After 53 years I have to take my test again!

[Steve Maskery]

I was last in Peterborough five years ago purchasing a dock system for my son's cottage property.

What's a dock system?
S

 

[duke]

Basically metal frame with metal legs with wood etc on top to make a deck, placed in the water for docking boats or swimming from etc.

 

[duke]

Yes the Trent Severn waterway.

 

[duke]

General Electric operated from 1892 to 2018, when the site was demolished . As with most older plants a lot of nasty chemicals contaminated the site and needed proper removal. I think it is still ongoing.

 

[Cabinetman]

Happy to report that I took the practical driving test today and passed, I was talking to the examiner afterwards and he asked me about the uk test, he was shocked that we do an emergency stop as part of the test. ( I presume it’s still in there?) with the standard of driving over here he was probably glad that he didn’t have to sit through it.
It nearly didn’t happen though, he got into my little Mazda 3 which has a gear lever and a handbrake in the centre, couldn’t use our Honda as the emergency brake would be out of his reach, and he wanted me to demonstrate that the handbrake would stop the car, had to almost pull it out of existence to make it work to his satisfaction.
Another interesting thing is that all learners have to be accompanied by their sponsor who sits in the back during the test!
I can only think that this is so that in the event of the student being dangerously inept the examiner will get out and walk back leaving the sponsor to get the student home again?
That’s another milestone passed on my journey to being legal, just the income tax to deal with, like most things it’s not as you might imagine it, I discovered that depending on how many days I had been in the country each year I was obliged to file a tax return and pay taxes!

 

[Peri]

Mate, at 57 I'm learning to drive

Waited 6 months for my first test, failed with 1 minor and a serious fault - minor was touching a kerb with a wheel on a parallel park, major was driving too close to the cars on the left in a 20mph zone.

Waited 8 months for my next test - failed that miserably, but in my defence my mom passed away on the Sunday night and my test was on the Monday morning.

Next test is another 8 months away in August, if I fail that one I'll be doing my theory again

 

[AndyP]

Congrats Ian.

Did you have to do a hill start?

Horrified to discover that eldest daughter took her test here last year in a car with electronic brake so not even possible to do a handbrake assisted hill start.

 

[Cabinetman]

Mate, at 57 I'm learning to drive

Waited 6 months for my first test, failed with 1 minor and a serious fault - minor was touching a kerb with a wheel on a parallel park, major was driving too close to the cars on the left in a 20mph zone.

Waited 8 months for my next test - failed that miserably, but in my defence my mom passed away on the Sunday night and my test was on the Monday morning.

Next test is another 8 months away in August, if I fail that one I'll be doing my theory again

So easy to make a mistake! Sorry to hear about your Mum, we only have one and it’s a sad day when she’s not there for you anymore.

Congrats Ian.

Did you have to do a hill start?

Horrified to discover that eldest daughter took her test here last year in a car with electronic brake so not even possible to do a handbrake assisted hill start.

no no hill start, but you do have to turn your wheels into the curb facing downhill and visa versa, can’t imagine doing a hill start in a manual car with an electric brake, easy in an automatic of course as the car doesn’t roll back. Well done your Daughter!

 

[duke]

If I had to do a road test I most likely would fail.

 

[RogerS]

If I had to do a road test I most likely would fail.

Me too. Going too fast probably.

 

[Cabinetman]

Me too. Going too fast probably.

Yes that was my worry, and the roads around the area are 25mph which is almost walking lol. Fortunately my little Mazda is getting on a bit and has a dial speedo which isn’t easy to read from the passenger seat, some modern cars have big illuminated numbers right above the central console which is a dead giveaway.
He did pick me up on my using the wing mirror instead of looking out the back window on the 50 ft reverse 1foot away from the kerb, the reason being is that the back window is quite high and you can’t see damn all through it.

 

[RogerS]

....
He did pick me up on my using the wing mirror instead of looking out the back window on the 50 ft reverse 1foot away from the kerb, the reason being is that the back window is quite high and you can’t see damn all through it.

That would be impossible for some people with limited back and neck rotation. It's what the rear-view camera's for !

 

[AndyP]

My Touran automatically dips the wing mirrors when in reverse but even so 50’ going backwards 1’ from the kerb is quite a test.

 

[Mike]

My Touran automatically dips the wing mirrors when in reverse but even so 50’ going backwards 1’ from the kerb is quite a test.

This is similar to the driving tests I had to pass for my Class A commercial license in Virginia. I had to negotiate reversing through a series of turns and straight sections in an articulated lorry with a 40-foot container without touching any of the cones that marked the lane boundary.

A few years before I tested for my Class A license, I took the driving test for the Class B commercial license. The only vehicle we had at the time was a prototype of the military M1977 Common Bridge Transporter. It was a large noisy tactical vehicle and required the crew of two to wear intercom headsets while on the road. The examiner was a little surprised by the choice of vehicles, but it met all of the requirements for the Class B test.

When we returned to the testing center after the hour-long test, she reluctantly told me I failed the test because I didn't look at the curbside mirror once during the driving part of the test. Apparently, drivers are supposed to periodically look down the curbside length of the vehicle while in motion to ensure no one is trying to overtake on that side. I asked her to sit in the driver's seat and look at the right side of the instrument cluster. We installed two cameras on the rear corners of the chassis and the small color monitors were in a custom housing on the dash. She couldn't see the monitors from the passenger seat and I assured her I had continuous view of the rear of the vehicle while we were on the road. She removed her negative comments from the test sheet and congratulated me on passing the test.

 

[Cabinetman]

This is similar to the driving tests I had to pass for my Class A commercial license in Virginia. I had to negotiate reversing through a series of turns and straight sections in an articulated lorry with a 40-foot container without touching any of the cones that marked the lane boundary.

A few years before I tested for my Class A license, I took the driving test for the Class B commercial license. The only vehicle we had at the time was a prototype of the military M1977 Common Bridge Transporter. It was a large noisy tactical vehicle and required the crew of two to wear intercom headsets while on the road. The examiner was a little surprised by the choice of vehicles, but it met all of the requirements for the Class B test.

When we returned to the testing center after the hour-long test, she reluctantly told me I failed the test because I didn't look at the curbside mirror once during the driving part of the test. Apparently, drivers are supposed to periodically look down the curbside length of the vehicle while in motion to ensure no one is trying to overtake on that side. I asked her to sit in the driver's seat and look at the right side of the instrument cluster. We installed two cameras on the rear corners of the chassis and the small color monitors were in a custom housing on the dash. She couldn't see the monitors from the passenger seat and I assured her I had continuous view of the rear of the vehicle while we were on the road. She removed her negative comments from the test sheet and congratulated me on passing the test.

Wow! And I thought I’d gone through the mill.

That would be impossible for some people with limited back and neck rotation. It's what the rear-view camera's for !

yes, dead right! But they still expect you to do it, there are medical exemptions but luckily I didn’t need to look into that, maybe that would have helped.

My Touran automatically dips the wing mirrors when in reverse but even so 50’ going backwards 1’ from the kerb is quite a test.

our Honda does that too, but the Mazda being an older vehicle doesn’t so I set up the near side mirror before the test to help me!