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Everyone who starts
their test will pass until they make a fault. The examiner is
looking for the same standard of riding as the instructor, so there
is no requirement to make it an “extra special” ride. It is worth
bearing in mind though that you will not be able to take your test
unless you have all your documents, the motorcycle is taxed,
roadworthy and fitted with L-plates, that you pass the eyesight
check and that the weather conditions are safe for you to take the
test.
On the fail sheet,
given out by DSA, the examiner can check 47 different boxes as
a fault.
You can fail on 1
serious fault, 1 dangerous fault or a combination of driving faults
of which you are allowed up to 15 (16 is a fail). However, four
driving faults in the same box will result in a serious fault, and
therefore a fail. It is worth bearing in mind that, with some
exceptions, the examiner likes to give two serious faults when they
fail a candidate (as this takes the result beyond dispute). So if
you make a mistake then try very hard not to make another and you
may get away with it. Very few examiners will fail a candidate on 16
driver faults alone – but some do.
A serious fault is
the most common fail and below is a list of the various ways this
can be done…
1a
Eyesight – you must be able to
read a car number plate over a distance of 20.5 metres (with glasses
if you need to wear them). This is easy to avoid by regularly
checking your eyesight.
1b
Highway Code/Safety – this is
where you demonstrate a lack of understanding of the Highway Code
(and related safety issues). For example, if on a dual carriageway
there is a sign showing that the lane you are in is closing and you
fail to react until prompted by the examiner then this box may be
used. However, it is unusual for this box to be used as it is
covered by other boxes further down.
2a
& b Controlled Stop – this
is a common fail. You must be able to stop promptly and under
control; in other words without skidding to a halt. It is acceptable
to skid a tyre, release the brake and then reapply the brake, but
this is hard to do under the circumstances. Generally, people will
press the rear brake excessively (often due to their car driving
experience) causing it to skid. The promptness applies to both how
quickly you stop (i.e. how hard you pressed the brakes), but also to
how quickly you respond to the examiners signal. It is possible for
the examiner to ask you to do this exercise again if he/she feels
you misunderstood the instruction.
3a,
3b, 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b –
happily, these all relate to reversing and therefore do not affect
motorcycles.
6a
& b Turn In Road – the
dreaded U-turn! This is the most common fail that there is, and is
divided into control and observation. The observation relates to how
adequately you looked before starting the turn. Generally, this is
overlooked if people rush the manoeuvre. The control relates to
putting your foot down to regain your balance, or running too wide
so that you hit the curbs. It is has also been known for people to
drop the bike while they are pushing it round in the road before
starting the turn. In any event, two things are important here,
firstly that the turn is not rushed and secondly that it is
practised adequately during the training. Largely this comes down to
confidence.
7
Vehicle Checks – this box is
rarely used as the faults are often put in other boxes. However, at
the start of the test you will be required to “show and tell” a
variety of answers to questions about the maintenance and routine
checking of your vehicle. It is not possible to get a serious fault
for answering these incorrectly, but you will be given a driving
fault. You may regret this later if you get 15 other driving
faults.
8 Taxi
Manoeuvre, 9 Taxi Wheelchair, 10 Uncouple/Recouple – no thanks…
11
Precautions – this is used
mark faults resulting from things like forgetting to lift up the
side stand, starting the motorcycle in gear or leaving the lights
set to high beam. Typically, the side stand and gear faults occur
after the U-turn and emergency stop exercises.
12
Control
a Accelerator – this is
an unusual fault, but a driving fault can be picked up for blipping
the accelerator unnecessarily (a bad habit that older riders tend to
bring to their training).
b Clutch –
again unusual that this will be picked up as it is not easy to for
the examiner to see if the clutch is being operated badly during
gear changes. However, good clutch control is fundamental to being
able to ride a motorcycle safely. Poor clutch control often causes
poor road positioning (where people attempt to swing widely in and
out of junctions to avoid using slow control), and the fault tends
to be marked under steering. Likewise stalling is often marked under
moving off under control.
c Gears –
this fault is marked typically when people attempt to pull away in a
gear other than first. Normally this will accrue a driving fault.
