Who would be a driving examiner?

[Canker_Canison]

Who would be a driving examiner?

By Jon Kelly

The driving test is changing, but the hazards, fears and bizarre complaints faced by examiners are sure to stay the same. How do they cope with this thankless job?

Right, are you comfortable? Hands at 10-to-two on the wheel, sitting upright, knees below hips? Have you adjusted your rear-view mirror and fastened your seatbelt?
Then we'll begin.
Few civilians can confront so much tension, anxiety and death-defying peril on a daily basis as driving examiners.
They may be recalled with a shudder by many of us as impassive authority figures on whose whim we can be freed from our L-plates or condemned to another expensive round of lessons.
But spare a thought for those who spend their days in passenger seats next to drivers who are anxious, inexperienced and, occasionally, downright dangerous.
They are, for the first time, conducting a new driving test intended to focus on "independent driving" rather than following step-by-step instructions.


But a series of freedom of information requests by the BBC reveals the arbitrary and sometimes downright odd protests from disgruntled test candidates over examiners.
In 2009, according to the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), there were some 1,889 complaints about the conduct of examiners, the conduct of tests and disputed decisions, of which just 51 were upheld.
Those which were rejected included "Candidate crashed during test - claims examiner distracted", "Says examiner took her on busy roads during rush hour, which was unfair", and "Says examiner has invented serious fault".
Another, which was not upheld either, came from a test candidate who insisted that an "emergency stop was conducted 'without warning'" - misunderstanding, perhaps, the nature and purpose of an emergency stop.


Complaints about test

• "Says examiner was rude, intimidating and 'huffed and puffed' throughout the test. Says this made her fail" - not upheld
• "Claims examiner wasn't friendly" - not upheld
• "Says examiner asked for manoeuvre to be carried out on 'impossible' road" - not upheld
• "Says test should not be conducted on roads with roadworks" - not upheld
• "Says stalling the car was not a serious fault" - not upheld
• "Was incorrectly told by her examiner that she had passed" - upheld
• Source: BBC freedom of information request to DSA

Having to gently let down highly wound-up individuals who have paid handsomely for both test and lesson with the news that they have failed might sound like the most precarious element of the job.
But according to Gerry Brennan, 55, a former examiner at Edinburgh test centre who now runs a driving school in Glasgow, it was not the risk of failed candidates lashing out that he dreaded most.
Instead, his greatest fear was the damage they could inflict accidentally.
"There are some people who are just not ready for the test," he recalls, the memories still all too fresh. "The worst thing is when they're not aware of how bad they are.
"It can be really nerve-wracking if you aren't in a car with dual control brakes - you have to grab the steering wheel if you're heading for the pavement or oncoming traffic. You've got to be alert all the time - I had more than a few narrow escapes.
"But I never had much hostility from candidates - if they'd done something seriously wrong they usually knew about it and accepted it."
Such hazards aside, the job does have its consolations. Typically, a 35-hour week, made up of around eight tests a day, will at least offer the opportunity to see the world passing by rather than trapping oneself behind a desk - even if those prime three-point-turn locations must become very familiar.


Examiners - of whom there are around 2,000 in the UK - are normally qualified instructors, but they must undergo an intensive four-to-six-week DSA residential course before they can sit in judgement.
One evangelist for the role is the DSA's deputy chief driving examiner, Sandra Dodson, 58, who first qualified for the role in 1990.
"There used to be a lot of examiners who were ex-military and ex-police," she says. "When I took my test in 1971 I was instructed: 'Lead the way way to your ve-hi-cle' instead of someone saying 'Hello, how are you, let's go to your car, then.'
"Nowadays, you have to be good with people - you have to be able to put them at their ease, you have to display tolerance, you have to display calmness.


"It's no good for anyone if the candidate is all wound up - that's when you start having to slam on the brakes for them."
Nonetheless, the profession is one that is unlikely ever to inspire much affection from those who endure the trauma of a test.
The motoring journalist and former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson believes the low esteem in which they are held by the general public is indicative of how the British fail to take road safety seriously.
"Driving examiners have a status that's the same as, or maybe just above, that of traffic wardens, and that's clearly wrong," he says.
"It's easy to vilify them, but I think they are much more sinned against than sinners.
"Their job is a production line, a sausage factory, when in fact they really should be given much more time to spend with these kids who are about to be let loose on our roads."
It may be easy to resent these individuals who are so synonymous with a process most of us find traumatic. But when I tap the dashboard, I want you to stop.


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Personally I don't think their job is to make you feel calm & relaxed. They are there to make sure you're safe to drive, end of.


How long will it be before these same people are stressed out, having an arguement with their ex on a mobile phone while aproaching a busy junction?


Failing their test would be a lot easier to cope with than a prison sentence for death by dangerous driving.

[learnerdriver]

I take it you are some way involved in driving industry.
Inresting reading.
I had a pleasure to accompany some one to a "new" driving test today and was pleasantly surprised at the length that the examiner went to calm the pupil down. She incorrectly followed the directions but still passed with flying colours as the examiner pointed out that taking a wrong route is not a fault as long as it was dealt with in a safe manner without putting any other road user in danger.

I think this new test will get the new drivers to think more rather then follow the instructions like a robot.

[Canker_Canison]

I have nothing to do with the driving industry, other than I drive. But in the 20 years I've held a licence I've seen a steady decline in driver ability & awareness.

Here's another thought....

The Bike Test, never taken it myself, but you go for your CBT then learn on the road. You can take lessons with an instructor who follows you giving instructions via a 2-way radio. The main test would be the same I presume. The examiner follows & passes or fails depending on what they observe.
A biker has always been alone on their bike. Yet the number of bikers injured or killed on the roads is increasing; through excess speed, stupidity, lack of experiance or a healthy mix of all three.

So what makes these decision makers think a similar test for cars will improve peoples driving?

It's people's attitude to driving that has to change.

[learnerdriver]

I take your point M8 but everyone has to start somewhere and yes there should be more emphasis on the attitude towards driving safely.
This can not be taught in just few driving lessons, whether if you are on bike or in the so called "safe" cage when one is in the car. I am not saying all the drivers and riders have attitude but some of them think just because they are behind some heavy machine they think they are better then everyone else and it is the attitude of this minority that needs to be changed.
One needs to tolerate if another driver or rider has made a mistake rather then get worked up and end up in an argument and possibly end up having an accident.