<p>And how did the teenager handle it? I am sure 99% kids pass with no problem. I don’t mean to pry, I just want some moral support from you parents. My daughter, who has the permit for nearly 2 years, has not practiced driving much until this past summer, and even that, she was not too eager. I know deep down she is very nervous about driving, some kids seem to be born with the gift of being so comfortable behind the wheels and pick up the skills easily, but she seems to have trouble comprehending how to turn the steering wheel so that the car will turn certain direction, and she gets flustered very easily. I keep encouraging her that “practice” is the key. We don’t want to push her, it has to be her who wants to do it. I think she is caught in a dilemma, would like to have a license but afraid to learn, and she is petrified about the road test. Her permit is about to expire so she has to take the road test within the next 4 weeks. She just came home from college, a freshman.</p>
<p>Unfortunately like mother like daughter, I was the same way thirty some years ago, so I truly understand how she feels. Her father has been teaching her, but he is TOO intense which makes her more nervous, I offer to pay for her to take lessons from driving school, but she does not want us to spend the money, and it is only for 6 hours (my son took that 8 years ago), but I think she feels she will be under a lot of pressure by going with a driving school (or feeling intimated I don’t know).</p>
<p>Parallel park is a disaster. I was showing her, but she did not seem to get it, she ended up in tears. I felt so bad.</p>
<p>I have no problem for her not to take the road test if she is not ready, and just take the written test and get the permit again next summer, it is not like she needs a license now, But she wants to try in 4 weeks before returning to college. I am so worried of her well being, 1st semester college was stressful for her already. Is there anything I can do to ease her nerves now and what to do if she happens to fail the road test? I am afraid the more I try to comfort her the worse it gets…</p>
<p>It took my Eagle Scout and honors student FOUR tries to pass it! It didn’t scar him for life.</p>
<p>One thing that helped my younger kids was their driver’s ed course. The instructor took each of them on a last “test drive” on the same routes that the driving examiners used. They showed them all the tricky places - RR crossings, 15-mph zones, school crossings, etc. My two younger kids passed on their first try as a result.</p>
<p>My son flunked his first road test. Not unexpected - lots of kids flunk the first time. He signed up again right away but for a different location. He was a bit bummed out but got over it quickly. Second time he passed with flying colors. </p>
<p>Some of my friends whose D’s were a bit afraid and nervous about driving at all hired a private instructor. Also, here the instructors goes to the road test with the student and the testers know all the instructors and those kids usually pass no problem. </p>
<p>In our state, kids often fail their first time. because of that, they’ll let you take it again the next day and the next day and the next day (unlike some states). The whole thing may be a money-making scheme!</p>
<p>My older son failed the test twice…lol…mostly due to nervousness. The first fail was for asking a question (guess that’s a big no no…lol). The second time the route they took him was thru a residential street with huge bushy trees and there actually was a street light literally hiding in a tree (crazy!). </p>
<p>After that, we drove around the “test area” a few times to see what other odd things were around. 3rd attempt was the charm. </p>
<p>Was he scarred? No. And he’s never had a fender-bender, accident or ticket.</p>
<p>However, his brother who passed on the first try has had 2 or 3 tickets…hmmm. </p>
<p>D2 got her license 6 years ago and once in a while talks about failing the road test the first time. Her problem? She could drive well but, that day in the car, couldn’t unlock the steering wheel. They never got out of the parking spot. </p>
<p>One of my kids passed on the first time. The other two…second time for one, third time for another. (funny the latter is the best driver. I passed on my second try. One of the kids wouldn’t discuss it. </p>
<p>My D3 failed the first time and it seemed like an overall bad karma day experience. She was driving a hybrid and even though they were not by any means new, the tester seemed to have never encountered one. “Turn on the ignition” “it’s on already” “no, turn the key” “uhhhh, there is no key, the engine is already running”. Oy. They started with parallel parking and D had done it pretty well and then she decided to be a perfectionist and slip in a little bit further. Touched a cone! You’re out!</p>
<p>For her next test, she went to a less populated, less stressful county. It also had a much earlier date. Passed easily. I think nerves are a big factor the first time around. </p>
<p>S had his temps for over a year. Smart guy, valedictorian. Got in the car with the instructor and first thing, had to make a left hand turn on a divided road with a middle turn lane - he kept waiting for the road to clear and the instructor seemed inpatient. He pulled into the middle turn lane with was an immediate fail. I’ll never forget getting that call from him while I was at work - he was crushed! But big victory when he went back a few days later. </p>
