Everyone is eager to obtain their license and start driving for the first time. After many hours and months of lessons – alongside stressful car journeys with your parents – it’s finally time to take your test. You’re excited and extremely nervous at the same time. You want to pass and get your proper license to give you more freedom. You feel good, and just want to get things started.
Unfortunately, things might not go to plan, and you could fail your test. At this point, you probably feel incredibly down and don’t want to talk about it. I know many people that are put off driving because they failed and lost all confidence. Don’t let this happen to you, here’s the right way to deal with things when you fail your driving test:
Learn From Your Mistakes
It’s so important that you learn from any mistakes you made. If you fail, the examiner will let you know why you failed. They’ll tell you what you did wrong, and you can even ask what you did well. Now, you can go back to whatever driving school you learnt with, and talk to your old instructor. Let them know why you failed and they can work with you to address your mistakes. You should have more lessons until you’re fully confident that you won’t make the same mistakes and can maintain the good level of driving you achieved elsewhere in the test. Learn from your bad experience and use it to your advantage. In the long run, failing the first time can make you a better and more self-aware driver.
Realize You’re Not Alone
You’re not the only person in the world that’s failed your driving test. In fact, there are people in much worse positions that you that failed multiple times before passing. Remember this as it can help keep you going and make you feel more confident. I think a lot of people forget that others fail their test too. It’s not a foregone conclusion that you’ll pass, failure is always an option. Try and talk to other people that failed, perhaps there are people that you know, friends/family, who failed before? Or, you could find message boards online full of people in your position. It helps to talk to others, so you know you’re not going through it alone.
Remain Confident
The worst thing you can do is lose all your confidence and become a worse driver. I understand it can be hard to stay confident when you fail, but I have one easy solution to get your spirits up. Look at some of the people on the roads, look at some people you may know that drive. No doubt there are some people who you look at and think; if they managed to pass their test, so can I!
Don’t get too down if you fail your test at the first attempt. After all, it can be a bit of a blessing as you’ll know exactly what to expect next time, and that helps you deal with some of the nerves. You’ll be more prepared than the first time, and ready to tackle your test again.
