16 Y.O. In Tears After Driving Instructor Purposefully Fails Him By Ignoring Request To Buckle Up
InterviewMost of us who happened to successfully obtain driver’s licenses have at least a few memories from driving lessons that are still deeply ingrained in our minds. Some of us were excited about each lesson and couldn’t wait to pass the exam; for others, it may have been torture as they constantly felt that they were not ready yet. However, besides all of this, imagine how annoying it would be to work hard on preparing for the exam, do your best and be still failed by an unfair instructor.
More info: Reddit
Driving exams sometimes are a little bit like a lottery – a lot can depend on the instructor
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto (not the actual photo)
Guy shares the story of how he failed his driver’s license test due to not double-checking if the instructor put his seatbelt on
Image credits: u/Bridge23Ux
Image credits: Kelly (not the actual photo)
Guy asked his instructor to ‘buckle up’ before starting moving, but he still didn’t do it
Image credits: u/Bridge23Ux
When he found out that he had failed due to this mistake, he started crying and was devastated
Recently, a guy shared his story to Reddit, which occurred around 20 years ago, but is still stuck in his memory till this day. He shared how his instructor tricked him into failing his driving exam due to not double-checking if he actually put his seatbelt on. The post collected more than 56K upvotes and almost 6.5K comments where folks shared their own experiences with driving instructors.
The guy starts his story by highlighting that he was really excited about finally getting his driver’s license, and had practiced like never before. The exam started, he completed everything that must be done before driving, told the instructor to buckle up and started driving. However, after a few seconds of driving, the car indicated that the seat belt wasn’t connected.
Now, the OP remembers that the exam went really well and he made himself proud. They came back to the parking lot. The instructor also said that he did great; however, after this came an additional comment saying that he would pass next time if he made sure that everybody actually put their seatbelts on.
Many folks in the comments shared their own stories that show instructors tend to fail young drivers intentionally. “The people who give the road tests always seem to be the most awful humans I’ve ever seen,” one user started. Another folk shared what failed them: “You must drive with your hand at 10 and 2. You did not do that so I will have to fail you.”
Image credits: OXLAEY.com (not the actual photo)
Bored Panda contacted Oren Preisler, driving instructor from Morty’s Driving School, who kindly agreed to share insights regarding this issue and deeper information about driving tests, failing them and tips on how not to.
“For seatbelts, 99% of the time the examiner will just put on their seat belt. However, I have seen it before where they try and trick the student even though they’re not supposed to. Where they say OK, you can start, in the student signals and check before leaving, but don’t check that their passenger has their seatbelt on, that is technically a fail,” Oren says.
Now, speaking about failing the exam, the driving instructor says that it doesn’t really affect people’s future of driving. “There are some places around the world where if you fail the driving test more than three times, they make you do a psychological test. However, in Quebec, you can take the test multiple times until you pass, and there are no repercussions.”
“It takes many hours of practice to show with your body language that you are a confident and competent driver. Students often don’t drive at the correct speed or keep forgetting to check their mirrors and forgetting to check their blind spots. I also want to remind everyone that you always must have two hands on the wheel. Even at a red light, you cannot take your hands and put them on your lap,” Oren shares.
Finally, don’t forget to check out Morty’s Driving School, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok, where every driver-to-be can find useful information!
Image credits: Pok Rie (not the actual photo)
Additionally, Mikael Castaldo, who is the Co-CEO of Kruzee Driving School, was kind enough to share more insights to Bored Panda.
“Seatbelt-related issues are table stakes in driving tests. As a student driver, if you or anybody in your vehicle isn’t wearing a seatbelt, it would be an automatic failure. Fortunately, remembering to make sure each passenger is wearing a seatbelt is much easier than mastering parallel parking!” he says.