<p>I passed the test on my first try. On the other hand, I was in my thirties. Like your D, I was intimidated by driving. Everyone knows her own child best, but I’m glad my parents didn’t push me. I just wasn’t ready. </p>
<p>And by the way, in the parallel parking part of the test, I knocked down every single cone. The examiner just looked at me, shook his head, and passed me. He said, just don’t parallel park. And I have never, not once, parallel parked in the 30 years since then. </p>
<p>Feel free to thank me for protecting your cars…</p>
<p>Both my kids took their road test 3 times before they passed it. They are both fine drivers and I am happy to ride in the car with them. Both of them survived the mortification of failing the test twice–for the first time in their lives and have moved on just fine with their lives. S is an Eagle Scout and is now a happily employeed electrical engineer, navigating and driving in LA, DC, SF, Orlando, Honolulu, and wherever life leads him. D mainly drives in Honolulu and LA.</p>
<p>I don’t think failing it the first time is a big deal, that’s what I tried to hint it to my daughter. She is just too sensitive and delicate, she is an average student but she works hard, she just has to apply the same principle to her driving, as long as she tries and practices, eventually she will get it. </p>
<p>It was a miracle I passed my road time the first time, maybe the examiner wasn’t quite alert that day!!! Or it was pure luck! I don’t do a lot of driving, just enough to get around shopping and to work, maybe willing to drive a bit further to shop, lol. I am still nervous about driving after 40 years of doing it.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s response, appreciate it.</p>
<p>I cross posted with hayden and HImom. I think peer pressure kind of pushed my daughter to get the permit, we never did, a lot of high school seniors drove to school, my daughter took the school bus, so what? To me, if she wants to wait to get the license that’s fine, but folks (including her friends) been telling her that she cannot get to work if she does not drive, which is true, so there are pros and cons about trying to get a license soon. I am more than willing to drive her to work and pick her up, me, my husband and my son took turn to do that this past summer. Now that I recently retired, I can do all the driving if she needs me. She does not need a car while at college.</p>
<p>Hayden, you are lucky he passed you when you knocked down the cones. Like you, I have NOT once parallel park in my thirty some years, if it looked like I need to, I just drove further or around to find ANOTHER spot that I did not need to parallel park! Sigh!</p>
<p>You guys make me feel so much better. I wish I could share your stories with my daughter.</p>
<p>Why not share the stories–just say that some of your friends have kids that have had repeated attempts before passing the road test, and provide desired amount of detail. You don’t have to name names. ;)</p>
<p>I didn’t take the test till I was 22, but passed the first time. I practiced a lot with my boyfriend, but I also took some lessons. One thing the lessons helped with was parallel parking since in DC you had to park between two poles. He had a whole system where you lined up the poles to particular points in the rear view mirror. I was all set! Imagine how bummed I was when the guy told me I had passed before we did parallel parking!</p>
<p>I had to take the test again when we came back from Germany. I had an international license and of course was very comfortable driving. I arrived with my stick shift car and the examiner hardly paid attention to me at all. </p>
<p>Big Kiddo who passed on the first try collected a few tickets soon after starting her driving career. Little Kiddo who took 3 tries to pass was way more careful. I am convinced that a failure does not kill them but humbles them and makes them more attentive drivers. :)</p>
<p>Took me two tries. I am a terrible parallel parker. I think that is one reason I don’t live in a city. To teach my daughter that skill, I would put two garbage cans in the driveway and have her park between them. She is now a great parallel parker and a good thing too as she lived in Chicago for a while.</p>
<p>27 year old D failed on her first try. The parallel parking part was her doomsday. I thought she was going to raise the river level in our town with all the tears of disappointment. She had told “everyone” at school that she was leaving to take the test and had to go back to admit she had failed. A year later the experience turned into a nice college admissions essay and she is now a very good parallel parker.</p>
<p>Both of my sons took test multiple times. One kid I know, who is very coordinated, a great athlete, etc. took 5 tries to pass. They all lived to tell (or not). </p>
<p>Anyone remember the clip of Jack Osbourn at DMV Santa Monica? Lousy driver but passed the test. Then he drove out of the DMV parking lot and had an accident…</p>
<p>As for parallel parking? That is why God created valets.</p>