ARRRRRRRRRG

Stage fright. You will pass next time. If it makes it easier for you, next time pretend you're someone else.

I do that all the time when there's a tough job I have to do but I don't really want to do it - just be somebody else til it's done.

(don't listen to the peanut gallery - it's a coping mechanism, not insanity.)

that sucks.

You'll do better next time. If you're super worried, eat a lot of...sugar.

My friend took, I think it was, 6 times before she could pass. And she drives just fine...she'd just get nervous at the moment. So don't even worry about it. Next time you'll have gotten over it and you'll do everything perfectly.


~all of this coming from someone who doesn't even have a permit....

I failed the written the first time I took it. Then, when I had my permit, I totaled my dad's car. First thing he did when he got another car was to make me a set of keys. He said, "You are going to get your license. Driving is a skill that you need in this world." If he hadn't done that, I might not have tried again, at least not very quickly. I am glad he pushed me because I have some friends who weren't pushed who still don't drive, or didn't until well into adulthood.

I failed the written test the first time too. Then, when I took my road test, the instructor ripped me a new one because I actually looked before I made a right turn on a green arrow. I guess in her perfect little world, nobody runs red lights. I thought sure she was going to fail me for it, but she didn't. Also, I lucked out. The place she made me parallel park didn't have a curb to bump. I think that's the only reason I passed that part.

FYI, I have never parallel parked like they teach you since the day I took the test. I just ease the car in nose-first. And people who can nonchalantly back into a parking space still amaze the heck out of me....

I failed the driving portion the first time with a score of 98 out of 100.

Why did I fail?

"I'm sorry, Ma'am... this is the highest score that's ever failed but I can't let anyone pass whose wheels leave the pavement."

I failed driver's ed class because the instructor stressed me out so much I could not do anything correctly. I could do it just fine with my own car, but as soon as I got in that drivers ed car, I freaked out so bad. I couldn't even bring myself to retake the course and waited until I was 18.

I passed both the written and the driving tests at the DMV on the first try.

~DragonHeart~

I'm taking driving lessons at 8 am. The only thing I've learned is how to succesfully drive while half-asleep. No doubt one of the most important driving skills ever.

I'm not sure you even have to know how to drive in order to get a license here....

Try again. You'll do better and pass for sure.

You do better on next time.

I can't drive. I'm getting my medical exam so I can take the permit test. You can do it!

I failed the first time I took the test too. I was just too nervous. Now, if someone had done for me what Maryn did for her kid, I might have passed the first time. Get someone to do that for you! It's a grand idea.

I flunked the written test the first time and my road test was a joke. It was done on a test track in Princeton. Stevie Wonder could've passed that road test.

I've only recently had to use my parallel parking **ahem** skills. I always end up about three feet from the curb and six feet from both the car in front and in back. I like my space!

Don't worry - take a deep breath and you'll do fine the next time out.

Don't feel bad. Seriously. I have heard -- sucky, but more often than not, true -- that girls generally don't pass the road test the first time, and guys do pass the first time.

I don't think this is because men are better drivers. I think it's because driving test people pre-assume women can't drive, or women aren't ready to drive. Or at least they do in New York.

This phenomenon is not 100 percent accurate, but it does seem to be true 9 times out of 10 with everyone I ask (and I've asked a lot of people... I had a minor obsession with this occurance for a while).

Don't give up -- you'll make it!

Don't you hate those people who seem to have a story for every occasion, and it only loosely relates to the OP?

Ahem.

I used to work with this guy, way back when I got my very first car -- an 81 Chevette. It had no power anything, not even power steering. I adored that car. Anyway, this guy showed up at work but he'd forgotten his uniform, and they weren't going to let him work his shift. So (like an idiot) I let him borrow my car to go get it, since I was already on the clock and couldn't leave.

He promptly got into an accident the minute he pulled out of the parking lot (his fault). A bunch of friendly folks pushed my now-crippled car back into the parking lot. The police arrived to take their reports... and it turned out this guy didn't even have a driver's license, only an expired permit.

He had recently moved to New York from Florida, and for some reason he honestly believed that his permit would "turn into a license", and once he'd gotten the permit, he didn't have to do anything else.

I remember thinking, no wonder no one from Florida can drive...

/unnecessary story

I failed mine the first time, because I drove across an empty parking lot on the wrong side of the road.

I'm still not sure how that works.