The examiner will tend to look more deeply into this if he/she feels
that this is a problem for you. Therefore, if you find yourself
being asked to pull over and stop several times chances are that the
examiner is concerned that you are failing to changes down gear
properly. Stalls at junctions are frequently caused by trying to
pull away in the wrong gear. This will be frequently considered a
serious fault.
d Footbrake – the most likely fault here will be leaving
your foot on the brake lever resulting in the brake light staying
on. This would normally be a driving fault, but if you are inclined
to do this then it is easy to rack up four of these faults during
the course of the test. Poor posture on the motorcycle or inadequate
footwear frequently are the root causes of this
problem.
e Parking Brake/MC Front Brake – not too much worry in the parking brake
department, the front brake, on the other hand, is the subject of
lots of scrutiny during the test. Basically, it must be applied
before the rear brake during normal braking and should be used with
more bias than the rear brake. People who do not use the front brake
at all or rarely can expect to receive a serious
fault.
f Steering – this is a very common fault and is generally
caused by having poor machine control. Most steering faults are the
result of turning into or out of junctions too wide (swan necking).
Depending on severity, this can be a serious fault or driving fault,
but is also the sort of fault that will make an examiner look very
hard at your ability to control a motorcycle. The more closely you
are examined the more likely faults will be spotted.
h Balance M/C – different examiners have different opinions
as to how relevant this fault is. It is fairly safe to say that
unless you drop the motorcycle then this fault in it self will not
be a serious fault. However, driver faults here quickly go towards
totting up for the final score.
i LGV/PCV Gear Exercise and j PCV Door Exercise
– no chance of faults
here.
13
Move Off – this needs to be
done safely and under control. Safely means doing adequate shoulder
checks and not pulling out into oncoming traffic. Under control means
using the correct gear and not stalling or swerving excessively. The
control normal leads to driving faults, whereas forgetting to look
before you pull out or cause another vehicle to swerve or slow down
is definitely a serious fault.
14 Use
Of Mirrors – M/C Rear Obs – there are really only five
times that you will need to do an observation. These are, speeding
up (including pulling away), slowing down, moving or turning to the
left, moving or turning to the right and when there is the potential
to slow down (such as approaching traffic lights). Forget anyone of
these and you will get at least a driver fault; but changing lanes,
for example, without doing an observation and this will often be
considered a serious fault.
15
Signals – these need to be
done when necessary, correctly and at the right time. This is very
common area to fail your test because this is where forgetting to
cancel the indicator will be recorded. How likely you will get a
serious or driver fault will depend largely on whether or not you
actually affected another road user at the time. Roundabouts are
frequently the cause of confusion with signals, as you will often
need to use both left and right indicator while you negotiate the
roundabout. It is important to understand the impact that your
indicators make on other road users. If you drive a car, practise
cancelling the indicator when you are driving rather than letting
the car do it automatically.
16
Clearance/Obstructions – this
is very rarely used as the position during normal driving largely
covers this. It is not impossible that if you driver to close to
parked vehicles that you will get a fault here.
17
Response To Signs/Signals
a Traffic Signs – this
is missing speed limit signs (and other Highway Code issues).
Normally is you miss a speed limit you are in trouble but if you are
fortunate enough to spot a repeater sign and act promptly then the
fault is more likely to be a driver fault. Other traffic signs that
are often misunderstood are traffic priority signs and stop signs.
Failing to spot signs is symptomatic of someone focusing to close to
the front wheel of the bike and not looking ahead.
b Road Markings – this
also tends to be a Highway Code issue, but can also be as a result
of poor forward planning (looking ahead). Typically, this is a
serious fault.
c Traffic Lights - a
common place to fail your test. The number of different ways of
making a mistake here is almost too long to list. Principally
jumping lights, trying to stop for an amber light when you really
should have carried on, and not proceeding after you have crossed
the line but the lights have changed from green are the main ones.
Nearly always a fault here is serious. A basic lack of knowledge of
the Highway Code is often the root of the problem.
d Traffic Controllers –
unusual for faults here as most people respond to the “human
touch”.
e Other Road Users –
another common area for people to fail their test. This is meeting
oncoming traffic where there are parked cars, or not accepting a
free gap when someone waves you forward. This is a very large area
and the type of fault can cover the whole range. It is probably one
of the most important areas during your training. How you deal and
respond to other road users will have a very big impact on how safe
you are on the road. Even if other people drive badly or make
mistakes you can still be failed if you react in an inflexible
manner.
18 Use
Of Speed – people who ride too
quickly during there training often fail for going too slowly in
their test. The reverse is true for those that ride too slowly
during training. Typically, there are two main areas, firstly not
getting up to speed in national speed limits and dual carriageways,
and secondly, riding to quickly in busy built up areas. If the rest
of your riding is very good this may well be a driver fault, but if
the examiner is looking for an excuse to fail you as your riding has
lacked confidence etc then this is where he/she will find
it.
