Reasons for failing your driving test

The driver and vehicle standards agency (DVSA) recently published the top 10 reasons for failing the driving test in July 2019.

As the DVSA are the governing body who mark and monitor the driving test, they unfortunately can’t give their opinion or educate people on why and what to do next time. The can merely state the facts.

So we asked Anthony Johnson, the owner of driveJohnson’s and a Grade A, 51/51 instructor trainer, his thoughts on the top 10 reasons for failing the driving test. Of course, he’s willing to shed some light on what to do as well – he’s nice like that.

Reason 1: Observations at junctions

This is the number 1 reason for failing your driving test. To avoid confusion, a junction is where traffic meets and someone has to give way. Common junctions are:

• T-junctions
• Cross roads
• Mini roundabouts
• Large roundabouts

What is meant by observation?

This means the pupil, at the time of driving, failed to see or react to what they saw, stop and give way to a car on the roundabout. Sometimes the examiner has to dual control the car and sometimes the pupil stops extremely late which can often cause a rear end accident. If the pupil stops just in time this may be a serious fault and if the examiner has to dual control the car this is often deemed as a dangerous fault. Either way, a serious or dangerous fault means you have failed the driving test.

Many driving instructors teaching in large towns or big cities would consider roundabouts as the number 1 junction for failing for observations.

The reason for this is many roundabouts are linked to high speed 60-70mph roads, so these are always going to be more nerve racking for an examiner if a pupil on test isn’t slowing down for a large roundabout in good time. The consequence of a car meeting another car at 30mph going onto a roundabout is extremely high, this can often cause an impact speed of up to 60mph, involving other cars too.

What to do

Firstly, listen to the examiners instructions and respond in good time. If the examiner says, “At the roundabout turn right” then it’s worth getting into that right hand lane early on. Sometimes it’s not always easy to get into an alternative lane with other cars passing so preparing/starting the MSPSL routine early is vital for a good approach.

Reason 2: Mirrors changing direction

On the driving test report form below, you can see this area is highlighted red.

Typical examples for failing your driving test on this element of the marking sheet are:

• Changing lanes and not checking the mirrors at all. Often many learners check the mirrors and put a signal on but they don’t actually note the picture in the mirror of a car approaching at high speed about to pass you in the right hand lane. They begin to change lane and, as a consequence, the examiner doesn’t want to die, so they will go for the steering wheel or dual control the car. In this instance, more than one mirror check is required to assess the passing vehicles speed. The first check may tell us the car is 100 metres away but rechecking the mirror 1-2 seconds later, before putting the signal on, the vehicle about to pass may be 50 metres away which may then tell us to wait until the car passes before completing the full MSPSL routine.
• Moving out from a parked car – bike/fast car in hurry trying to pass. You may be the lead vehicle about to pass a parked car after giving way, but if you see a naughty person behind you about to pass you in a hurry, you should probably hold back or at least put a signal on, re-check your mirrors and see if they have reacted to your potential move. If they decide to pass you in hurry despite your signal then it’s safer to hold back.

In summary, the interior door mirror should usually be checked first before a door mirror, however, don’t be afraid to check the door mirrors more than once in busy traffic before continuing the MSPSL routine.

Reason 3: Control – steering

Many learners may think this is to do with crossing your hands when steering. Crossing your hands on the driving test can only be marked as a driving fault if you don’t have control of the car. Some experienced drivers are very good at controlling the car by crossing their hands. However, it is generally preferred to not cross your hands especially if your driving experience is low.

Examples of failing your test for steering are the following:

• Hitting the kerb or going up the kerb
• Sudden unnecessary movement of the steering
• Steering to slowly around a parked car
• Leaving your hand on the gear lever for too long. Experienced drivers often do this.

Reason 4: Junctions – turning right

This is a subject that is covered quite early on for learners. However the difficulty level really can vary from turning right into a quiet country road to turning right with a box junction during an 8:10am test in a busy area of London such as Harrow. The faults that usually occur here are incorrect position for turning right, stopping too early or a common one is stopping too late, making it extremely difficult to turn into the junction.

Some learners do what’s called a corner cut, which means they are turning too early and cars coming out of the junction are in danger. Lastly, crossing traffic and misjudging the oncoming car is extremely dangerous. A simple rule that will work for 30mph roads or less is: If you can walk across the oncoming car, then you can drive across. This is based on the oncoming car doing 30mph or less. If they are a mad driver doing 60mph you should be able to gauge this if you are approaching test standard and you may decide to hold back.

Reason 5: Move off – safely

Sounds easy, right? Maybe in a quiet rural area outside of a large town like Milton Keynes.

However, even if you do live in a rural area and it’s quiet, often the examiner will ask you to pull up on the left or right side of the road in a busy area to test how you deal with other cars from a parked position.

Try not to get this element of the marking sheet mixed up with ‘move off – control’. Move off control means stalling, not moving away smoothly, in the wrong gear etc.

Here are some examples of ‘Move off – safely’ fails:

• Pupil on test pulls out in front of car and forces oncoming to slow down or overtake/change lanes.
• Pupil puts a signal on as a car is about to pass which cause the car on main road to change direction, swerve, sound horn out of panic.
• Pupil moves away without observations (360/6 point check) and there is a pedestrian behind car, walking into road, car trying to move out at the same time.

Most serious faults for moving off safely are down to poor judgement or lack of observations.

Reason 6: Response to signs – traffic lights

There are many different ways of getting this wrong, here are some of the most common.

