Before you get your license, you need to pass the driving test. When you took yours did you pass it the first time? Was it hard? What did the instructor tell you to do? I'm just wondering because my driver's test is in 2 days. On November 13 if I pass I get my license. Do you have any advice on what to do when you're about to take it? Thanks

nothing special, sit and drive

I didn't find it easy to pass my test because I really felt under pressure and they'll give you minor fault marks for every tiny error you make (like not looking in the mirror every 5 seconds or some stupid little thing). And if you fail there is a 3 month waiting list to take another test, so that doesn't exactly put you at ease. But then that's the driving test in Britain, I've no idea how the American DMV driving test works but I've heard it's a piece of piss. For one thing in America learners only get taught how to drive an automatic so that takes care of one part of driving.

My first driving test was absolutely horrible (I passed it) but it was horrible ... I used my dad’s old Chevrolet K-10 Fleetside pickup. Seemed like it took 40 acres just to turn it around ... Everything went fine until the officer wanted me to do a "Three-Point-Turn". That damn truck couldn’t do a three-point-turn to save its life. I went from doing a three-point-turn, to doing a Six-Point-Turn! ... I was so embarrassed, I’ll never forget that. But the officer didn’t mark me up for it (thank God) ...

I failed the first time for the "maneuvering" test (i.e. when you have to park the car in few areas between poles), mostly because I was way too nervous, and it was the afternoon in summer (i.e. quite hot).
I repassed the test two days later, on a morning. I did not succeed much better, but as I succeeded those that I failed the other day, it was globally OK (I was surprised, I thought it would be considered as failed again). Its a luck for me that they accepted it: you can only fail once, if you fail a second time you have to take at least few hours of driving school ("auto-école") before passing the test the 3rd time.

So then I had the test on the road, in the streets near the examination center. Since it was in summer and in middle of the morning, there was not much traffic, and I did not made any fault, except not taking the right street when the guy said "turn right" (there was a street at 90° right, and one at 45, in a ¥-shaped intersection (¥, not Y ), I took the second one instead of the first one).

I was very nervou as well when i was going to do mine, that day i was about half an hour with my teacher (i know in other countries you call them instructors right?, in Spain we call them driving school teachers) and then i went to the rendezvous point, the other partner, a girl, did it first, and just for this time, as it is never done, i went in the car while she was doing her exam (the other car was not there to pick me up so i had to go with them), the more things she had to do the more nervous i was getting, she then `parked in one of the worst spaces my city can have, well it was my turn, i had to reverse into the road (quite frighting and difficult) but thank God the examiner (a woman) told me, "dont make it the hard way take that other road" and i breath and did what she told me, after that she told me to took the worst motorway entry my city can have very dangerous entry indeed, but i did it well, then she told me to go along the city and i ws so frightned of people coming out to the road in zebra crossings that i tended to slow down at each of them, i almost hit the brakes in a zebra crossing i had preference at but the teacher next to me push the acelerator (yes i know, youll find this odd, but form some reason he could accelerate a bit and no "siren" turned on, odd indeed) and she told me Adrián i see you very worried about certain things (yes moron about everything right now) then at the very end she told me to park (argh when i thought she wouldnt ask me for so ) so i parked in "battery" ( i dont know how you call it in english) i reversed and did it propertly.

Also during the test she told me im not marking you every little error you are comiting, as G-MANN says the minor error is arked if you do it.

Thank God i didnt have any errors, or at least not enough of them to fail, so i passed it at the first time, i think it lasted about half an hour.

In the DVLA (the British version of the DMV) driving test, the examiners have clipboards and mark down faults as you make them. There are 3 different kinds of faults, minor, major and dangerous faults. Everyone makes some minor faults, I've never heard of anyone not getting a single minor fault, but you must get 14 (or is it 15?) of them to fail. A major fault isn't necessarily a really bad mistake, eg. I think you get a major fault if while doing the 3 point turn your wheels happen to just touch the curb on one side of the road (hardly the end of the world, we're not talking about actually mounting the curb/pavement, but still a fail in their eyes). If you get just one major fault, you've failed automatically (but they don't tell you until the test is over). A dangerous fault is a mistake that's obviously a fail, though "dangerous" might be a bit exaggerated, if someone drove truly dangerously (like the way a lot of boy racers drive AFTER they pass the test), the instructor would stop them driving.

