New Driving Test
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I was interested to hear today of the accidents that have resulted in the new motorcycle test that has recently been implemented by the DSA. I'm sure that it is a good idea to do a swerve test, as no doubt almost every motorcyclist has, at some time needed to do this, but it seems the problem has come in heavy rain as there is no allowance for variation due to weather conditions.
What does all this have to do with driving a car? Well one of the proposed changes for the new driving test is to make all driving instructors sit in on the de-brief at the end of the test. This may seem all well and good, after all it gives the instructor a chance to sit in and listen to where the pupil went wrong, what they should have done, and perhaps the reasons they failed to do it in the first place. So in theory a good idea.
In reality, what a pupil does on their driving test, rarely bears any resemblance to how they drive in their lessons! I recently had a pupil go for their driving test and got failed because they went onto the kerb at a roundabout and then caught a kerb on a left turn 10 minutes later. This pupil has NEVER in any driving lessons caught a kerb as much as once, so the next lesson after the test we went around the same test route that he had failed on, and sure enough he did it all perfectly.
And this is where the motorbike and driving test share the same principle - Their is no allowance for variation - For the driving test it is very often the pupils nerves that let them down and there driving style very rarely bears anything in common with how they drive normally.
Of course the other scenario is that despite being told every week that they pay too little attention to speed limits and week in, week out, continue to speed, they do exactly the same on the test and fail for it!
In which case you already know the problem and being told about it won't be of much benefit!
What does all this have to do with driving a car? Well one of the proposed changes for the new driving test is to make all driving instructors sit in on the de-brief at the end of the test. This may seem all well and good, after all it gives the instructor a chance to sit in and listen to where the pupil went wrong, what they should have done, and perhaps the reasons they failed to do it in the first place. So in theory a good idea.
In reality, what a pupil does on their driving test, rarely bears any resemblance to how they drive in their lessons! I recently had a pupil go for their driving test and got failed because they went onto the kerb at a roundabout and then caught a kerb on a left turn 10 minutes later. This pupil has NEVER in any driving lessons caught a kerb as much as once, so the next lesson after the test we went around the same test route that he had failed on, and sure enough he did it all perfectly.
And this is where the motorbike and driving test share the same principle - Their is no allowance for variation - For the driving test it is very often the pupils nerves that let them down and there driving style very rarely bears anything in common with how they drive normally.
Of course the other scenario is that despite being told every week that they pay too little attention to speed limits and week in, week out, continue to speed, they do exactly the same on the test and fail for it!
In which case you already know the problem and being told about it won't be of much benefit!