Dear Peter & Steve,

Thank you for show 14. You’ve been sorely missed. I find your shows so informative. Compared to the information I receive from Bournemouth DIA your shows are a font of information.

Just a moot point Steve, your reference to the other Examiner that “blew the whistle” on examiner practices a few years ago. Were you referring to Mr Peter Murray? If so, he was scrutinised for not passing enough candidates unlike Mr Jim Kerr who was apparently passing too many candidates. Both ex examiners maintain that at no time when they were check tested was their decision at the end of the test questioned. Mr Murray was urged to pass more in order to bring his pass rate into line with the Test Centre’s rate but he said he didn’t see why he should pass candidates who were not up to standard. Whether it was his standard or the DSAs is not made clear.

I suppose you could put the two examiners into two categories. Mr Murray who was a black and white person; a mistake is a mistake and is marked without due regard to the rest of the test. (I was sat in the rear on a test and my pupil turned right at a mini roundabout and came close to the entrance/exit island and was failed for it. She didn’t touch it and there were no pedestrians jumping out of the way.)

Mr Kerr on the other hand could fit into the category of seeing the drive as a whole. Yes mistakes were made but overall the drive was safe and he used his nonce. There are some examiners like this and I know of one in Dorchester and Salisbury and I’m sure you know one or two. (Again I sat in on a test where the candidate drifted from the left lane to a right lane approaching traffic lights. No mirror check or right shoulder check. She remained in that lane through another set of lights about 100 yards on then the two lanes merged into one. No one was more surprised than myself when she was told she had passed. This one definitely should have been failed but another was asked to take the next road right and it was a divided road in a housing estate. There was a large blue sign with a white arrow pointing to the left hand lane. He asked the examiner which road to take and he was told to look at the signs. He began to take the right hand road and the ex firmly said “Robbie, Road Signs!” At the end of the test the ex said we’ll ignore the first couple of minutes of the test and you’ve passed.)

I have come to the conclusion that there is no solid consistency in various examiners, as the DSA maintain, and that the driving test is a lottery for middle of the road candidates.

Moving on to the ID. I requested a meeting with the TCM last July to explain the workings of the new Independent Drive element of the test. I was hoping for a very informative discussion. All was arranged and then we were told yesterday that the presenter will be our local DTAM and that he has a Power Point presentation and a “number of FAQ”. Thank you for you information gleaned from your meeting.

Peter Aisthorpe-Buckley

W121som.co.uk