“The first thing to keep in mind is that only 50-60% of folks pass their driver’s test on the first try – it’s by no means an easy exam,” Mikael emphasizes. “The most important thing to remember if you fail is that it’s a common experience, and that you’ll be able to retake the test as many times as is needed for you to pass. Focus on mastering the fundamentals – maintaining a steady speed, checking your mirrors, blind spots, signaling – and everything else tends to follow.”
Speaking about the main reasons for failing the exam and how to avoid them, he says that “Typically, the biggest reasons for failing a driving test are not getting the basics right. For example, every time you move your vehicle into another lane or turn, you need to remember to check your mirrors, then signal, and then check your blind spots. If you fail to do any of these steps, it can be an automatic failure.”
Similarly, lots of students forget to check their mirrors frequently. We always tell our students to be like a bobblehead, and check their mirrors every 5-10 seconds.”
And of course, don’t forget to check out the Kruzee Driving School website for more tips and experts’ recommendations!
Folks in the comments started a discussion telling their own personal stories and thoughts regarding driving exams
Many people complain that things are overregulated in Germany. But honestly? I'm happy we have so many regulations. It's strictly forbidden for the person taking the driving exam to trick failure. If the tell you to do something you do it, right when they say it and how they tell you to do. Your driving instructor is independent from the license office, they sit right next to you, watching the driving test and would report the person from the office taking the test if they tried to trick you into failure and they would lose their licence. So this just doesn't happen around here and falling through is rare
I would love for the US to adopt the regulations and attitude towards driving that Germany has. I'm all for tightening up who gets a license, because frankly, at least 25% of the drivers in the US have no business behind the wheel. However, what the tester did to OP is no ok, you don't go trying to trick someone.
Load More Replies...Don't know how old this is or if it is just a UK thing but, they don't teach you to have your hands at 10 & 2 anymore because if you're airbag goes off you can lose your hands.
A lot of the rules of Driving Tests are so wildly outdated. The 10 & 2, which can cause horrific hand injuries, if the airbag is deployed. The movement, and position of hands on the wheel when turning, because they have failed to realize that power steering has been a thing for quite some time. My own story involved reversing, and turning right, when the camera comes automatically, and shows on the center screen. The Instructor turned to me and said, "You can't use that."..."Well, I can promise not to look at it...but I can't turn off a standard feature."...God knows how the regulations are going to react to autonomous vehicles.
Load More Replies...I heard of a driving tester person who took great pride in failing people who took their test just after they became old enough. His reasoning was no 16 year was safe enough to be driving. It did not matter what the person did, he always found a reason to fail them.
I think he is 100% right. I think the age should be raised to 18. Even at 18 kids are not mature. the driving are should be raised to 18 and the draft/gun age should be 21.
Load More Replies...It is the drivers responsibility to ensure that everyone is buckled up. It was a horrible trick but the OP shouldn't have moved until he was strapped in.
In my state, it is the responsibility of the person with the drivers license to buckle up. The driver is responsible for themselves and everyone else in the vehicle without a license. This means that police can ticket a passenger for not wearing their seatbelt without the driver getting in trouble.
Load More Replies...I failed my first time because the lady said I didn't look both ways before going out into a road but she was too busy writing notes to pay attention to anything else. So sorry I didn't sit at a stop sign for 5 minutes holding up traffic while you finish your notes so you can watch me look both ways. Yes, I am convinced they fail you on purpose to get more money outta you.
I took my exam in 1971 and passed on the first try. I feel like an anomaly here. ;-)
in 1971 you had a little parking lot with cones to drive around in. in the 90s we had to go on the road.
Load More Replies...Just a bunch of petty dignitaries with clipboards working for a disorganized shitshow.
I failed my first test too (on my 16th birthday). IIRC it was because I didn't come to a "complete stop" at a stop sign. Went back the very next day and passed it. I think it's clear from all these stories that DMV workers have issues with power.