Our driving test is about following every single tiny little rule of "driving" (the DVLA's idea of what driving is, not advanced driving skills like the police are trained to do) to the letter, I bet if you made all of Britain's drivers take the test again (without lessons) the majority of them would fail. A high percentage of learners fail first time, I think they even have a quota.

I once saw the episode of The Osbournes where Jack Osbourne takes his driving test (they live in California). Some of the things he did would definetely have a been a fail if he'd done it in Britain, at one point he is told to turn left and he turns right, but he still passes the DMV test! So it can't be that hard, can it?

Right now, if i did the writen test i would surely fail it, as i "memory recorded" some of them, about the driving test, well that's different i guess, i'd pass it again with no problem.

I didn't pass my first test. I failed because the driving instructor had to press brake in one intersection. I seem to remember that it wasn't completely necessary. There were some other small errors too (I think I stalled once or twice). So I took few extra lessons with the Toyota Avensis and improved my driving.

Second test went much better untill I approached a big intersection which had no traffic lights and it was rush hour. After waiting maybe one minute I decided to cross the intersection and when I started to move a big truck suddenly decided to go before me. He came towards me from the left. I had no choice but to press brakes quickly and let him go first. Driving instructor said that he was just about to press his brake pedal and I was maybe half a second faster than him. So it was really close that I didn't pass the second test also Luckily I did.

So I got my driving license on that same day in September 11th, 2001. Something else happened on that same day too

I'm taking the test in the Acura. I wanted to because it's the car I feel more comfortible driving. Today I will practice parrarel parking (I hope I spelled it right ) and it may not be so hard because it's on a tuesday a 10:00 a.m. (where most people are at work). I feel confident that I'll pass it (even the girl I like knows I'll do well ) so that helps. If I think I can improve anything is that I need to be quicker on lane changing. Tomarrow I will tell you if i passed or not.

"Parallel" but if i was you, with an automatic i woudnt be afraid at all.

Just to let you know, I passed. Was close to failing however.

Congrats!!!

Congrats!
I passed mine, but back then I was a really careful driver. I took the test doing everything drivers' ed teaches ya. I checked around the car, adjusted mirrors, seatbelt and everything. I had my mom's '87 Dodge Charger so it was really easy to drive and park. I remember one day during driver ed classes in school we were going down a 4 lane road where the speed limit was 40. I was going 55. The teacher was looking at a book and all the other kids in the car were asleep-he never noticed i was speeding. The teacher said I did a great job since I drove so smoothly that everyone fell asleep. I can also remember when it was "freeway day". All the other kids were scared, but since I drove my mom everywhere...I pulled onto the freeway behind a dump truck and infront of a semi. I think I was the only one not scared in the car. To me it was just another day driving around. The summer before with my permit I'd drive my dad's car on the freeway with him between Virginia and Ohio. So trucks didn't scare me.

I pay much more attention to trucks when I'm in the MG.

I passed it on the first try, but with a bit luck. A traffic light was very very dark yellow, I just had accelerate a little bit to reach it. Half a second later it would have been over.

The UK test is tough, I think only 30% pass first time. I had a beardy podgy Scotsman who failed me first for not looking both ways when parallel parking. I had a stroke of luck on the test I passed however, as half of it was just stopping and starting due to the heavy traffic. I remember when the instructor told me to "stop next to the lamp post" and I stopped next to a telephone pole, to which he said "that's not a lamp post" in such a way that it did little to ease my nerves.

That's how easy it is to fail the DVLA test. I bet you did look to see if anything was coming at one point, just not the "right" point. Or the road was empty, you knew there was nothing coming, and in a normal driving situation if someone was aware that there were no cars around they wouldn't bother pausing to look, but this still fails the test.

Yes exactly, they are annoyingly stringent in their assessment. You have to emphasis every mirror and observation check you perform in order for it to be noted.