Didn’t receive my driver’s license due to the instructor’s trick.

When I turned 16 I was so excited to get my driver’s license. I practiced with my parents for months, aced the written exam, did great on the closed course and was ready to do the road test.

I got into the car with the instructor, adjusted side and rear view mirror, turned off the radio and looked over at the instructor. He was ready and said, “lets go”. I said “buckle up” nervously and began to proceed to the parking lot exit. The vehicle beeped and indicated the passenger seatbelt wasn’t connected. I turned to the instructor and said “oh, your belt isn’t connected “. He clipped it in and we proceeded with the test.

It went great and i was really proud of myself. I returned to the parking lot, put the car in park and turned it off. The instructor ripped out a page from the book where he graded each of my maneuvers, handed it to me and said ”You did great” as I smiled ear to ear. He then said, “you’ll pass next time if you make certain all passengers have seatbelt fastened before moving.”

I was devastated. I told him to buckle up before we started moving but he didn’t. As soon as I became aware he wasn’t buckled in, I addressed it. I couldn’t have driven 15 feet.

I couldn’t help it, I started to cry as I saw my dad approaching from the waiting area smiling. He knew something was wrong and I explained the situation. My dad was furious and approached the instructor who was smug with my dad which really pissed him off. My dad exchanged some choice words with the guy until he retreated into a side door of the building.

It sucked. Fortunately I passed 2 weeks later.

in mildlyinfuriatingby Bridge23Ux

56.6K

88%

11mo

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SarahTheJuneBug

1.6K

11mo

God, I wish that had been my experience. The first time I took the test, the proctor docked me for not being "aggressive enough" about taking the right of way.

We were driving in a very busy, aggressive area (near LA). There was at least once I saw someone rushing to go despite me having the right of way--and I just let them go. It wasn't worth endangering us to shave a couple of seconds off the drive.

Let me be clear that, yes, you SHOULD drive predictably and take your right of way so as to not confuse the other drivers, but there's a difference between not doing that out of fear versus seeing that someone is speeding, will not stop, isn't looking, and WILL hit you, despite you having the right of way. In Southern California, this happens all the time. You have to make quick decisions as to whether or not it's safe to go. What bothered me is she wouldn't point to a specific example of where she felt I was too cautious. If she truly felt that way, that's fine, but I think I ought to know what she observed so I can learn from it.

She was also incredibly late to my appointment. About thirty minutes past scheduled start time, my dad went inside and asked if they knew how much longer it would be. Instructor came out about five minutes later looking pissed; that probably doomed me from the start. She took me to a really fucked up road where the paint was so faded you could barely see the lines. The road was so cracked, too.

The second time I took it, I passed without incident with a different proctor, but they told me what I did well on and what I needed to improve on, which I thought was fair. I think it just depends on who you get.

Maskpask

974

11mo

>for not being "aggressive enough"

WTF, i was taught in sweden to drive defensively, drive as if everyone else is doing wrong and dont trust others, even if you have "right of way" it wont matter if you crash and die cuz they rammed your driver side......

SarahTheJuneBug

386

11mo

Yeah, it was some BS. I was born and raised in the greater Los Angeles region; people here drive like maniacs. You HAVE to drive defensively. If that means waiting while other people go despite you having the right of way, so be it.

DarkCyborg74

-6

11mo

You don't have right-of-way until someone yields it.

Academic-Effect-340

11mo

That is emphatically NOT how right of way works.

testingthewaters5678

11mo

In a way, it is. Legally speaking, you may have a right-of-way, but practically speaking, you don’t if someone decides to zoom into whatever space you have the right to.

Not that it makes the other driver right, but this is why driver’s ed teaches right-of-way is something given, not taken. It goes along the lines of it’s better to be living and wronged than dead and right.

Academic-Effect-340

11mo

That's like saying it's not illegal if you don't get caught. Sure, you can argue that that's case from a functional standpoint, but it doesn't make it true. Of course you should drive defensively, but just because someone else didn't yield doesn't mean they had the right of way.