I don't drive but is this really a rule? Are drivers responsible for their adult passengers if said passengers do not put on a seatbelt? I can understand with passengers that are minors because they are minors. But adults? According to the law, anyone 18 and up are able to make their own decisions and are responsible for those decisions.
My driving instructor had me make a left turn, then wanted me to make an immediate right. I told him I couldn't - making the left from a one lane street onto a two lane street you have to enter the left lane based on road marking. There was not enough distance for me to: enter left lane, recover, signal, move to right lane, signal, and turn right. He got mad and made me go around and do it anyway... I still passed, but it bothered me that he made me do it wrong. It's a good thing too because I drove myself to the test!
Because I turned left after a light had turned orange but I was like out past the crosswalk so literally if somebody would press The Pedestrian sign they would have had to walk around my car on the outside of the crosswalk into the intersection. And when the instructor was like oh do you know why you failed and I was like No And he was like oh because you turned left on a red light and I was like well I'm like I had to go because I was out past the crosswalk and he's like yeah but you weren't blocking the intersection the pedestrians could have gone around you. This honestly really impacted my confidence as a driver for a really long time I was literally being told that it's okay for you to put pedestrian's life in danger and the amount of nasty looks I got from people because of his bad advice
My tester had me drive to a dead end road and told me to do a "turnabout." I stared at him blankly. It wasn't in the booklet the state gave out, but he failed me because I didn't know it.
My driving instructor told me that for the test, I should move the rear view mirror just a little, so I had to move my head a little to check it. Normally it's adjusted so I barely move my head to check it. The advice was to make the movement a little more obvious, so the examiner could see I was indeed checking the mirror.
I was already a driver for 15 years when I moved from my native country to Switzerland. I had to take another exam to validate my DL. I didn't speak German very well, so I asked the guy if we could speak French (I'm legally allowed to do so) or even English if he preferred. He said no and off we go. Even though I didn't fully understand the commands, I managed to do most of them right. However, at one point he told me to go straight ahead to a place where only busses and taxis where allowed. I got confused and asked if he REALLY wanted me to go there, he remained silent and I understood at the last moment that it was a trick and I did the right thing and passed the exam. But, man... Imagine how many foreigners fall for this kind of shenanigans.
I had a police officer (I called him Office No-Smiles) administer my driving exam, and he didn't pull a dirty trick like that. In fact, he was a really nice guy. I will say, he did talk a lot to see how much I would take my eyes off the road, but I was much too nervous to look at him.
I passed first time. But the instructor kept telling me HORROR stories about previous test takers. I was already nervous about taking it. She said one time a guy didn't look before doing a u turn. Only the driver and instructor lived (at least in his car, I don't think anyone else died in the second vehicle). She also wouldn't turn her phone off and she wouldn't deny the phone call either so it would just ring and ring and ring.
Many DMV employees abuse their authority. They try to enforce laws that they don't have the authority to and sometimes either don't exist or aren't laws. One told my ex she couldn't take her motorcycle test on her bike because it didn't have a county sticker on it. True it didn't but that sticker is a county ordinance, not a law at all and even the state police can't enforce it.
I failed, because during my three point turned I signaled... but I didn't signal again... and again THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS... turn signaling each time during the three point is what she demanded, find that in any book. Also, when the road went straight but veered toward the left, even though WE continued straight on I didn't signal... to go straight... with my turn signal... on a straightaway. Found out later this same instructor would take "certain" people around the block and automatically pass them. Yeah. 😒
Well firstly they are Driving Testers not INSTRUCTORS , It's testers who test you. This guy is talking about blind spots, clearly you don't know what your talking about, you say here to check your blind spot when changing lane yes absolutely, but when your turning ,what are you crazy ,you should look into your road niot behind you ,seriously . You have a few things you need to learn
In New Zealand the driver is only responsible for people under 15 having their seatbelts done. Everyone else should know better for themselves.
