Hazard Perception Test???

[Mr. Benn]

Anyone got any advice on how to pass the hazard perception part of the driving test? My son uses the official CD for practice, but has failed the test again. This time the bloke at the test centre said my son should write to complain as he could see no problem with his test. Last time he failed, I don't think he got any points.

There is clearly something different between the official CD and the test, as he does fine in practice. I think he may be clicking too quickly (although being a twit might be a contributing factor). Nevertheless, people are obviously passing this thing, and he isn't. Any pointers would be gratefully received!!

[Martin]

I fail on the CD practice one as well for clicking too often. Approaching parked cars - click - potential idiot opening door kids walking on the pavement - click - no end of possibilities there oncoming car - click car parked on other side of road - click - might decide to pull away not looking approaching side-road - click car pulling out and not stopping at the line - click - ah THAT's the one they wanted us to get.

I'd probably fail the test too

[gremlin_95]

Will be watching this thread, I need to do my theory test soon!

[aaa]

I have heard that people who play online computer games tend to fail, because they click too early. They have to deliberately slow their reactions.

[Lobster]

Both my kids recently passed their theory tests first time with no bother; but both struggled initially with the hazard test on the practice CD. I think it was all about knowing when the system expects you to 'click' - ie it's no use clicking as soon as you spot a toddler waddling into the road 100 yards away, you have to delay, and then click when its only 30 yards away (or whatever). Point was thought that once they sussed the practice CD at home, the 'real' version in the test was no different.

David

[T i m]

Daughter (brought up on Doom, UT, Quake and is a nasty little sniper) passed her bike and car theory / hazard tests first time but (from what she can remember) said they did require a certain restraint and specific timing / technique to be able to satisfy the test mechanism.

She thinks she also remembers the practice (Official) practice CD being reasonably close to the live test but also seems to have erased most of the details from her mind as none of it bore much relevance to the real world (as already noted by Martin).

Cheers, T i m

[Syd]

I did mine in 2008 for the bike test. I've had a car license 30 years. I used Driving Test Success

miserably on the hazard perception at first but soon got the hang of the clicking and got the real thing first time. Passed disc to my daughter who passed first time.

Its excellent and only about £7 on eBay.

[Tim]

The important thing is to click on *developing* hazards, not just anything that could be a hazard.

Tim

[Max Demian]

When I did my bike test, the "hazard perception test" just involved not hitting the examiner when he jumped out in front of you.

[Newshound]

When I did mine (in 1966 on a 1949 BSA 250 side-valve) the examiner allowed me about 100 yards for my emergency stop. From 90 yards away, I could just about see him signalling to me that it was OK to proceed.

[Lobster]

Yeah, +1. ISTR he jumped out at me about 100 yards down the road (as pre-warned), and I came to a standstill, still about 80 yards from him. All very odd.

David

[Steve Walker]

They're looking for an "emerging hazard" - the child walking along the pavement is not one, a ball bouncing into the road is; a parked car isn't, a car approaching a junction too fast is; etc. Clicking for the wrong circumstances or clicking too early or late for the right ones counts against you.

I did this a while ago and passed no problem. I was worried that I'd find it difficult as I was already an experienced driver and found it a little difficult to leave it late enough to click. The reason I was taking it at all was that I was training to become a driving instructor during a downturn in Engineering. I never took it up though.

SteveW

[Steve Walker]

A friend of mine has extremely acute peripheral vision and when doing his car test he spotted the examiner moving his clipboard to tap on the dash and he stopped fast - the examiner just missed a minor head injury!

SteveW

[Mark O'Knee]

Interesting discussion - for a change - but completely irrelevant to all the newsgroups posted to. Do you have a problem identifying on-topic groups, or are you jsut out to be accused of being a troll?

[dennis]

He knew how bad motor cyclists are.

[JNugent]

Apparently, more than 83% of cyclists also have a driving licence and access to a motor vehicle.

So it's hard to identify many NGs where his post (requesting information from whippersnappers who have experience of this new-fangled "theory" test, WTMB) would be more on topic.

[JNugent]

On my real driving test (the only one I ever took), a child ran out of a sweetshop door in North London (near Wood Green test centre), straight onto a zebra crossing and across the road in front of me. The examiner hit his head on the windscreen when I stopped quickly (he was sitting sort of sideways to watch me, and the car didn't have seat belts - most still didn't).

The windscreen was none the worse for its nasty experience and I passed my one and only test, about eight weeks (and about nine lessons) after getting a provisional licence.

[JNugent]

See my post nearby.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Let's hope they have more regard for the Highway Code when driving a car.

[dennis]

My examiner made the mistake of doing the stop on a bit of road where they were testing an antiskid surface, he did hit his head.