My lad just failed his on one thing: crossing oncoming traffic. It was at a crossroads with lights.
He was trying to turn right.
Two learners were coming towards him trying to turn to their right, blocking the line of sight.
He started to pull across but a car came down on the inside of the learners so he hit the brakes.
The highway code says pass the oncoming cars with them on your right and go round the back. I have never seen this done.
Apart from keeping his fingers crossed, is there any other way of dealing with this that would be acceptable to a driving examiner?
|
>The highway code says pass the oncoming cars with them on your right and go round the back. I have never seen this done.
Never seen it done? blimey this is fundamental driving stuff, and as the highway code says is the way it should be done, not suprised he got a fail. To be fair tho, this practise does appear to be on the verge of waivering, especially in situations where the two sets of cars can block each other.
|
Actually either method is correct, depending on the road layout.
The Highway Code (section 157) states:
"When turning at a cross roads where an oncoming vehicle is also turning right, there is a choice of two methods
turn right side to right side; keep the other vehicle on your right and turn behind it. This is generally the safest method as you have a clear view of any approaching traffic when completing your turn
left side to left side, turning in front of each other. This can block your view of oncoming vehicles, so take extra care.
Road layout, markings or how the other vehicle is positioned can determine which course should be taken."
. . .
Turning right side to right side . . . . . Turning left side to left side
|
|
I stand corrected then - time to review my highway code i think.
|
|
|
I can only assume he was failed for choosing the "crossing in front" method because his line of sight was more compromised with there being two cars together than if he had gone behind them to turn. I suppose I turn by going behind the other car about one time in 100 when I'm in this situation and you always get a surprised look from the other driver when you do.
|
|
On a related topic when I took my driving test I had to pull out from a side road onto a main road and my vision was obscured by parked cars close to the junction on both sides. I edged forwards as you do and had to stop to let a car go past. The instructor gave me a "mark" but apologised, saying he had to do it even though I had no other choice. Could be this lad only scored a mark for the same "observation error"--maybe he should have waited until the other turning right car cleared the junction--but it pushed him into a fail because of other minor marks. Unlucky.
|
|
|
|
|
"fundamental driving stuff"..."not suprised he got a fail"??? They're very patronising statements, especially since mmm-five states that you are in fact wrong, and either way is permissible, although one is preferable.
It would seem a little harsh, although the instructor may have felt that your lad was in danger of pulling out in front of someone. Probably not fair, but dependent on how the examiner sees it, unfortunately.
|
Sorry Renault Family - you posted your reply as i was writing mine - Didn't mean to sound mardy!
|
|
Think it proves I would have to work hard and revise to pass my test!
|
I am afraid I will have to prevent people posting images here, at least for the time being.
My system warned me that the two images above tried to put cookies onto my computer. In this case they were innocuous, but I am concerned about what could have happened if either they were not or my PC was less paranoid.
For the time being you will find you are unable to post further images until I have researched the matter a little more.
sorry \'bout that.
Mark.
|
Well, an update;
Apparantly it can become a security issue under certain circumstances. Whilst those circumstances are not that likely, it is not a risk that we are prepared to take. - the risks are related to the possiblitity of unsuitable images, or innocent images from less innocent websites or sources.
So despite the fact that it is a useful facility, it is not one that I will be switching back on.
Thanks for your understanding and apologies.
Mark.
|
|
|
|
|
Owen: Sounds like you are from the Midlands? Leif.
|
|
Leif - Welsh born and bred, living in the midlands with my yorkshire girlfriend. It's a constant battle to get myself understood!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The highway code says pass the oncoming cars with them on your right and go round the back. I have never seen this done.
I have seen it once in the last 5 years. The problem is when there is more than one car waiting in the other queue, the following cars invariably end up blocking your right turn. It just isn't worth relying on the courtesy of others.
BTW For him to fail on one thing means that what he did was considered dangerous. So it could not have simply been for turning nearside to nearside. Or does someone know better? Where's our tame ADI when you need him?
|
|
|
My eldest Niece failed her first test a couple of years ago.
She became "trapped" in the left lane with a compulsory left turn coming up at the traffic lights ahead when the examiner wanted her to proceed straight on. She was unlucky. If there hadn't been a vehicle to her right then she could have just changed lanes and she would have been able to cover up her earlier mistake. Another solution would have been if someone had happened to have left a gap. As it happened she couldn't escape, so she was unlucky.
There's a lot of luck involved in passing a driving test.
When I took my test about 35 years ago it was on the day of a rail strike, so it was impossible to use the normal, and much rehearsed, test route. My examiner had warned me at the beginning of the test that he would try to conduct as normal test as possible under the circumstances, but if we became hopelessly stuck in traffic then he would have to cancel it.
We drove around lots of back-roads, many of which I'd never been down before. Then, we came across a dustcart which was double parked. There was little room between it and the car next to it. One of the dustman, sorry, refuse collectors, started to wave me through. I thought for a moment what I should do.
I had already stopped the car and put the handbrake on. I knew that if I scraped either the car or the dustcart then I would fail my test, but not to proceed would probably also fail me. I just went to pull away when I glanced across to my examiner and he commented "You must do what you think is the right thing to do!"
At this I put the handbrake back on, put my head out of the window and shouted "Sorry, but I can't get through there!" At this the dustcart backed up and into a space which was just behind it, and we were able to proceed on our way.
After this I really did believe that I'd failed, so for the rest of the test, if I say so myself, drove absolutely brilliantly. I didn't have a care in the world! We returned to the test centre at the end of the test, had the usual Highway Code questions, and then the test result.
"I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that you've passed Mr Galaxy" were the words coming out of the examiners mouth. I thanked him gratefully and, as he wrote out the pass slip, told him that I really did think I'd failed over the dustcart incident because I had shouted out of the window at another road user. He replied that I'd done exactly the right thing!
|
|
|
