Kingfisher

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Test Standards

The Driving Test Marking System

Driving examiners in Nuneaton are trained to look for the 'perfect driver'. At the moment of getting into the car every test candidate is considered to be perfect. Any deviations from this perfection are graded into 3 categories of fault: driving, serious, and dangerous.

Faults are graded and recorded on the driving test report form (DL25C), as they occur. Before any minor deviation from perfect is marked on the form, the examiner must consider its significance to the overall performance.

Fault Categories

Faults committed during driving test are assessed under the following categories:

1. Driving fault: a less serious fault, which is assessed as such because of the circumstances at that particular time. If the learner could see the junction was clear but still cut the corner, but no potential danger was caused to other road users. Driving faults only amount to a failure when there is an accumulation of 15 or more.

2. Serious fault: recorded when a fault is assessed as potentially dangerous to the learner or other road users. If a learner was approaching a junction with parked cars blocking their view, and the learner was to blantantly cut a corner into an unknown situation. No actual danger occured because no other road user appeared, this however was purley good luck and not an assessed judgement. A single serious fault is an automatic failure.

3. Dangerous fault: recorded when a fault is assessed as having caused actual danger during the test. If a learner was approaching a junction with parked cars blocking their view, and the learner was to blantantly cut a corner into an unknown situation, only this time another vehicle appears and has to brake or take avoiding action to avoid a collision. A single fault in this category will result in failure.

Driving, serious or dangerous?

The difference between a driving fault and a serious fault in this situation, however, could mean the difference between pass and fail. Using again the above examples, for comparison, we can difine the errors in a different way. The essential difference between the two incidents is that the driver committing the driving fault in the first example was able to see that the road was clear. In the the second example the fault was a serious fault because the driver was unable to see if the new road was clear, but was prepared to take a risk or was completely unaware of any risk.

The fault really is not a difference between two people cutting a corner with one of the getting away with it. One of them was able to see and might well have acted differenlty had the visibility been restricted; the other proved to be totally unaware of the danger caused by the parked vehicles. It is only possible to assess the actions of a driver in the light of the prevailing situation.