So I went to take the test for my driver's license today, and I'm not exactly sure what was going on inside my instructor's head, he gave me a passing grade on everything, but then he said (and also wrote down on this piece of paper) "you were a bit slow on your parallel parking, and your tires were a bit close to the curb" and THEN "You stopped at a 4 way stop when you didn't need to" and he failed me

so, apparently even though when i parallel parked I didnt hit the curb, and I didn't hit the cones, I didn't do a good job because I was too slow.

and since when do you not stop at 4 way stops?

What

Are you sure there were stop signs there?

yes sir, I slow down a bit at all intersections to look each way and make sure noones coming, but i only came to a complete stop at 4 way stops

since when was parking close to the curb a bad thing

Here's what probably went through his mind:

"Okay, how many more of these kids do I need to grade?"

What time did you take your test? Try to be the last driver of the day, then they'll pass you just because they want it all to end. That's how I got my license :goodjob:

I would ask the person to please explain it more. Those explanations seem like they were just failing you because they could.

When I pulled up to take my driving test, I saw one of the instructors walking behind the building with a kid. I was curious so I followed them and jumped in a bush to watch. The instructor took off his face and ripped the kids soul out then devoured it. True story.

Well stopping at a 4 way intersection if there is no stop sign is usually an auto fail. You're lucky someone wasn't behind you at the time.

I thought that was going to go in an entirely different direction :tongue:

Anyway, as others have already suggested, you should ask him/her for more details on why you failed.

It must not have been a true 4-way stop, and was an auto-fail. You can't fail for going slowly, or parking close to the curb.

if the instructor can't explain it better then i suggest going to his boss


he said "4 way stop" not "4 way intersection"


precisely, on the road there are speed limits but not speed requirements

Well then I'm assuming he thought the instructor said 4 way stop. There's no way he would have been failed for stopping at a stop sign.

It depends on your instructor.

I did the driving test in a gated area next to the DMV, and did everything perfect. Then I went back to the parking lot and I didn't know it was one of those "one way" parking lots and the arrow on the road that tells you which way was worn off because the asphalt was really old. I went the wrong way for a few feet before I realized and the instructor failed me.
There was this other instructor there that passed his student even though she forgot to put on her seat belt at first and ran into a few cones..

You didn't even have to drive on an actual road to get your license?

errr... if the signs are unreadable you can't be placed at fault, and i could swear even taping the cones is an instant failure

I'm surprised you failed as well if all you did wrong is what you said. I went for my test not too long ago and even though I stopped in front of a fire hydrant (limited visibility), did a few rolling stops, and sped slightly, I still passed. The tires too close to the curb really gets me too. I just looked in my handbook, and as long as your tires are within 1ft of the curb but not touching, it's good.

my mom got a ticket for going too slow once

Well yeah if you're going 30 in a 45 mph zone for no reason, a cop may pull you over.

I actually hit the curb when I was parallel parking on my second road test. We have 3 levels of testing, written, road test , and then road testing a year after; You can drive by yourself after you pass the first road test.

I still passed...but barely as he said. :shrug:

I don't know how one can be too close to a curb, but I think I understand the psychology behind a DMV instructor.

You see, vehicles are pretty dangerous tools. They're basically weak containers that have the ability to travel at ridiculously fast speeds. How would you feel if you were responsible for granting someone the right to use such a dangerous device? Wouldn't you be overly cautious? If that person hit someone the next day and you found out on your local news...wouldn't you feel partially responsible?

I'm not saying the OP is a bad driver or anything, i'm just saying, granting someone the right to drive is an enormous responsibility that could yield very large consequences.

They just want to eat your soul and ask for seconds. I am very happy I passed my road test the first time.

I'm a horrible parallel parking. Absolutely horrible. I cringe every time I have to go to San Francisco. I have friends who can do it perfectly first time in a matter of seconds and I'm so in awe of their skill. :bowdown:

To be honest i reckon what the other guy said about going late in the day is correct.
My guy was hardly conscious, he just sat there and grunted left, right etc. Had to ask a couple of times to repeat as couldnt really hear him.
I got 2 minor faults and that was it, even though i believe i went in the wrong lane on a roundabout to go where i was going.

Been causing chaos since then

Edit- That, or be a girl and good looking with big boobs with a small tshirt. That should do it.

was that a highway instead of a road? i've only seen minimum speeds posted on highways

That explains some of the drivers I've seen. Driving instructors don't really seem to care about doing their jobs right. :shakehead: Disgraceful.

Don't feel too bad, I failed my first drivers test, and my second, and third, also the fourth. It's not that I was a bad driver, I put the blame on the DMV testers.

One instructor gave me an automatic failure for "loosing control of the vehicle". I was outraged, at what point did I loose control? It turns out that hitting a pot hole qualifies as loosing control. Another I was driving a stick shift and the instructor kept her hand on the emergency brake the entire time, which tells me that they were way too stressed to be a driving tester, and this tester was very overweight so it wasn't just an arm in the way of my shifting, it was a huge arm and I had to hold my arm at a wild angle to shift gears. That time I failed for not shifting at the proper times. Another instructor failed me because I was checking my mirrors while parallel parking, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't hit the curb and you can't see the curb out the back window so I'm still not sure why I was wrong. My favorite was the time I came to a 4-way stop and I saw a truck coming from the crossroad just a little too fast, so after my complete stop I waited. The instructor started yelling at me "This is a 4-way stop! Don't you know what that means?" I turned and stared the tester in the eyes and said "Of course I know what it means!" at which point we heard tires screeching and kept staring at the tester and said "but I'm not sure the guy in that blue truck knows what it means." That was the time I finally passed.