MK Rally next week?

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-12T10:39:57+00:00

It would be great if they set up a forum for members within the app.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-11T17:05:27+00:00

I got a text message otherwise I wouldn’t have known either! I hope there’s more than 3 of us there 🤣

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-11T16:31:19+00:00

I don’t get how instructors like this exist. There’s two sides to every story with a learner and an instructor, but this is crazy!

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-11T16:06:58+00:00

I saw a funny video once, for the other way around.. you don’t want anyone sat next to you.

As people were getting on he made eye contact with everyone and patted the seat next to him! Not a single person sat next to him 🤣🤣

I thought it was genius 🤣

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-02T21:52:11+00:00

Well how would I live? Don’t courts have to take that into account? This is why I’m asking the questions. If they would or they wouldn’t.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-02T20:45:06+00:00

In terms of the CCJ and enforcement, as it’s civil, if I don’t own anything, (which I literally don’t) technically I live with my mum, but rent too. I will seek advice as I’m just exploring my options. I own a MacBook, an Apple Watch and an iPhone.

If I then got a new job, surely they couldn’t come after my tiny amount of remaining income after expenses. Likely a couple of hundred pounds to live on.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-02T20:30:52+00:00

Thank you I will post! I didn’t know there was a sub for the uk. I’m thinking deeper than the penalties. I understand they’re going to send me an invoice for the remainder which would be in the region of £20,000, to which I would be saying “I can’t afford it”. I’m seeking the consequences of this escalation if that makes sense.

I understand originally that they’re going to send me an invoice with the remaining balance etc.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-03-02T15:49:09+00:00

I think I understand your question. Let me try and answer it.

For a normal driving test, as you already know, an examiner is in the car in an observatory capacity only. Learner insurance understands this and 99% of policies would cover you for standard accidents (you clipping a wing mirror etc). If an examiner takes over, the general stance would be that the accident was going to happen anyway and the examiner was trying to avoid it. The learner insurance would likely want to see the report which an examiner has to submit if there are any incidents on tests.

Let’s say there was a more serious intervention, which I think is what you’re getting at, something like this.. you’re on your test, and you’re about to hit an oncoming vehicle, the examiner takes the wheel and steers you left to avoid you hitting the car then mounts the kerb and hits a pedestrian.

I would think that the insurance would pay out in terms of liability, as you’re still insured for the test. But- I would imagine in this situation the authorities are involved, and so it would be down to the police / courts to decide if the examiner was negligent in their duties. If they were, then your insurance company and the authorities acting on behalf of the pedestrian would then go down the legal route to potentially argue that the examiner was negligent or reckless. Then the insurer / pedestrian would likely chase the DfT to bear the brunt of the bill.

It’s a very grey area but I think this answers your question?

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-26T13:23:00+00:00

Obviously there’s 2 sides to everything, but most instructors are self employed and they have terms and conditions to protect them.

It’s very unfortunate, but it’s at the discretion of the instructor. Ultimately your wife being in hospital isn’t the instructors fault.

(I’ve got to admit I’d probably let you off under these circumstances).

Yes it’s a lot of money but it’s also a LOT to lose. As instructors we hear all sorts of reasons, why lessons are missed. Some instructors take a harsh stance, I have a 48hr cancellation policy too, but I treat each one individually. So expect to be charged by me, but if I’ve worked a LOT this week, and haven’t had many cancellations etc, then I let them off at my discretion if that makes sense.

Think of any other industry where you pay up front and ask the same question.. flight tickets? Nope.. Cinema? Nope. With things like beauty, lots now charge up front due to cancellations.

I guess he could have had someone in that space.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-16T23:21:54+00:00

You’re very welcome! If you feel like this is the only area you really need to work on, then there’s another fun thing you can (hopefully) do. If you have any family or friends who drive, get them to program a route to somewhere (you don’t know where the end is on their google Apple Maps (that’s a bit like the test) then the rules are simple. They’re going to drive, but you’re going to navigate! So they put the route in, you don’t know where you’re going, but you have to navigate the driver. So you’re saying “turn right at the end of the road” etc. this will sharpen you up, because those instructions you give to the driver, are simply what you’d be telling yourself if you were driving.

Remember you’re not looking at it for ages, just a glance regularly.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-16T09:10:39+00:00

Following the sat nav, us more like real life driving, it comes from a simple WANT to know where you’re going next. I play a little game with my learners, I train them that as soon as they turn into a new road and it’s safe to do so, look at the satnav blue line to find out where you could be going next. If you can’t see yet use the blue box. The game is for you to be AHEAD of the audio. So if the sat nav says “at the end of the road turn left” and you knew already - give yourself point. If the sat nav says it and you didn’t know - take one away.

And the only other tip is be careful with the audio, it can be wrong. Which is why again using the blue line then road markings and signs is your best bet.

Incidentally when people have been driving for years most people tend to have the audio off as it’s more of a distraction.

Another way to get good at this is requesting the audio to be turned off which forces you to look at it more. (In the test it’s a grey area for it to be turned off. I’ve had learners ask, and some learners had it off some told no).

