Turned up for my trailer test yesterday.

No one told me it was a full on driving test -and it seems I chose roundabout and slip road city to to do it…. Livi

How do you think your driving would fare ?

What on Earth is a “trailer test”???

It’s a test for young people to drive a proper gert trailer on the back of a proper vehicle.

Eg horse box trailer or car transporter.

Your b1+e full rather than the provisional You get when you pass your test these days -750kg unbraked limitation

For HGVs.

Hmmm! Not sure if I could there’d be some incidental bits I’d struggle with.

YEAH, Like if YOU gerrouta my waaaaaaayyyyyy!

Done about 900k miles so would like to think my experience would get me through. There again, in 1988 there was no theory, parking, reversing with the test heavily weighted to not spilling your pint pulling out of a T junction 😆

trail_rat – Member

How do you think your driving would fare ?

Perfectly. My driving is impeccable. Other road users though….jesus…don’t get me started.

Had this conversation last week with the Mrs and tried to drive as we did on our test;

Check mirrors every few seconds
Hand 10-2

Lasted about 10 minutes before slipping into old habits.

Parallel parking is embarrassingly bad (big car, no sensors, rarely do it) and usually end up bumping a kerb, which in test language is a dead child I believe so fail!

Also have an annoying habit of slowing down with clutch out, then selecting appropriate gear for my new speed, rather than as m instructor always told me which was to slow down and change down as required. Don’t know if that’s a fail or just a minor.

Am much better now at checking blindspot and mirrors, and less likely to stall than I was as a nervous beginner, so hopefully that counts for something 8)

Edit: ooh yeah, would probably fail just for where my hands are on the wheel, too much ‘washing windows’ behaviour when manoeuvring probably…

No way. I palm the steering wheel and steer one handed far to often. Feed the wheel !

Not sure I’d pass – been driving too long to remember the “right” way to do it.

If I was to do it *now* with no warning I’d more than likely fail. If I was given a couple of weeks to work on it (i.e. get a couple of lessons to have my bad habits pointed out) then I’d probably pass.

Driving round Livi is bad enough without the added pressure of a trailer and an examiner.

Did you pass?

I think so but only because I taught junior to drive recently. I’d fail the “code” without revision though, I made 6 mistakes on a mock and more than 5 is a fail.

Yes. But this is only as I drive less than I used to. When I drove regularly I had far too many bad habits, now I drive occasionally I drive more by the book.

Also have an annoying habit of slowing down with clutch out, then selecting appropriate gear for my new speed, rather than as m instructor always told me which was to slow down and change down as required. Don’t know if that’s a fail or just a minor

Well I was taught the old way like you but the new way is pretty much as you describe.

Was pretty glad I paid for a mornings refresher lesson. Had a -750 unbraked trailer for years so manuvering wasn’t an issue but I’ve also had a van for years so over my shoulder blind spot checking wasnt high on the agenda as all I’ll see is race numbers …..in my van I have a secondary mirror to show me my blind spot so I see everything looking at the mirrors- which are about 3 times the size of toy mirrors in cars.

Eldest daughter passed her test last week so, based on driving, yes I could!

Do you get extra marks for each successfully executed handbrake turn these days?

Definitely – in an auto. Not sure I could do all the changing gear stuff. I’m an awful, reactive driver, but if I was doing a test, I’d know what I’m supposed to do. I’m sure I would be able to stop myself from shouting too.

Probably.

My daughter passed recently so I’m even aware of the changes in things like gear selection, engine braking and hand position.

FWIW I think that driving a van regularly has made me a smoother driver and carrying fare-paying passengers a smoother one.

I passed my driving test at 17 yrs old 43 years ago ..I don’t know if I would pass my test tomorrow ..
Do I class myself as a good driver ..in terms of reading the road and experience ..exceptional.
With regard to patience extending to other drivers ..severely lacking …
Having spent most of my life in a field based sales environment I’ve estimated my mileage as at least 1,720,000 without an accident where I was at fault.

engine braking

Which was a big shock to me yesterday as I was taught 5-3 or 4-2 and engine braking.

Apparently this is no longer a thing and your to hold the high gear until you can see to select your next gear on approach. …. That took alot of concentration to not come down the box

Doubt I would pass as couldn’t keep up the required approaches for that long without falling back into how I have driven for 30 years.
I know what I would need to do to pass but wouldn’t manage it.

Putting on handbrake, taking car out of gear at junctions
Looking in rear view mirror constantly
Keeping both hands on the wheel all the time
Probably generally driving too fast (not breaking speed limit but too fast around corners etc,.)

