Driver passes test at 24th attempt

7/7/14

By Matt Gibson

Perseverance has finally paid off for Britain’;s most persistent learner driver.

The 24-year-old woman from Chippenham in Wiltshire, who will stay anonymous, has ultimately passed her driving test after failing it 23 instances.

The student driver, who passed on her 24th try, was one particular of 8 men and women in Britain to have taken their test at least 20 instances by the end of 2013.

The information was obtained in a Freedom of Data request created by the Press Association to the Driving and Car Standards Agency.

200 failed tests

It shows that 10 drivers in the UK notched up a total of 200 failed tests amongst them.

The drivers, who have now all passed their tests, are comprised of 4 men and 6 ladies.

The woman from Chippenham was the joint youngest alongside an additional 24-year-old lady from Birmingham.

The oldest was a 27-year-old man who also lives in Birmingham.

‘Driving test is performing its job’;

The 10 motorists earned their complete licences at test centres across the UK like Manchester, West Yorkshire, Glasgow and London.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: “To some extent this information shows that the driving test is performing its job by failing people who are not yet ready to acquire a full driving licence.

“It may be that repeated failures are down to not preparing nicely enough ahead of the test or it could be that they require far more particular help on specific aspects of their driving.

“We’;d advise these learners to consider the causes they are failing and go over them with a driving instructor.

Driving competence tested

“For some folks, taking a break rather than attempting to take the test again quickly might aid, especially if they have got into a mental state of almost expecting to fail simply because they have failed a number of occasions currently.”

Mike Frisby is the chief examiner of the Driving Instructors Association, which represents 11,000 members across the UK.

He said: “There is a bit of a misconception that men and women will fail on the manoeuvres, but the reality is driving competence.

“Emerging from junctions, misjudgments of other cars – these are the primary concerns.”

Driver passes test at 24th attempt