My First Driving Test

My first attempt was a wrecky, miserable failure which accummulated 30 demerit points with 1 immediate failure (mounted kerb).

It was 8 August, 11 am. I had timed it well - auspicious date (8/8), a day before National Day, a public holiday, so that the tester would be in a good or holiday mood; best timing as advised by my last driving instructor as it was supposed to have the least traffic during that period.

I told my sisters, parents, some friends about the test. They wished me lots of 'good luck'.

I wanted so badly to pass at the first attempt because my third sister, brother-in-law and brother had passed at the first attempt. I wanted to prove everyone who had laughed at me and 'prophesied' that I could never pass a driving test wrong very badly. And each time I return for revision lessons and driving test/s, it cost me another $700 to $800. On top of that, time was not on my side. I knew I would not have the luxury of time to learn driving when I return to teaching next year.

There was a lot of expectations and pressure from myself to pass at the first attempt.

But for some reason, I did not think that the tester wanted to pass me. It was the look in his eyes. The moment he met me, he asked,"First time?"

During the test, when I was doing parallel parking, he commented,"It's not parallel yet." when I was still adjusting my position; when I was doing directional change and reversing into the lot, he said,"Go in, go in." as if I was not reversing at all. Driving instructors had warned me against testers' telling or teaching you what to do as testers usually keep quiet as you go about your test except giving instructions on what to do. As I turned left to a straight route after completing my parallel parking, I mounted the kerb. And I knew I failed the test. After that, I went on to accummulate even more demerit points, especially when on the road.

He asked me to lane-change during heavy traffic. Suddenly, I saw all types of vehicles on the road - motorcycles, vans, cars ... ... I felt so deceived! What 'least traffic'? Never had I lane-changed under such heavy traffic condition!

So, my takeaway from my first attempt at the driving test are:

- if the tester had meant to fail you, you will fail;
- nevermind what timing it is. If the tester had meant to make things difficult for you, he will find a very busy road for you, especially at cross-road junction, to lane-change;
- you need a lot of luck - good ones - to meet a kind tester.

William and my driving instructors did tell me that the testers would fail you if they think you are not confident. I thought it ridiculous since there would be a set of rubrics or checklist to benchmark how you drive against it and they cannot fail you just because they feel or think negatively of you.

But they are really right. Testers can always give you demerit points for not checking blindspots and not doing safety checks at the drop of the hat. One safety check indicated by the turning of head would constitute 4 points. It is so easy to chalk up 18 points!

I had felt depressed after I failed my driving test. I told my family and friends that I would like to give up learning driving since it was not meant to be. My family members who took the driving test in Singapore passed at the first attempt, and I could not do it. So they were right about me not being able to pass a driving test ever.

But strangely, this time round, everyone encouraged me to do it again!

My brother said,"My colleagues only passed at *can't remember* attempt."
My third sister said,"It is not common to pass at the first attempt. Most people don't pass at the first attempt."
My fifth sister said,"Our third sister has a biking license, so it's easier for her to pass at first attempt."
My elder sister said,"You are crazy not to continue! Spending a few thousands on getting an experience for learning driving is too expensive!"
My father said,"You should try again. If not, it would be a waste of money."

All of them wore a shocked look as they dished out their 'encouragement'.

If you know my family, including William, you would know that the only words that come out of their mouth are "You will fail one lah!" "You look ugly!" "You are stupid!" "You can't do it!"

So I grudgingly signed up for another driving test and instead of 8 revision lessons which I had done for my first driving test, I decided to do just 6, just to show that I did 'put in effort' for it.

I chose the very next test date and an 11.45 am slot, a timing close to lunch time. But I thought: if the tester wants to fail you, you can choose a 12 am slot and he will still be able to find you an ultra-heavy traffic road for you to lane-change.

The first day I returned for my revision lesson, I saw a test car doing parallel parking. The car was in the lot already, but the tester was standing between the car and the kerb to, possibly, see if the car was in the centre of the lot. Then he went to the back of the car, and stood on top of the kerb, and said something. The car moved backward and hit the kerb. Undoubtedly, 10 demerit points would be deducted for striking kerb.

I thought that was a very mean tester, but that was not within our control. As what my mother said,"Keep trying. You can't have bad luck all the time." Yeah, but my question is: when will the good luck occur leh? 2nd time? 3rd time? 8th time? or 100th time?