For some learners, passing the test can be impossible whether it be down to sheer bad luck or their own ‘misguided’ actions on the big day.
You may feel like the tests are too tough – but while most of us get that pass in the end, these stories show it might take some (jail) time before you do. So without further ado, it’s time to meet:
**The Learner Who Was Sued for Braking Too Hard **On his third attempt to pass the driving test in 2015, Ben Williams headed out with examiner, Keith Priestly, and instructor, Elaine Rose. All was going well until Ben was asked to perform an emergency stop, which he duly did.
Alas, the manoeuvre resulted in the examiner ending the test suddenly because he claimed he had been injured by Ben’s braking. No, really. If that wasn’t bizarre enough, Ben was shocked to receive a letter from the examiner’s solicitors two weeks later, making a whiplash claim.
Thankfully, the DVSA sided with Ben and the claim was later dropped. Fast forward to 2016 and Ben has finally passed his test – and perhaps more importantly, Priestley no longer works for the DVSA.
The instructor asked me to perform the emergency stop, so I did, and then he started moaning and groaning that I braked too hard and fast. But I felt fine, and so did my driving instructor who was sitting in the back seat. I think he was just trying to get money out of me. It’s horrendous to take advantage of a learner driver like that.” – Ben Williams to the Metro
The Learners Who Are the UK’s Biggest Theory Test Failures Two learners are currently vying for the title of ‘Britain’s Most Hopeless Theory Test Takers’ – one woman has failed her theory test 113 times with a man running a close second with 107 fails.
Collectively, this list of epic fail has cost the pair over £6,500 in fees to date. Perhaps they should consider downloading Theory Test Pro before their next test.
**The Learners Who Needed To Pee Before Their Test **There’s zero chance of any kind of relief for pupils using the Sutton Coldfield Driving Test Centre. After all, management banned pupils from using the toilet facilities because it was delaying the testing schedule.
While examiners were still free to relieve themselves, stressed-out learners had to either keep their fingers (and legs) crossed, hoping they’d make it to the end of the test without a emergency (toilet) stop – or find loo facilities in the local area before heading into the centre. We think it’s safe to say that the centre’s ban was a wee bit mean.
Whatever you do, don’t think of this image if you’re just about to take your test at Sutton Coldfield’s test centre…
The Learner Who Tried to Cheat His Way to Theory Test Success If nothing else, learner Zaid Sultan should get top marks for ingenuity. After all, he took his theory test like everyone else but with one key difference; he had a hidden earpiece through which someone was feeding him the answers to the questions. Alas for Zaid, while he may have passed the test, he was stopped by a fraud investigator after leaving the test room and later jailed for four months.
The Learner Who Failed His Test In Under 5 Seconds With examiner and instructor on board, Craig Barraza managed to flunk his test before he’d even fully left the test centre carpark because he experienced a “mind blank”.
This sudden ‘blank’ saw Craig about to turn out of the carpark before suddenly forgetting which side of the road he was supposed to drive on. Making a split second decision, he ended up driving onto the main road’s right lane, which is correct… if you live in France.
Worse still, Craig then had to complete the rest of the 40-minute test (which he would have passed easily), knowing that he’d already failed it way back at the beginning.
My examiner with 20 years experience, and my instructor with 30 years, both [had] never witnessed anything like it in their careers.” – Craig Barraza to the Daily Mail