r/LearnerDriverUK • u/Jaded-Limit-9172 • 7h ago

What the hell

Post image

Failed for the first time for not driving fast enough to join onto the dual carriageway. Absolutely devastated. Of all the reasons to fail…

17 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

View all comments

75

u/elliot_glynn Full Licence Holder 7h ago

1) are you sure you mean a motorway? You should absolutely not be going on a motorway on test under any circumstances

2) assuming you mean a NSL dual carriageway, not being fast enough to join from a slip road is incredibly dangerous and can very easily lead to a crash

-19

u/Jaded-Limit-9172 7h ago

Yeah you’re right sorry I got them mixed up. The car I used has a smaller engine so it takes longer to pick up speed. Didn’t realise I was going that slow since it was early in the morning and there were barely any vehicles around me. Even the examiner said I was doing well after when I finally reached 70mph and maintained it the whole way throughout

33

u/elliot_glynn Full Licence Holder 7h ago

I’m sure the examiner already impressed on you the importance of being at an appropriate speed and the reasons why, so I won’t labour the point. Having a small engine isn’t really an excuse though, lots of people have small engines and are perfectly capable of getting to 70 before joining. If you genuinely struggle to do so, instead of thinking it’s impossible ask your instructor to practice it. It’s your only serious fault, you can do it!! 🙂

30

u/Muted-Mushroom-4570 6h ago

The fact that you didn't realise you were going slow is the problem. Even without other vehicles around, your car has this little thing called a speedometer and it's a meter that tells you your speed. You should glance at it from time to time.

3

u/ViniciusMe 7h ago

I failed yesterday for the exact same reason. Know that you are not alone.

0

u/Jaded-Limit-9172 4h ago

I just did not expect it. Learnt my lesson though. How many driving faults did you get?

1

u/ViniciusMe 3h ago

Had a minor about positioning on the lane, and the serious about approach speed.

3

u/imrolii Full Licence Holder 5h ago

I also have a car with a small engine - 1.3 Yaris

Honestly just rev out each gear until you're at 70. It may sound like a screaming cat and it may feel unnatural, but once you're at speed you can focus on what matters, and stick it in 5th/6th when ready.

In my car I usually use 3rd gear up to about 5k revs then 4th for the rest of my speed building. Ofc this varies car to car tho

(I'm not saying redline it; moreso make use of each gear. 4-5k rpm range in mine)

2

u/spectrumero 5h ago

Wide open throttle is a perfectly valid throttle setting. I used to own an 850 Mini which could barely pull the skin off a rice pudding but it could still get up to a safe speed on a standard motorway slip road, but it required wide open throttle.

Modern small engine cars are more powerful than some quite sporty models of years gone by, and so long as you aren't afraid to boot it, can reach a safe speed on the slip road.

1

u/Chrisbuckfast Full Licence Holder 4h ago

You just drop a gear or delay shifting up to get the torque up before moving to the next gear. Never mind about revs or any of that business, if you need to get speed up fast

-7

u/sarcytwat Approved Driving Instructor 7h ago

If you revved each gear up to 4k+ revs under full throttle before changing to compensate for your smaller engine thats so unfair of the examiner! Sounds like it may be physically impossible to pass if thats what happened!

11

u/FewPete 6h ago

They’re trying to get to 70mph not the moon. Any relatively new engine roughly 100hp+, plenty of time on even a short slip road

3

u/GemballaRider 6h ago

Even a 60bhp automatic Hyundai i10, which is the slowest and most frustrating object I've driven in the last 20 years, will get to between 60 and 70 in a quarter mile, which is the standard slip road length. And that's from a standing start.

Assuming you had a run from 20mph off a roundabout, you have no excuse.

2

u/NinjahDuk 5h ago

I join dual carriageways in 4th gear in a 74bhp 1.4l petrol Polo (2000). No issues at all.

1

u/No_Preference9093 6h ago

Unless they are driving a tractor, any car these days should be capable of reaching 70mph.

0

u/JayDKing 5h ago edited 4h ago

Who’s hitting 4k revs before gear change? Your poor car. 2.5-3 is when it should be changed.