• Failing to stop in time for a red light or not stopping at all
• Slowing down too much for a green light (some learners over analyse things during their tests)
• Not understanding the different amber sequences for different light types:
  • Amber: stop if you can do so safely
  • Red & amber together: get ready to go
  • Flashing amber: proceed if it’s clear and safe
• Not understanding the rules for traffic lights with green filter arrows. Some people see red and stop when they can actually continue if the green arrow is showing to turn left, right or go straight on. See the image above.

What to do

Firstly, understand the different sequences available on pedestrian crossings and traffic lights. If you thoroughly understand all of the amber sequences, that should avoid any confusion at traffic lights or crossings on the day of your driving test.

Secondly, when you have seen a green light for a long time, you should check your mirrors and come off the gas on the approach. It’s unlikely you will need to brake as well. If the light remains green 2-3 car lengths away, then you have usually passed the point of stopping safely. At this point, go back on the gas and clear the traffic light.

Reason 7: Move off – control.

The most common fault here is stalling. Most people are nervous on their driving tests; if you’re a nervous person, you may benefit from having a mock test with your driving instructor.

One famous person who had their driving lessons in Leicester was Stephen Graham, famous for appearing in Pirates of the Carribean and the BBC’s Line of Duty, was nervous. He passed first time with driveJohnson’s, but he did stall the car once. He said, “when I stalled, I just remember what my instructor said to me – don’t panic, secure the car and make sure it doesn’t roll forwards or backwards. Check it’s in the correct gear, clutch down and restart the car. Keep repeating those words on the lead up to your test and hopefully it will help you, like it did me.”

So many people stall the car because, during the test, their clutch control suffers. The left foot and even the leg can judder a bit more as a result of the nerves. This makes it much harder to have good clutch control.

TIP: Try to keep your heel on the floor when holding the clutch at the biting point. If your heel is off the floor when you are coordinating the clutch, you may struggle with good clutch control when you’re nervous.

Some other reasons for failing the “control” section while moving off are:

• Rolling backwards when trying to move forwards – this is most common on hill starts.
• Moving away in the wrong gear – many learners stop at a junction in 2^nd or 3^rd gear, then try to move away again forgetting to drop the gear down into 1^st before moving away.
• Juddering when moving off – this means the car was close to stalling. The most common cause is not setting enough gas when trying to move away quickly, for example, at roundabouts.

Reason 8: Positioning – normal driving.

Driving along in a straight line? Not quite – there’s more to it than that.

Here are some common faults:

• Drifting slightly left or right – this often happens in high winds or on faster roads. Try to stay in your lane at all times. Some instructors might provide you with a focal/reference point for you to use to keep a good position in a straight line. On wide roads, we usually suggest staying approximately 1 metre away from the kerb.
• Avoid moving in and out of parked cars unless it’s necessary. For example, if you feel like you are doing a slalom between cars and nobody is approaching or behind you, you may be marked down for this.
• Lane position when approaching and on junctions (especially roundabouts).
• Using the right hand lane for longer than necessary after an overtake. Once you have overtaken the vehicle(s), check if it’s safe to come back into the left hand lane. If you stay in the right hand lane for longer than necessary, other road users can get angry, impatient and can drive recklessly by tailgating you or undertaking.

Reason 9: Response to signs – road markings

It’s a classic but many learners who don’t know the area they are taking their test in will go down no entries, despite there being a sign there. Another classic fault is taking up an incorrect position for turning right in a one-way street.

Other common reasons for failing for road signs and markings are:

• Failing to stop at a stop sign
• Overtaking when there is a “no overtaking” sign present
• Give way to oncoming cars
• Stopping in no stopping areas where signs are visible
• Driving in bus lanes during bus operating hours
• Avoiding a bus lane while not in it’s operating hours

What to do

Unfortunately, there is no quick tip here. The best and surest advice is to read up on and familiarise yourself with the highway code for traffic and road signs.

Make sure you understand them all. If you don’t understand a few of them, read up some more or ask your driving instructor to explain it to you.

Reason 10: Reverse park – control

This refers to the parallel park exercise or the reversing into a parking bay exercise.

Common reasons for failing are:

• Poor clutch control
• Stalling too many times – often the learner has their foot on the brake while trying to move backwards or they are braking with the clutch at its biting point throughout the manoeuvre.
• Finishing position is incorrect – not within the white lines on the bay park and for the parallel park too far away from the kerb, on the kerb or too far away from the car in front. You should aim to finish a maximum of two car lengths away from the car in front.
• Going over the white lines too much during the bay park manoeuvre.

TIP: With both manoeuvres, the door mirrors can be your best friend but if you get too matey with them (stare into them for too long), then you can also fail for observations for not being observant and aware of other road users or hazards around you. Glance in your door mirrors but don’t stare into them. You can look in the door mirrors as regularly as you want providing you keep looking all around you for hazards too!

There are many techniques for both manoeuvres, so it’s worth checking out our manoeuvres page for more information.

Summary

Taking your driving test is extremely nerve racking for many learners. Not many people in life enjoy being tested, but one thing you can do is practise dealing with pressure.

At driveJohnson’s, we will often perform mock driving tests with our pupils and, in some instances (if required), we will link up with another instructor so they can perform a mock test with the learner too. A new face and character performing a mock test is just one of many ways of practising coping under pressure and helping the learner achieve the first time pass! Another way is to check where the hardest and easiest driving test centres are near you.

Failing the driving test can be devastating for many and it can really knock your confidence. If you are thinking of booking your test, try not to add extra pressure on yourself to pass, like applying for jobs that need a driving licence or telling all your mates your test is coming up.

Less pressure means lower nerves/anxiety.
Higher pressure means an increase in nerves/anxiety.

Good luck with your driving test!