Questionable serious fault

  • Donzeen's Avatar
    Before I continue to outline the events of Thursday's driving test I must express that I hold no malice nor resentment towards the driving assessor nor the members of Tilbury Test Centre.

    I will proceed to explain and also attach pictures to aid in the understanding my argument, I have also attached a picture of the result sheet for your perusal. I have included the link to share the location of where the event occurred below.


    https://goo.gl/maps/rf7dq8jnktT2

    I was approaching the first roundabout which can be found once you exit the A1089 towards Grays coming from Asda's Roundabout from Tilbury Town as per the attached pictures. I saw on the Satnav and was informed that I will be required to take the 2nd Exit towards Chadwell St. Mary (CSM). The satnav displayed the exit towards CSM as being straight ahead or at 12 o clock from where I will be entering the roundabout. I then entered the Left lane on approach to the roundabout to which I stopped to ensure there were no oncoming cars. I entered the roundabout in the outer left lane where I then signalled left after passing the first exit and left the roundabout on the exit towards CSM as instructed by the satnav. This unfortunately was deemed a serious fault, my only serious of the driving test and resulted in my failure.

    The assessor is of the opinion that I should have been in the right lane upon approach and stayed inside of the roadabout to leave at exit 2. He also claims the Satnav told me to turn right to leave at exit 2 which I am sure it didn't. As attached if I were to enter the roundabout inside and a car enters from the first exit with intentions of going pass or even to the 2nd exit they would impede on me exiting. It's very much open to interpretation and it being the event that cost me a license I would like to challenge his decision.


    I have been searching for case studies and found a forum post where an individual was sharing her experience on a similar situation where she was penalised for entering in the right lane and staying in the inner areas of the roundabout before she exited. Her situation was much more "straight forward" than that of mine. Please see link https://www.rac.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?23115-Roundabouts-confusion. Based of her situation my decision was correct.
  • 19 Replies

  • Donzeen's Avatar
    See links to pictures of the roundabout, please give your feedback.

    https://ibb.co/hCORmo
    https://ibb.co/iOOgK8
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    I have uploaded images of a Google earth view of the roundabout.

    https://ibb.co/irb1K8
    https://ibb.co/fH33XT
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    Welcome to the forum.

    So far as I can see, both the direction sign and the GE view show the exit slightily to the right of centre, which would mean the LH lane was indeed wrong.

    There is no appeal mechanism against the examiner's decision, except on the grounds of procedure, which doesn't apply here.

    You can complain, but the best you could ever get is a free retest, and frankly that seems unlikely. https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...r-driving-test
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    Hi Beelzebub, thanks...

    On a small satnav it does look straight ahead and also there are only two exits, the sign shows it slightly to the right yes but I was only looking at the satnav, and where I enter the roundabout is slightly slanted aswell.
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    but I was only looking at the satnav

    Could that be the explanation?
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    Well I was required to follow the satnav which I did. I have included a link to a previous post of similar nature to where it was clear that she should have been in the right lane and they failed her. Mine isn't as obvious but he gave me the only serious I got and failed me.
  • 98selitb's Avatar
    Beelzebub has explained all there is to explain about appealing the test procedure.

    That said, it is a bit of a quandary if you're ordered to follow sat nav and then sat nav is wrong. I hope that if you followed the road signs and markings and ignored the sat nav due to it being inaccurate, you would not be marked down.

    Also, I feel that labelling such an error as serious is harsh. People do it on unfamiliar roundabouts all the time, almost always without consequence.

    I can only advise booking another test asap (if you feel ready) and a few more cramming lessons in the meantime. Good luck.
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    I am in total agreement with you @98selitb, if you have a look at a satnav view and Google earth image it appears as straight ahead. There is only two potential exits and no other car near the roundabout. 7 minors and 1 major which I'm unable to comprehend.
  • wagolynn's Avatar
    Guest
    I would say, that you were told to follow the satnav for directional information but the satnav does not override your driving decisions.
    Only the driver is responsible as far as driving is concerned. I did it because the satnav said so is not a reasonable excuse.

    Having said that, I see nothing wrong with how you describe traversing the roundabout, the thing we do not know, is did you impede or confuse any other vehicles?
    The examiner may have noticed something.
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    There was no one at the roundabout on approach and no one when leaving the roundabout. Did not impede on a soul. The thing is I was told to follow the Satnav, and as you can see the Satnav shows the exit as being straight ahead, or around 12,o clock from my position so on approach I stayed in the left lane. There was only 2 exits for me to leave from. Staying in the outside lane would not have impeded on anyone.
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    The assessor is of the opinion that I should have been in the right lane upon approach and stayed inside of the roadabout to leave at exit 2. He also claims the Satnav told me to turn right to leave at exit 2 which I am sure it didn't.

