tl;dr Driving tests are a fucking scam and if I fail my next one, I'll suck a sweaty, hairy ballsack before I go legit.
Yes, I failed my first attempt at my driving test yesterday, and I'm not best pleased!
Having taken a mock test with a driving instructor a couple of months ago, and scoring 14 minor errors and 5 serious ones, and finishing yesterday's test with 4 minor errors and one serious one, I suppose I should be happy with my achievement, but I'm getting more annoyed the longer I think about it, hence this exorcism.
My 'serious' error apparently occurred after I'd done my emergency stop... when I proceeded driving, I didn't exaggeratedly look over my shoulder, and that was all the rest of my test disregarded.
I fully understand how this could be dangerous, but listen to the following scenario and tell me if you think this was a harsh judgement.
After 30 minutes of driving through myriad types of road and traffic conditions - where my failure to observe my blind spot hadn't been a problem - we'd turned off the main drag to do my manouevres, after which I was told I'd be required to make an emergency stop.
Coming to a t-junction, I was asked to turn left. To my right, traffic was being blocked by an articulated lorry reversing into a good's yard. As I start to pull away from the turn, he asks me to pick up speed, so we can do our stop. I've looked in my rear and driver's wing mirror and can see the wagon is still blocking the road - nothing is coming out of the road I've just turned off. Next thing, hand comes up, I stop, and after checking my mirrors, see nothing has changed behind me. He then asks me to proceed and 10 minutes later we'd finished.
In that scenario, does my lack of an exaggerated backward glance seem like dangerous disregard for other road users? Bear in mind, I hadn't been criticised for it in any other situation. Also, prior to my lesson I'd spent a hour with my instructor doing exactly what happened in my test, and he told me if that had been my test, I'd have passed.
Considering we have a system here where examiners know that nobody drives like they do on their test once they've passed and, doesn't even prepare you for driving on motorways, this is seeming more and more to me like a way of getting extra cash from potential motorists, and keeping the driving schools in work. Of which, most examiners were probably teachers at, before they joined the Driving Licensing Authority, and would probably like to owners of, once they've racked up enough money.
People taking a public service vehicle driving test seem to have about a dozen inspectors on board; there should be at least 2 in on a normal driving test.