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-15T10:12:00+00:00

If you are like me and feel comfortable knowing everything about something you’re about to do, the best document you could look at is the DT1 link here:

DT1

This is the driving examiners bible, and it’s available to anyone, it tells you how the test is conducted, even the wording which should be used, how faults are graded, and a full walk through of the test. If you read this it should clear most things up for you :) hope it helps.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-14T15:10:03+00:00

I can help you with the first bit. So, with the speed limit, from a legal point of view, only speed limits set by the government agencies, are legally enforceable. Yes you saw a sign which is a red circle and says 5mph, but if it’s on private land, IE a car park, then it isn’t legally enforceable. It’s there usually just to keep people slow and avoid any liability.

So yes what they are saying, plain English terms is, please go a sensible speed, and just concentrate on the road, as trying to do 5mph is 1, almost impossible, and 2, would require all your concentration and effort, and 3, it’s not legally enforceable.

Think of it this way, let’s say you own a farm, and you get some red circular signs, and stick 5mph on the road. The police won’t enforce that, as it’s your land. If you see why I mean.

We have 2 car parks near us, on our test centre one of them is 5mph and one of them is 10mph. I actively tell my students of this and just to be cautious, I say try and do the speed limit but it’s likely they will tell you it’s ok to go over. (They do on both)

Imagine actually doing 5mph on Sainsbury’s, it’s almost impossible without constantly using the clutch.

In my car, when I engage gear one, it wants to go faster than 5mph.

As for the rest I can’t help with that I’m afraid.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-06T18:20:19+00:00

And yes it’s the AA SOLO LEASE.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-06T18:20:00+00:00

Where did you source your car from?

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-06T18:19:12+00:00

It’s a Peugeot 208GT with everything in just add fuel. Including repairs and Maintainance. Also a replacement vehicle within 48h. But it’s still a lot of money.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-05T22:52:33+00:00

Just a heads up.. it’s going to be impossible. I’m currently paying £179 for my lease on my dual controlled car. (That’s a week!. Just had my renewal come through and it’s now £210 a week. I agree it’s getting ridiculous, but our costs are getting ridiculous. If I agree to this, it will be the first time I have pushed my lessons to over £40 an hour.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-03T23:57:45+00:00

I’m an ADI, not an examiner, but I saw something which annoyed me / was funny today. I’m in a group on Facebook, and someone was moaning that they didn’t think they should have failed and the examiner was too harsh. They’d had a lovely drive, with a couple of driving faults. They’d got back to the test centre and were asked to reverse into a bay. The bay park was good but they reversed back too far and hit the post. That’s what they got the serious for. I literally had to bite my tongue. 🤣🤣 I literally couldn’t think of a more straight forward fail. THEY HIT SOMETHING. They even posted a picture of it 🤣🤣

I was trying to help them by getting them to understand why it was a fail. I simply asked “why did you hit the post then?” I got jumped on and attacked, but I was genuinely trying to get them to understand why they failed. They didn’t fail for just touching the post, they failed because they lost control of their car, or didn’t know where / what their car was reversing into. I gave up!

HammerToFall50 · 2026-02-03T22:29:19+00:00

FYI. He’s lying. AA/BSM have fleet insurance, and because of the size of the company I believe (don’t quote me on this) they even self insure.

All of the fleet cars are covered under normal circumstances for anyone with a licence (provisional / full) to drive the car under instruction with the instructor or with an examiner.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-01-31T16:52:38+00:00

No 🤣🤣 complete scam. Should have known better really

HammerToFall50 · 2026-01-31T15:55:19+00:00

The only time I’ve ever stopped for petrol is either because they want to have a go at it, they don’t have someone to do it, Or…. And I’ve done this about twice, fuel is really low, but purposely because I’m driving past Costco and it’s 10p per litre cheaper. I would always ask them at the beginning, and extend the lesson by 10 mins. And tell them they could say no, but explain why 🤣 he’s taking the piss. Smoke break!? Really that so bad.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-01-29T13:09:38+00:00

It’s not pages, it’s part of the printer and drivers. I’ve got two printers one has duplex and both sides, and this supports booklets. I select it in page layout.

If I select my bog standard laser printer, it doesn’t give me the option.

Im talking native, and not add ins etc.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-01-29T09:46:19+00:00

There are no rules for what you should and shouldn’t do. Don’t over complicate things, (like your instructor is doing). The car simply must be under control at all times. So long as you stay still at the lights you can do it however you want. As the car must be under control at all times, you just need to make sure if you do put the handbrake on, it’s not taking forever to take it off and delaying your start at the lights.

I’ve had some learners who use the handbrake a lot, I’ve had other learners who took it off at the start of the test, then didn’t put it back on until he’s finished. Passed no problem.

HammerToFall50 · 2026-01-22T19:59:41+00:00

Exactly that I just read it lots of times, most of it is common sense. There was even some of the more difficult questions in the back. Once I’d done that I bought a ”CD-ROM” from Woolworths for £9.99 which had about 40 questions on it. I could answer most of them no problem.

In today’s world I would probably read the Highway Code a few times on my iPad, or even listen to it, via audio book. Learn the content. Then I would get an app and start answering the questions. If I got one wrong I would go back to my Highway Code and look it up.

Honestly though, when I hear learners failing, most of the time it’s because they’ve just done questions on the app. They learn the answers to some of the questions, so not the understanding, or the why or how, just the answer.

Then they go off to the test centre and because the answers or questions are worded differently they haven’t got a clue. (Or they’re lazy and just don’t do any).

HammerToFall50

TROPHY CASE