    The examiner will probably have followed the identical route, using the same satnav, on dozens of occasions. He is much more likely to know what the satnav said, and would always say, than someone to whom it was all unfamiliar, had many other factors to take in, and was probably under stress.

    Having said that, everyone makes mistakes!

    OP - have you discussed this with your instructor?
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    I have mentioned it to my instructor who very much agrees with the decision. He said the satnav would have verbally communicated to turn right at the roundabout. I have text messages between the instructor and I proving that. He also got in contact with the driving centre who confirmed that is why I was given a serious fault. The satnav only tells the driver which exit to take, and on the map it looks as if it is 12 o clock from where I'm entering the roundabout. So at this point not really willing to listen to that instructor's comments.
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    I have read the high way code rule 186 and it's neither an intermediate exit though you have roads located to the right from which you can enter the roundabout nor is it located to my right. So at this point I'm looking for answers.
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    I have looked again at the links you provided, and also retraced your path on Streetview. I'm afraid I have to agree with the examiner and your instructor.

    On approach to the roundabout, the only information you had on which to decide your lane was the sign (here) https://ibb.co/iOOgK8 That clearly shows the second exit as just right of 12 o'clock. The actual exit is not visible until you're on the roundabout, so there is nothing to suggest that you should have taken anything other than lane 2 (RH).

    All the maps in the world won't change that.
  • Donzeen's Avatar
    That is very much true, but once more the map/satnav shows are different view. I would not be able to tell the exit is slightly to the right. Until you are half way around the roundabout. I am required to enter the correct lane before entering the roundabout from which the satnav would lead you to believe it's the left exit. I must admit I didn't take notice of the signage but then the map and the sign are contradicting and I am taking notice of the applicable speed limited and the satnav. As someone also mentioned in an earlier post someone not so knowledgeable to the area using a satnav would 9/10 be entering the roundabout in the left lane.
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    That is very much true, but once more the map/satnav shows are different view. I would not be able to tell the exit is slightly to the right. Until you are half way around the roundabout. I am required to enter the correct lane before entering the roundabout from which the satnav would lead you to believe it's the left exit. I must admit I didn't take notice of the signage but then the map and the sign are contradicting and I am taking notice of the applicable speed limited and the satnav. As someone also mentioned in an earlier post someone not so knowledgeable to the area using a satnav would 9/10 be entering the roundabout in the left lane.


    OK. Ignoring road signs is seldom a good idea, especially on test.

    Good luck with your next attempt!
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    I have read the high way code rule 186 and it's neither an intermediate exit though you have roads located to the right from which you can enter the roundabout nor is it located to my right. So at this point I'm looking for answers.

    Sorry, I missed this post earlier. Your exit WAS to the right, as shown on the sign and as discussed in my previous post. 1200 is straight on, anything past that is obviously to the right.

    So Rule 186 tells you to take the RH lane, "unless signs or markings indicate otherwise", which they didn't.

    It seems the crucial point here is that you missed the sign, while concentrating on the satnav. As Wagolynn said earlier, the satnav is there simply to give directions for you to follow. It doesn't replace (or override) signs or markings, or the rules of the HC.
  • 98selitb's Avatar
    It seems the crucial point here is that you missed the sign, while concentrating on the satnav. As Wagolynn said earlier, the satnav is there simply to give directions for you to follow. It doesn't replace (or override) signs or markings, or the rules of the HC.

    This.

    It makes sense why it was a fault, as you should have been in the RH lane.

    That said, I stick to my belief that giving a serious fault for this is harsh.

    Good luck with the next test. Failing a test only makes you more aware and focused the next time.
  • Santa's Avatar
    I failed my first test and was convinced that it was after getting off to a bad start when the examiner asked me to read a number plate, and I read one two cars further along. I felt quite aggrieved, but when I told my father he just told me to stop complaining and just to make sure I passed next time, which I did.

    There is always a point at which it becomes unproductive to spend any more time analysing what went wrong last time and more important to concentrate on passing the next time.

    For what it's worth, I agree with the others: Satnav is an audio prompt and you should have looked at the sign and acted accordingly; it's people following satnav instructions without thinking, that end up in deep fords or stuck in country lanes because they didn't see the sign. And yes, he was a little harsh, but the minors you had already clocked up might have influenced him - who knows.