Yes i probably could, but i only passed last year as a 34 year old and haven’t picked up many bad habits.

Judging by most drivers i encounter when driving, cycling or as a pedestrian then most people would fail miserably

They don’t teach the 10-2 hand position anymore, you just need “control” which generally means two hands on the wheel. In a test situation the mirror glances that people do are often too subtle, I recently passed and wear glasses which meant I had to learn to do huge head turns when looking in the mirrors.

And speed, obviously.

Yes i probably could, but i only passed last year as a 34 year old and haven’t picked up many bad habits.

I only passed in August as a 38 year old, so does that mean I win?

As a supermarket trucker we get assessed every year.
I’ve had no negative comments about my driving to date,so I think I’d pass.
I’m not sure if it could be policed but I think a compulsory retest should be done every 5 years for all drivers.
I think the majority of drivers haven’t had their driving asessed since the day they passed their test & that’s not good for road safety..

trail_rat – Member

engine braking

Which was a big shock to me yesterday as I was taught 5-3 or 4-2 and engine braking.[/quote]

It was even worse when I had a refresher lesson on a motorbike this summer. The instructor was constantly telling me off for not using the brakes. It’s even worse since I’m now riding a V-twin 🙂

engine braking
Which was a big shock to me yesterday as I was taught 5-3 or 4-2 and engine braking.

That would be for me too. I do it all the time, either block change in the van or in new car I sequential shift down through 7 speed auto. Coming off the motorway onto slip roads I downshift to take the speed off so i don’t have to brake so much.
I do regularly look in the mirrors though, although parallel parking is done under car control now 😉

Compulsory re-test every five years.

If you were in charge of a piece of machinery at work that killed or seriously injured upwards of 24,000 people a year then you’d require regular retesting and certification before you got anywhere near it.

But cars… nah.. one half hour test at 17 and you’ll be fine..

Check mirrors every few seconds
Hand 10-2

A long time ago they used to tell you to set the rear view mirror slightly out so you had to move to see it, and the examiner would then know you’d looked, but my instructor laughed at that one.

I often drive like a **** but I think I could drive impeccably if I had to do a test today. When I took my driving test I’d been riding motor bikes for a few years which you’d think might have given me all sorts of bad habits but was actually a good advantage. I think similarly that years of familiarity in a car would be an advantage as long as you applied it right.

I’d definitely fail the theory though. I’ve no idea what’s involved. I might go and google it now.

I passed my test over 30 yrs ago before the formal theory test days. Reviewed that last year when my son was taking his test. Sometimes I did ok. Others less so.

Work paid for me to take the IAM test 6/7 years ago. Passed. Enjoyed it. Recall lots of focus from my instructor on mirrors, checking for bikes etc (which is great obvs). The most contentious bit with my missus after my IAM pass was the occasional ‘no use of indicators’, instructed not to use them when there are no other road users in the vicinity – narks the ti#s off my wife.

Would be 50/50 I reckon.
Hands at 10-2 and feeding the wheel, parallel parking (might not be so bad in a dinky little driving instructors car) and engine braking would be the most likely to catch me out.

Coming off the motorway onto slip roads I downshift to take the speed off so i don’t have to brake so much.

Brakes to slow.
Engine to go.

I agree Graham.

I learnt alot actually.

Being instructed not to use the indicators when there are no other users sounds odd. What if you didn’t see someone (pedestrian?) or someone appears after you look but before the direction change is over?

Feeding the wheel doesn’t appear to be a thing anymore either, I routinely let the wheel self-center though my hands or did tight turns crossing the arms during my lessons and test and didn’t get a minor.

Being instructed not to use the indicators when there are no other users sounds odd. What if you didn’t see someone (pedestrian?) or someone appears after you look but before the direction change is over?

Once you’ve passed your IAM test you’re such a driving god that you’re aware of the position and movement of every human being within a ten mile radius.

Thread crossover;

I was dropping off a group of 6 women in Inverness this summer and had to parallel park the Tourneo (with tow bar rack). The comment I got was “ooh – a man that knows how to parallel park!” and then they all laughed. Is this a(nother) male failing then?

It’s incase over use burns out the indicator bulbs.

It’s incase over use burns out the indicator bulbs.

Same reason I only put my headlights on when I see other cars.

My night vision is pretty good.

😉

Reading some of these comments I definitely wouldn’t pass ..using your brakes to brake ?
How nuts is that..6-4,5-3, 4-2..and the same ratios for overtaking ..depending on the situation ..
I use the brake to scrub any excess speed prior to cornering and in good time …and accelerate out ..
It should be noted though that a lot of my driving is on rural country roads and not town & city.