Practical Driving Test

In my attempt to get a full UK driving license, I took the practical test this morning. With 12 years of driving experience that I gained previously, I topped up 10 hours of driving lessons to shake off all the uncertainties and bad habits that I have picked up throughout the years and to learn the rules of driving in this country.

People who have lived here long enough will tell you that this country is obsessed with rules. You can never be too careful in doing the right things. So, 10 hours of driving lessons were certainly nothing compared to the recommended 40 hours!

At first glance, the result sheet looked clean and "harmless". I must have passed.

However, when the examiner broke the news to my instructor and I that I didn't pass, I was absolutely disappointed. Suddenly I felt like the thickest and darkest clouds and the most miserable weather in this country have fallen onto me!

I had 3 minor faults and 1 serious fault. No wonder the paper looked clean. There were only four ticks.

What's the problem then?

Apparently, the serious fault was on my parallel parking. It did not occur to me that I should finish my parallel parking within two car lengths. I exceeded half a car length in the manoeuvre. Big deal, you might have thought.

Diagram showing the parallel parking. Fourth picture shows the half car length I exceeded, in an otherwise neat positioning of the car parallel to the kerb.

To these people, the half-car length that I have exceeded may have been a wall or some form of obstruction. Fair enough, but if there was really a wall, would anyone reverse into one? I am not being defensive but this is just common sense.

My driving instructor also thought it was harsh to fail me over the half-car length, otherwise I would have had a nearly unblemished result sheet to make me pass. After all, what is a car length measured against to? A Toyota Prius length for example is two lengths of a Smart for Two and the car I was driving was the size between the two. The gap I produced was probably two lengths of the two Mercedes S-Class??

Really, for a country so obsessed with rules to the point of being illogical, there's really no point in arguing anymore.

I just booked my next test in December, a week before Christmas. I was upset earlier but am not now because I know the "serious fault" I committed could neither proof that I could not park a car nor that I could not drive. Then again, I failed the test.