Need a little help

NEW AND WANNABE DRIVERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

Ok, so I need a little help getting my head round something, not sure Ill explain it that well, but Ill have a go.

On test I got a couple of marks for “hesitancy”. Now, the place where I seem to struggle the most with it (in the truck, according to the examiner) is on roads where theyre mebbe not very wide, cars parked either side ... Now, in normal driving (I already drive for a living), Ill happily flash a couple of cars through, then get flashed through myself, you know, for the most part (99%) of the time it works fine that way, occasionally you get the odd set of w@nk3rs who`ll take the piddle, but for the most part this is how it flows.

Now, on test, you cant flash others through, ok, so you have to be "assertive", ok, so you mirror check, indicate, move out (if safe to do so, eg, there is a car but its not quite at the cars parked on their side yet), ok. How ever you always get one numpty wholl chance it and keep coming, wholl try and squeeze past you, and if you “make them stop”, its a serious, but if like me youre happy just to let them go through and then progress once the way is clear, you get a mark for being “hesitant”.

It seems to be voodoo with no clearly defined line for whats ok, and whats not, and when I question it Im told to "read the road better", now youll have to excuse me I get a bit peeved at this, as Ive been reading the road just fine for 20 odd years, no accidents, no road rage incidents, just a good dose of patience and a lot of understanding for the other idiots that frequent our roads. But in a "test" that doesnt remotely mirror real life driving, Im suppose to change how I approach difficult traffic situations, and I cant seem to get it right :laughing: :laughing: … The problem now is Im second guessing myself and my judgement (which has served me well for 20 years in cars, vans and on my motorbike, driving all over the country), so I think I should stop, no wait I shouldnt be hesitant I should go, no wait, if I go now that car may have to stop and Ill fail, no wait, I should be more assertive so go, no wait Ive now thought about it for that ■■■■■■■ long I AM BEING HESITANT!!! Self fulfilling prophecy and all that :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: …

Ok, so that was a bit of a vent wasnt it :unamused: :laughing: ... Test rebooked, and now trying to work this one out so I dont fudge it again … over to you lol

2

I think there’s always situations in a HGV test where your dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t…Roundabouts are a classic, where you can easy to fail because of some monkey not indicating there intentions or you end up waiting to long and like youve already quoted…get marked down for hesitation …the same situation arises when pulling out of a junctions, its clear and you commit then speeding moron forced to slow down…

Now most examiners go by the book, that’s how they’ve been trained… very few of them hold a HGV licence and there is the old few that Ive come across over the years that actually live in the real world that judges you on your ability to be safe etc etc…

Cannot give you any advice but drive how you’ve been shown, read the road, if its clear and safe…go for it and commit… As for parked cars on narrow roads… you let them pass to the point where your side is clear then commit… if some numpty coming from the opposite direction cannot read the road… hollicks to them

3

Failed my 1st test as examiner said I made an oncoming vehicle break (didn’t even get to their side of the road).
2nd time I passed even though I mounted the pavement to let a blue light and horns ambulance to get through an otherwise blocked road.
Luck of the draw I suppose even though it was the same examiner

4

My instructors always said that they would look at the situation logically, and if you do something unsafe then they’ll mark you down. Hesitancy is a weird one, but I suppose it relates to your situational awareness and confidence, so it can be interpreted that way. It still doesn’t sound like the examiner is in the real world though!

It would be interesting to know how many examiners are ex-drivers, or ex-drivers who became instructors, and then went onto being examiners. My guess would be a very low percentage have commercial driving experience, and a most of them are career examiners, or DVSA bureaucrats who’ve worked their way around.