Ring of confidence

I’m shocked and stunned. It was -6C when I set off at 8 this morning to pick Ruby up. Her test was scheduled for 9.37am but, with the weather as it is, I had strong doubts that it would actually go ahead. After all, as I have written before, Anna’s test, in early December, was cancelled when the temperature was +6C. However, here I am, in Elgin test centre, while Ruby’s test is actually going ahead. A good decision: Although it is bitterly cold, the roads are dry and clear of ice.


This is her 6th attempt and please, please, please, let it be her last. It’s not that I want rid of Ruby, far from it. It is just that she is such a capable driver, but goes to pieces on test. In the hour’s lesson just before her test, we were heading into Elgin, on the 40 mph Lossiemouth Road, when a car pulled out right in front of us from a T-junction on our right. I don’t know if we were in the other driver’s blind spot, or whether the other driver just wasn’t looking properly, because we were almost on the junction when she pulled out. Ruby dealt with it perfectly and reacted very quickly. The other driver’s face was one of absolute shock when she saw us. She stopped across the junction, mouthed “sorry” and drove on. I dread to think of the consequences had the roads been icy, or had Ruby not been so aware and quick-thinking. “How come she’s allowed on the road and I’m not?!” she asked. A fair question, but hopefully one that Ruby will answer herself in the next twenty minutes.

I often get junk email and tweets from certain companies promoting ‘Cure your Driving Test nerves with our hypnosis/meditation DVD’. I just delete them, but they have obviously spotted a need for this kind of product. Ruby gets more nervous with each test because she now thinks she is going to fail each time. I know she is capable of passing with barely any minor faults, so I have to convince her of this. I tell her that she knows she can drive, I know she can drive…. She just has to show the examiner just how good she is. And, if she makes a mistake, it doesn’t matter, she is just going to make the rest of the drive even better.
 
I am shocked and stunned again. Ruby returned to the test centre and I stood, at a discrete distance, waiting for the result. If the examiner looks over to me and opens the door, it is a bad sign because it usually means he wants me to be on the debrief as to where it went wrong. Also, if the examiner gets out of the car within a couple of minutes it is not good because it takes a while for the examiner to fill in the Pass Certificate. I couldn't see Ruby's face from where I stood, so it was difficult to tell, but the examiner had not looked over to me, so I was not required for a debrief. I waited and waited - it looked promising. Finally, several minutes later, the examiner got out of the car, smiled at me and went straight into the test centre. As I walked over to congratulate Ruby I could see tears in her eyes; they were not tears of happiness. I couldn't believe it. "What happened?"
 "I messed up." she replied. "It all went really well until, just in the last few minutes, I scuffed a curb."
"Did you bump it, or was it just a scuff?"
"Just a scuff. He told me 'it was a really nice drive' and that I should 'keep at it'."
I was not happy. I have known pupils actually mount the curb (including with this particular examiner) and still pass. Unfortunately, I wasn't there, so I will never know the exact circumstances, but it did seem harsh.
You have to hand it to Ruby, she picked herself up and, when we returned to her house, she asked me to wait while she found another £63 for her next test. "I told the examiner that I am paying his wages." She joked. I felt sick. Ruby is not exactly well-off but she just wants to pass her test, and that, unfortunately, will cost her.
Those companies I mentioned earlier can stick their Self-hypnosis DVDs. It is my job to make Ruby confident in her driving and I thought I had done that. Roll on the next test when Ruby can, hopefully, finally prove to the examiner that she is a far better driver than the idiot who pulled out in front of her.