My 2nd time (passed that one) my instructor had me at a stop sign and told me that she was going to let me go through the intersection and when she told me "stop" to break like someone's kid just ran in front of me. Predictably, I slammed on the breaks at 30ish mph. She did thank me for throwing my arm out preventing her from hitting the dash, but "let's try again, but this time let's pretend it's your neighbors chicken..." Ms Queen has long since retired, but she was the best instructor our small town ever had.
I didn't fail the test, but the lady doing mine docked me a point for not looking behind me while changing lanes when I did look behind me. She also docked a point for when we were on one of those one lane roads and people were parked on the street on each side. She said I was in the center of the road too much. Also in a lot of places the person driving is only responsible for their seatbelt and those without a license in the vehicle. The other people with licenses can get personally ticketed without the driver getting in trouble. The person who got in trouble for adjusting their hair had a nitpicky instructor for sure. Realistically, you take your hand off the wheel when you adjust the signal or when you're turning.
I had something close to similar. Guy was looking at his paper when I was pulling into traffic, so didn't see me checking both ways. Everyone in my school knew they would try and find something to fail u on the first time.
Many DMV testers abuse their authority. In many cases including ones pointed out in comments, they even try to enforce non-existent and/or impossible rules. I had one tell my ex she couldn't take her motorcycle test because the bike didn't have a county sticker. True, it didn't but that's a county ordinance, not a state law. Even the state police can't cite you for it. Her real reason was it was close to 5pm and she wanted to just go home. So she took her test on my CBR instead. F*** DMV. As for seatbelt and OP, while it is a law, it's one that is utterly ridiculous and only hard as** officers even enforce it as it is in fact an invasion of privacy. I amongst many others I know are alive today because we weren't buckled up when the wreck happened. So don't think for one second I'll ever put one on again.
I see no problem here. If you are licensed to operate a 2+ ton chunk of steel on the highway, you should be on top of who is buckled and who isnt. I dont care how proud you were. You messed up OP. What if this had been a sibling and you didnt notice they werent buckled in and you got hit by someone and they died? And you went back 2 weeks later and passed. You clearly learned something. Your dad is a chode for chewing out the tester for doing their job. Dad should have told you that the tester was right because they were. this isnt a feel good test for your ego. Its to make sure you arent going to hurt people once you are on the road. Stupid article stupid OP.
In plenty of countries, drivers are not responsible for their adult passengers safety decisions. If the passenger chooses not to wear a seatbelt, they will be fined and not the driver.
Load More Replies...Many people complain that things are overregulated in Germany. But honestly? I'm happy we have so many regulations. It's strictly forbidden for the person taking the driving exam to trick failure. If the tell you to do something you do it, right when they say it and how they tell you to do. Your driving instructor is independent from the license office, they sit right next to you, watching the driving test and would report the person from the office taking the test if they tried to trick you into failure and they would lose their licence. So this just doesn't happen around here and falling through is rare
I would love for the US to adopt the regulations and attitude towards driving that Germany has. I'm all for tightening up who gets a license, because frankly, at least 25% of the drivers in the US have no business behind the wheel. However, what the tester did to OP is no ok, you don't go trying to trick someone.
Load More Replies...Don't know how old this is or if it is just a UK thing but, they don't teach you to have your hands at 10 & 2 anymore because if you're airbag goes off you can lose your hands.
A lot of the rules of Driving Tests are so wildly outdated. The 10 & 2, which can cause horrific hand injuries, if the airbag is deployed. The movement, and position of hands on the wheel when turning, because they have failed to realize that power steering has been a thing for quite some time. My own story involved reversing, and turning right, when the camera comes automatically, and shows on the center screen. The Instructor turned to me and said, "You can't use that."..."Well, I can promise not to look at it...but I can't turn off a standard feature."...God knows how the regulations are going to react to autonomous vehicles.
Load More Replies...I heard of a driving tester person who took great pride in failing people who took their test just after they became old enough. His reasoning was no 16 year was safe enough to be driving. It did not matter what the person did, he always found a reason to fail them.
