversing (and that ain’t gonna be me!) was pull in very tight to the parked cars at the widest point of the road and stop to allow the car through. I passed the test, but the examiner did comment on it at the end. My understanding is that he wanted me to stop and see if the car driver wanted to reverse or use the kerb.
Yes driving should be a logical and methodical process but in unusual situations I think there can be more than one ‘logical solution’ to a problem, which will depend, among other things, on the driver’s experience, confidence, and how (s)he has been taught.
Straying just a tad off topic to give an example, I was always taught that if you’re going to need more than one lane on a roundabout, you should take up your position early. Pretty logical to me. However, one instructor recently said that more than one examiner he had spoken to expected candidates to use one lane on the approach if possible, and only to spread the vehicle once on the roundabout. To me, that’s dangerous, and you’d be screwed if another road user came up alongside and ended up in your blind spot as you changed position. But I wonder what would have happened if I’d got one of these examiners on my test, and drove in exactly the same manner as I did when I passed?
Sorry for the long post, needed to get some typing practise in somehow 