20th October 2008

When it comes to that day, that, not only having you been looking forward to, but also been dreading in equal measure, one of the biggest reasons for people not passing their test is quite simply nerves!

A classic example was on Saturday, when a pupil who is normally calm and collected, came to a junction. He stopped at the line, just as he should, but didn’t put it into first gear.

So as he went to pull off, he stalled. No problem, we’ve gone through this loads, If you stall just compose yourself, make sure everything is set up, bring the clutch up nice and slowly and drive on. Normally this is something he would have done without even thinking about it.

But because it’s his test, he is worried about the examiner being next to him. So he stalls a second time, and now it really is heart in mouth time. So without thinking he starts the car up and forgets to press the clutch. Thus making the car go completely over the line and causing a car to slow down on its approach.

Here endeth the test!

A good driver, a calm driver, a responsible driver - Simply caught out by test day nerves.