I think he is 100% right. I think the age should be raised to 18. Even at 18 kids are not mature. the driving are should be raised to 18 and the draft/gun age should be 21.
Load More Replies...It is the drivers responsibility to ensure that everyone is buckled up. It was a horrible trick but the OP shouldn't have moved until he was strapped in.
In my state, it is the responsibility of the person with the drivers license to buckle up. The driver is responsible for themselves and everyone else in the vehicle without a license. This means that police can ticket a passenger for not wearing their seatbelt without the driver getting in trouble.
Load More Replies...I failed my first time because the lady said I didn't look both ways before going out into a road but she was too busy writing notes to pay attention to anything else. So sorry I didn't sit at a stop sign for 5 minutes holding up traffic while you finish your notes so you can watch me look both ways. Yes, I am convinced they fail you on purpose to get more money outta you.
I took my exam in 1971 and passed on the first try. I feel like an anomaly here. ;-)
in 1971 you had a little parking lot with cones to drive around in. in the 90s we had to go on the road.
Load More Replies...Just a bunch of petty dignitaries with clipboards working for a disorganized shitshow.
I failed my first test too (on my 16th birthday). IIRC it was because I didn't come to a "complete stop" at a stop sign. Went back the very next day and passed it. I think it's clear from all these stories that DMV workers have issues with power.
I don't drive but is this really a rule? Are drivers responsible for their adult passengers if said passengers do not put on a seatbelt? I can understand with passengers that are minors because they are minors. But adults? According to the law, anyone 18 and up are able to make their own decisions and are responsible for those decisions.
My driving instructor had me make a left turn, then wanted me to make an immediate right. I told him I couldn't - making the left from a one lane street onto a two lane street you have to enter the left lane based on road marking. There was not enough distance for me to: enter left lane, recover, signal, move to right lane, signal, and turn right. He got mad and made me go around and do it anyway... I still passed, but it bothered me that he made me do it wrong. It's a good thing too because I drove myself to the test!
Because I turned left after a light had turned orange but I was like out past the crosswalk so literally if somebody would press The Pedestrian sign they would have had to walk around my car on the outside of the crosswalk into the intersection. And when the instructor was like oh do you know why you failed and I was like No And he was like oh because you turned left on a red light and I was like well I'm like I had to go because I was out past the crosswalk and he's like yeah but you weren't blocking the intersection the pedestrians could have gone around you. This honestly really impacted my confidence as a driver for a really long time I was literally being told that it's okay for you to put pedestrian's life in danger and the amount of nasty looks I got from people because of his bad advice
My tester had me drive to a dead end road and told me to do a "turnabout." I stared at him blankly. It wasn't in the booklet the state gave out, but he failed me because I didn't know it.
My driving instructor told me that for the test, I should move the rear view mirror just a little, so I had to move my head a little to check it. Normally it's adjusted so I barely move my head to check it. The advice was to make the movement a little more obvious, so the examiner could see I was indeed checking the mirror.
I was already a driver for 15 years when I moved from my native country to Switzerland. I had to take another exam to validate my DL. I didn't speak German very well, so I asked the guy if we could speak French (I'm legally allowed to do so) or even English if he preferred. He said no and off we go. Even though I didn't fully understand the commands, I managed to do most of them right. However, at one point he told me to go straight ahead to a place where only busses and taxis where allowed. I got confused and asked if he REALLY wanted me to go there, he remained silent and I understood at the last moment that it was a trick and I did the right thing and passed the exam. But, man... Imagine how many foreigners fall for this kind of shenanigans.
I had a police officer (I called him Office No-Smiles) administer my driving exam, and he didn't pull a dirty trick like that. In fact, he was a really nice guy. I will say, he did talk a lot to see how much I would take my eyes off the road, but I was much too nervous to look at him.
