You're not allowed to go that way!

Date: May 2006
Test Centre: Wallasey
Reason for Fail: Serious fault, Response to signs/signals - Traffic signs

Normally, it doesn't matter too much if you go the wrong way. As long as you do it correctly and safely, it doesn't really matter if you don't go the way you've been asked to go.

But there are exceptions. Attempting to drive onto a motorway is one of those exceptions. Attempting to enter a one way street from the wrong end will be looked upon in a poor light too.

In this case, Lindsey had come over from Liverpool for lessons because she was nervous about the heavy city traffic, and thought Wirral might be less intimidating. She was nervous on her test and got flustered as she approached a busy motorway intersection roundabout.

The examiner gave her a serious fault because she should have known that as a learner she wasn't allowed to drive on a motorway.

Righting wrongs

Date: January 2011
Test Centre: Upton
Reason for fail: Serious fault, Use of Mirrors - Change speed

This is a fairly busy roundabout between Greasby and Upton. It has a small niche of a road off to your right, that leads into a short dead end, where people sometimes park their cars. This causes people to signal late if they want to take the exit before the one that's being approached in the picture above.

Steve came to this situation on his driving test. Unsure of whether he had a safe gap, he didn't really get himself sorted out, and he stalled because he was going much too slowly for third gear.

Scott abruptly stopped the car, put his clutch down and his handbrake on. He started his engine, and put the car into gear one. Then he moved away safely. The abrupt stop caused the person behind to get very close, and they themselves had to do an emergency stop. Perhaps other people further back also had to stop very quickly.

OK. So everyone stalls now and again. How should you sort it out?

First thing to do was to check the mirror! Everyone gets it wrong from time to time, and if you do find yourself off the straight and narrow, you need to keep yourself safe. This means being aware of what's going on around you. Stopping suddenly may not be the best course of action, expecially approaching a roundabout, where the person behind you may well be looking right to see what's coming, instead of looking where they're going. In this case, what Scott should have done is put his clutch down, sort out first gear, and start his engine. Even if it meant going over the give way line a bit (the vehicle that caused Scott to panic had turned off to the left without signalling)

People stall for two main reasons. As Scott found, the car will stall if you slow down or stop in a a high gear, and the clutch up. The other time is when people move off, either bringing the clutch up too quickly, or in the wrong gear, or without enough revs. If you can minimise the effect your stall has on other road users, you're much more likely to get away with a minor fault than if you do something that causes other people to have to react sharply.

Wrong lane blues

Date of Test: May 2011
Test Centre: Upton
Reason for fail: Use of mirrors - Change Direction

Karen was in the middle of the "independent driving" section of her driving test. She had been asked to turn left at this junction, but unfortunately ended up in the right hand lane. She realised that she was going the wrong way, and attempted to suddenly change lane, without looking in her left hand door mirror first.

A lorry was to her left, and the examiner hit the brakes, in order to avoid a collision. Not surprisingly, she got a serious fault for it.

So if she'd just gone right, she'd have passed?

Yes. The examiners mark your driving, not your ability to remember a series of directions. Everyone gets it wrong from time to time, and it's important that you do the safest thing, rather than just forcing your way into a different lane. You can always find a way to get back on track somewhere further on. If you do find yourself in the wrong lane, the first thing to do is to check your mirrors, so that you know how you will affect other people if you choose to try to correct it. If you have the time and space, a signal can tell people what you intend to do (but it doesn't give you the right to do it - have another look after you've signalled to see if other road users are giving you the space you need) If it's not safe to change lane, just keep in the lane that you're in, and go the wrong way. The examiner can then give you a couple of instructions to get you back on route.