19
Following Distance – “only a
fool breaks the 2 second rule, and when it pours make it 4”. If you
are dithering about overtaking the vehicle in front then this is
often the time that you will get too close to them. In addition,
people who find themselves travelling at higher speeds having been
in town for some time often misjudge how close they are to the
vehicle in front. Normally this is a driver fault.
20
Progress – divided into
appropriate speed and undue hesitation. Undue hesitation is the most
common one, bear in mind though that this is normally a driver
fault, whereas if you pull out when cars are coming that would be a
serious fault. Therefore, if you need to err in one direction or the
other then being slightly cautious is the better route. Progress
faults tend to tot up quickly, as people who ride slowly do so
everywhere.
21 Junctions - this is an area where more fails occur than almost
anywhere else. Junctions include major roads to minor roads, minor
roads to major roads, mini roundabouts, roundabouts and box
junctions. Being able to understand how to deal with a junction is
fundamental to being safe on the road. The examiner will divide
faults into the following categories:
a Approach Speed - this can be
divided into two faults; too fast and too slow. People who approach
junctions too slowly are generally having issues with using the
brakes correctly, ie. too much emphasis on the rear brake. People
who approach junctions too fast are having problems with forward
planning. A good approach speed should not impede the flow of
traffic while at the same time afford the opportunity to make
adequate observations. Generally, this is an area for minor
faults, but as with other problems if your riding generally
lacks forward planning you will very quickly pick up enough minor
faults for it to become
serious.
b Observation - again this can be divided into two main
areas: missing lifesavers and failing to spot things. During the
process of negotiating a junction you are required to do various
observations (which can include lifesavers and looking
right-left-right). If you miss one of these out then you will
normally get a minor fault. If there was a something to see (a
vehicle) and you didn't look then this will be a serious fault. The
other area where this can be marked is emerging from a junction and
either failing to spot another road user or misjudging its speed;
either way if you cause another vehicle to swerve or slow down then
you will have failed your test. Typically, an approach
speed that is too fast will contribute to
this.
c Turning Right - this box is not used much as approach,
observation and cutting corners pretty much cover all the usual
faults. However, if you turn from a major road into a minor road
from the middle of your lane then it is possible the fault will be
marked
here.
d Turning Left - much the same as turning
right.
e Cutting Corners -
22
Judgement
a
Overtaking
b
Meeting
c Crossing
23
Positioning
a Normal Driving
b Lane Discipline
24 Pedestrian
Crossing - although there are
several types of pedestrian crossing (Pelican, Puffin, Toucan etc)
there are two basic types; those with lights and those without.
Those with lights need to be obeyed in the normal way, the only
variation being the flashing amber lights. Examiners take pedestrian
crossings very seriously and any indications that you might be keen
to mow down pedestrian will be greeted with a hearty fail. Zebra
crossing, being a give way, are slightly different as you are
required to give way not only to those on the crossing but also
those that show intention of crossing. A common fault here is
failing to plan ahead and therefore not seeing the crossing until
too late. Overall faults in this box tend to be
serious.
25 Position/Normal
Stops - on several occasions
during the test the examiner will ask you to pull up on the side of
the road. You will need to take into account road markings and
surrounding hazards. Generally this is one of those things that you
either get right or you don't. So pulling up within 10 metres of a
junction or on zig-zag lines, the brow of a hill or on a sharp bend,
will result in a serious fault and therefore a fail. The examiner
does not mind you stopping on single or double yellow lines (as you
are stopping not parking) unless there is a better
alternative.
26
Awareness/Planning - as you are
riding your will be accessed on your awarness of various hazards,
such as the road surface, moving vehicles, stationary vehicles and
pedestrians. This is a very common area for serious faults and is
generally a consequence of poor forward planning. Poor forward
planning is often the result of lack of confidence with machine
controls so that attention is focused more on the motorcycle than
the road ahead. Alternatively just a general tendancy to focus onlt
a few metres ahead will tend to make a rider reactive rather than
proactive. To avoid faults in this area it is essential to look
almost aas far ahead as you can see, and to be actively making a
plan as well as trying to anticipate the actions of other road
users.
27 Ancillary
Controls - an unusual area to be
marked on a motorcycle test. If you did not know or did not
demonstrate that you were fully aware of all your controls (horn,
indicators, lights etc) and non-essential controls of your
motorcycle then you may receive a minor fault. An example would be
leaving the lights on high beam or leaving a fog light (if fitted)
on.
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