(Image Source: Flickr)
With the driving test celebrating its 80th birthday in the United Kingdom, it is a rite of passage that many young drivers still dread. However those nervously anticipating their test can probably take heart from the fact that their test is highly unlikely to match some of the absolutely nightmarish driving tests that have ever been taken, and can be comforted that, in the unlikely event that it is, they will almost certainly achieve fame by ending up on a list such as this one day. Just how bad can a driving test get? Here are some of the ways…
The very bad tests
One man setting about his driving test made the mistake of engaging Drive at the same time as he started his automatic car’s engine, and ended up driving headlong into the side of the centre he was taking his test at. Needless to say, the man failed his driving test after exactly two seconds.
One woman was so nervous about taking her driving test that every time she had to change gears she inadvertently broke wind. The examiner was left with no option other than to open the window on a cold winter’s day to escape the pungent aroma, but ultimately had to terminate the test himself, as his eyes were watering so much from coughing that he ended up losing a contact lens.
There is no way to be more certain that you have failed your driving test than by incapacitating your examiner, as one new driver, in the days before standard head restraints, unfortunately discovered. Asked to make an emergency stop, the driver did just that – causing a big, hardback AA road atlas to fly from the back of the vehicle and smack the examiner in the back of the neck, rendering him unconscious. The rest of the time in this unfortunate man’s driving test was spent taking his examiner to the emergency room.
Examine this!
While most bad experiences during driving tests are caused by unpredictable mishaps or the driver’s own mistakes, there are some occasions in which the driving test goes south because of the examiner.
One young man was asked by his examiner to perform an emergency stop. An unremarkable enough request during a driving test, but it was such a hot day that the examiner’s own forehead perspiration caused his wig to come unstuck and fly onto the dashboard. The young driver was, perhaps understandably, unable to contain his mirth and the test was abandoned because of “unforeseen circumstances”.
Another man found his personal life getting in the way of his driving test, though not of his own volition. His examiner was apparently such a strict conservative that when he learned the driver came from a family that had been through divorce, he set about failing him for the most dubious of reasons, while constantly taking him to task about for his personal life. Perhaps to the relief of young drivers and new drivers everywhere, this judgemental individual is no longer working as a driving test examiner.
