Video: Dora Johnson talks about her driving ability and the theory test
Learner drivers are being made to wait more than 15 weeks to take tests at some Nottingham centres because of a backlog.
At one centre in Colwick, there is an estimated 17-week wait for tests.
The Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency has apologised, saying there are delays across the country because of a surge in demand.
In response it says it is trying to cut down the wait in areas that it was possible.
Billy Taylor is a student at Nottingham Trent University and has been made to wait until the end of August before he can put his driving ability to the test.
“It’s really inconvenient for me, because I’ll already have left university by then,” Billy said.
“I don’t really want to be taking a test back home in East London because the roads are just awful. The wait for the test is really inconvenient.”
The British driving test is known as one of the most stringent in the world, with current learners needing to go through a provisional licence stage, theory test, and detailed practical assessment, meaning failure and re-test rates are high.
Dora Johnson has been driving for fifty years and says she probably wouldn’t pass the examination if she took one today because of how much the test has changed over the years.
She also explained that as people become more experienced at the wheel, they adopt bad habits or at least ones that are not correct in the eyes of an examiner.
Dora said: “You develop your own style after the test and I think that is only to be expected. One thing I think you benefit from with experience is judgement of other road users.
“Also anticipation of what might happen like someone running out or a ball. You might have to anticipate the speed a child will burst out after it.
“There’s also the chance a driver might do a different manoeuvre to what he or she has signalled, if they even do a signal at all.”
“People get into lazy habits, they don’t always do things in the sequence they were taught or asked to when they learned to drive.”
Is the driving test too hard?
Arboretum-based Stephen Linsley, 21, took ten attempts to pass his driving test.
While he accepted that in some of the exams he deserved to fail, Stephen feels as though the test’s demands can be a huge strain on mental health as it was with him.
He said: “My foot would literally just shake, like on the crutch, so I would just be stalling all the time. Then you get into your head that you’ve failed and that’s when it all goes wrong and you start making mistakes.
“I did start taking beta blockers in the hope that it stopped the nerves and the shaking. It worked to an extent. Eventually I did pass but I could have done without the stress.”
Stephen also felt that some driving instructors try and rush their learners into taking the test.
He said: “My first instructor just wasn’t very good, full stop. He was coming to the end of his career and it all seemed a bit half-hearted.
“He once took me to a test centre thirty minutes away from where I’d been learning.
“My next instructor was much better and I passed straight away with him,” added Stephen.
Aside from his nerves, the 21-year-old believes that the driving test did not require a huge amount of ability but could be influenced by chance factors, such as weather and the time of day someone takes a test.
Stephen said: “It’s not overly hard but that’s sort of an issue because they might be letting drivers with very little driving sense or judgement passing the test.”
The agency added part of the backlog was due to the economic recovery, with more learners able to afford to take tests.
It also said it had had a high number of examiners retire in recent months.
“It’s the only real way of determining whether you can drive or not but I don’t think it always reflects whether you are a good driver,” Stephen added.