I passed first time. But the instructor kept telling me HORROR stories about previous test takers. I was already nervous about taking it. She said one time a guy didn't look before doing a u turn. Only the driver and instructor lived (at least in his car, I don't think anyone else died in the second vehicle). She also wouldn't turn her phone off and she wouldn't deny the phone call either so it would just ring and ring and ring.
Many DMV employees abuse their authority. They try to enforce laws that they don't have the authority to and sometimes either don't exist or aren't laws. One told my ex she couldn't take her motorcycle test on her bike because it didn't have a county sticker on it. True it didn't but that sticker is a county ordinance, not a law at all and even the state police can't enforce it.
I failed, because during my three point turned I signaled... but I didn't signal again... and again THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS... turn signaling each time during the three point is what she demanded, find that in any book. Also, when the road went straight but veered toward the left, even though WE continued straight on I didn't signal... to go straight... with my turn signal... on a straightaway. Found out later this same instructor would take "certain" people around the block and automatically pass them. Yeah. 😒
Well firstly they are Driving Testers not INSTRUCTORS , It's testers who test you. This guy is talking about blind spots, clearly you don't know what your talking about, you say here to check your blind spot when changing lane yes absolutely, but when your turning ,what are you crazy ,you should look into your road niot behind you ,seriously . You have a few things you need to learn
In New Zealand the driver is only responsible for people under 15 having their seatbelts done. Everyone else should know better for themselves.
My 2nd time (passed that one) my instructor had me at a stop sign and told me that she was going to let me go through the intersection and when she told me "stop" to break like someone's kid just ran in front of me. Predictably, I slammed on the breaks at 30ish mph. She did thank me for throwing my arm out preventing her from hitting the dash, but "let's try again, but this time let's pretend it's your neighbors chicken..." Ms Queen has long since retired, but she was the best instructor our small town ever had.
I didn't fail the test, but the lady doing mine docked me a point for not looking behind me while changing lanes when I did look behind me. She also docked a point for when we were on one of those one lane roads and people were parked on the street on each side. She said I was in the center of the road too much. Also in a lot of places the person driving is only responsible for their seatbelt and those without a license in the vehicle. The other people with licenses can get personally ticketed without the driver getting in trouble. The person who got in trouble for adjusting their hair had a nitpicky instructor for sure. Realistically, you take your hand off the wheel when you adjust the signal or when you're turning.
I had something close to similar. Guy was looking at his paper when I was pulling into traffic, so didn't see me checking both ways. Everyone in my school knew they would try and find something to fail u on the first time.
Many DMV testers abuse their authority. In many cases including ones pointed out in comments, they even try to enforce non-existent and/or impossible rules. I had one tell my ex she couldn't take her motorcycle test because the bike didn't have a county sticker. True, it didn't but that's a county ordinance, not a state law. Even the state police can't cite you for it. Her real reason was it was close to 5pm and she wanted to just go home. So she took her test on my CBR instead. F*** DMV. As for seatbelt and OP, while it is a law, it's one that is utterly ridiculous and only hard as** officers even enforce it as it is in fact an invasion of privacy. I amongst many others I know are alive today because we weren't buckled up when the wreck happened. So don't think for one second I'll ever put one on again.
I see no problem here. If you are licensed to operate a 2+ ton chunk of steel on the highway, you should be on top of who is buckled and who isnt. I dont care how proud you were. You messed up OP. What if this had been a sibling and you didnt notice they werent buckled in and you got hit by someone and they died? And you went back 2 weeks later and passed. You clearly learned something. Your dad is a chode for chewing out the tester for doing their job. Dad should have told you that the tester was right because they were. this isnt a feel good test for your ego. Its to make sure you arent going to hurt people once you are on the road. Stupid article stupid OP.
In plenty of countries, drivers are not responsible for their adult passengers safety decisions. If the passenger chooses not to wear a seatbelt, they will be fined and not the driver.
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