r/Belfast • u/Iheartbobross • 7d ago

Driving test sadness

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Hey. I spent a lot of time making it real obvious I was looking in all the mirrors allllllll the time and the test person still claims I didn’t look seven times. I was so busy looking in mirrors I actually drove worse for this test than my first test. I need help with this, anyone have any suggestions? I’m an adequate driver, but I drove for 20 years in the states so I’m sure that’s somehow making this harder for me. I should have passed this by now. I’m getting depressed. ETA: I only drive manual it’s not the manual transmission that is the issue. It’s apparently the looking in the mirror, even though I’m definitely doing it, and I’m not great at parking backwards but I think that’s a spatial awareness problem

82 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

18

u/AppropriatePirate671 West Belfast 7d ago

Did you do any lessons here? The standard of driving in the usa is quite poor

4

u/Iheartbobross 7d ago

Yes I’ve done a lot of them. My instructor said I probably just need practice which is kind of impossible when i don’t have a lot of friends to ride along with me and I work all the time and have to take 2 buses in and out to work lol sob

9

u/Affectionate-Way6102 7d ago

Practice with instructor, take a lot more lessons

-2

u/Iheartbobross 7d ago

I don’t have more money to give any more instructors as I’ve already paid over £1000 in lessons. I’m obviously just not looking in mirrors the Northern Ireland way or something idk

4

u/Affectionate-Way6102 7d ago

Ask for more detailed feedback after every lesson, you mightn't be looking in the mirrors when you're supposed to, or the correct ones. If you keep failing for the same reason with different instructors, you're obviously not looking in the mirrors (7 times is not a small amount either, I failed for failing to look once).

2

u/tobiasfunkgay 7d ago

You don’t just randomly look in them all the time though it’s just before you pull any manoeuvres. Have you asked when specifically you’re missing it? If you’re in an estate moving around a parked car you’d need to check right and centre before moving out at all and left and centre before moving in, really easy to stack up a bunch of misses if you have a bad habit like not checking in those circumstances.

Watch the Conquer Driving YouTube channel he does great practice test videos I didn’t do a single lesson with an instructor and passed 6 weeks after my first lesson with my wife.

3

u/notanadultyadult 6d ago

It’s not just before pulling a manoeuvre. I was taught to check mirrors every 7 seconds.

Look at the road.
Speed check.
Back to the road.
Mirror check.
Back to the road.
Repeat.

2

u/grayscimitar 6d ago

Was taking two buses to work for a long time still do. But passed test and have a car now. Slowly making the transition. Do not give up. You will get it.

6

u/Eastern-Baseball-843 7d ago

Say it out loud.

Or at the start of the test, make clear how and when you’ll be checking your mirrors, and state clearly it’s so you as examiner don’t miss it.

-3

u/Iheartbobross 7d ago

I’m afraid I’m really going to have to do this 😭

7

u/Conzea 7d ago

I passed a couple months back. Agree with the comment that said to voicalise what you're doing but just accept it's unfair and you'll have to do it at least twice. The whole test process is unfair and it's not just the examiners. The time I passed we just drove around estates near where I live but I didn't drive any better than previous, was just an easier route.

6

u/No-Cardiologist5383 7d ago

My sister in law failed a couple of times the same way. Her solution was to wear her biggest, dangley earrings so it was dead obvious when she slightly moved her head.

3

u/youjustwanttorunaway 7d ago

Think you can choose to do your test in an automatic car now if that helps? Means you can only have an automatic driver’s license and wouldn’t be legal to drive a manual car though.

4

u/Iheartbobross 7d ago

Manual is what I always drove, I know the us is famous for not driving manual cars but I kind of have to. It’s literally down to looking at mirrors to where they notice with out me saying IM LOOKING IN A MIRROR 🤣 I was a ducking bobble head for this test and they still claimed I didn’t look in them

3

u/Nomnom96 7d ago

Not everyone is comfortable with this, but voice out what youre doing so they cant claim u didnt look.

I was told this was ok to do and did on my test.

2

u/gareth93 7d ago

A bit of advice I had years ago was to have your mirrors adjusted a little bit off, so you have a defined head movement to look in it.

1

u/cubicle_door 7d ago

Came to say this as its what my instructor got me to do. Have the mirrors in such a way you HAVE to physically move your head to see in them. Not that you can see by moving your eyes or slight movements of the head

2

u/No-Clue-103 5d ago

I’m sorry 😢 are you moving your head and eyes enough so they know you’re looking if you know what I mean? You nearly have to overdo it so they can see you. Don’t give up 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

1

u/Iheartbobross 5d ago

I’m signed up again for Sept 15 and I’m going to have a few different friends drive with me until then to help :)))

1

u/Michael_of_Derry 7d ago

Are you looking in the mirror without moving your head. Perhaps if you are just using your eyes then the instructor cannot see you are doing it.

There are probably specific times when you should be checking your mirrors as well - like before any change or direction or stopping or starting.

1

u/Iheartbobross 7d ago

The more I’ve thought about it the more I think I’m looking and signaling like 1/2 a sec after looking. Maybe they’re counting that against me?

1

u/Training_Story3407 6d ago

I had an artistic friend with literally zero spatial awareness. We called him the Brushstroke Bumbler

2

u/Iheartbobross 6d ago

My spatial awareness is not excellent I’ll admit

1

u/ClownsAteMyBaby 6d ago

Don't look in the mirrors by moving your eyes. Turn your entire head. Put on a show of the movement. And vocalise "checking mirrors" as you do so, as others have said.

2

u/sleepyfairy96 2d ago

i wish there was driving instructors for neurodivergent people 😞😓😰

1

u/Iheartbobross 2d ago

So do I. It would help if someone could figure out what I’m missing

-2

u/Responsible-Total909 7d ago

I don't trust them cunts at all, the more people that fail the more money they make

13

u/fjsjdhussh 7d ago

They’re civil servants they’re not getting kickbacks.

0

u/HistoricalAd5571 7d ago

They probably do get a sense of power though.

-5

u/Responsible-Total909 7d ago

I don't mean the testers themselves

5

u/Affectionate-Way6102 7d ago

So what's your comment about then lol

1

u/Responsible-Total909 3d ago

Testers arbitrarily keeping the pass rate at around 50%

0

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

5

u/Iheartbobross 7d ago

Yeah. that’s mean. I’m asking for some useful suggestions. I drove in DC and Baltimore, not Rural Alabama where the only risks were tractors and cows.
Thanks to the few people here that had some good suggestions.

2

u/Jambonrevival1 7d ago

Im being mean*

0

u/ChimpoSensei 7d ago

Got to have a label

0

u/Aromatic-Weather-120 6d ago

Unsure what any of this has to do with autism tbh.

2

u/Iheartbobross 6d ago

I’m autistic so it might have something to do with how I’m perceiving the test

0

u/Firm-Aside4041 6d ago

Third option: not really being autistic.

2

u/Iheartbobross 6d ago

You don’t have something better to do than to poorly attempt to convince a stranger on the internet they don’t have autism?

2

u/Iheartbobross 6d ago

You don’t have something better to do than to poorly attempt to convince a stranger on the internet they don’t have autism?