The human element

How do you pass a driving test? After all, a driving test is only a short little drive, 35-40 min around town. It may or may not include dual carriageway or an emergency stop and normally it will include 2 of the 4 manuvers, though never 2 parking ones - isn't that nice?
For anyone who has had lessons from an ADI (Approved Driving Instructor) this should be acheivable. So why do so many people fail?

For those of you who have taken a driving test and failed, you'll appreciate that most people fail their driving test not because they don't know how to drive but because of the human element; nerves, which feed negative thinking and emotions leading to a lack of confidence and self-belief.

How do you think people pass their driving test? What do you think the examiner is looking for?

As a driving examiner I would be asking myself this question, would I feel safe passing this driver on the way home tonight, if I gave them a pass certificate today?
Another way that they might ask the question is, do I like their driving? Although there are some set objective requirements that need to be met, there is a whole lot of subjective interpretation of a person's drive.

It's impossibile to be completly objective. One's life experiences have to colour what an individual defines as important. So to a certain extent, unless you know the examiner, which would be unethical to be tested by them, you are in a lucky dip senario. You can not predict what they will mark as more important and what their own personal preferences are.
But you can do general things, such as drive on your test like you have your Mum in the car if the examiner is female and your Dad if they're male. The main thing you could do is adjust your drive to keep your passenger/examiner comfortable as all good drivers should do anyway.

Lets explore this, if you have a comfortable examiner you have a person who is more likely to answer YES to the question: Do I like their drive? How do you make a person comfortable? Well clearly you do need to be a good driver, with skills. You need to come off as confident, how can you achieve this, well chatting to your examiner in appropriate moments. This relaxes them and interests them. Can you imagine it's not much fun for them to sit in a car all day with emotional, stoney quiet, nervous wrecks - as this willl always transalate to a jerky, unintresting drive.

Sometimes people are amazed they have passed their test, most people are their harshest critic and it is somtimes the desision that they have failed that they then relax and think fine lets just drive.

Remember that your examiner is a person. They have interests, hobbies, hopes, goals and challenges in their life, just like you. As with any situation in life where you have to accomplish something with someone else, the task is so much easier if you can find some common ground.