Why do driving instructors drive you home after your test?
Let me give you the real answer and debunk some of the myths and incorrect answers some websites give you.
Why do driving instructors drive you home after your test?
There are several reasons why driving instructors drive you home after a driving test no matter whether you pass or fail.
I’ll tell you some of the incorrect answers first though.
You’re not insured to drive your instructors car after you’ve passed
Wrong.
I’ve been a driving instructor for 20 years. Every insurance policy I’ve ever seen has covered pupils for driving lessons no matter whether they’re on a provisional or full driving licence.
It is true however that if you pass a driving test in your own car you will need to tell your insurers before driving the car again.
This is because they need to know that you can now drive alone.
Strange as it may seem, your insurance will often go up after passing your driving test. To find out why see my page on why does car insurance go up when you pass your test?
You can’t drive a driving school car after passing
Wrong.
Anyone can drive a driving school car. As long as you have the relevant licence and the car is insured appropriately by the instructor then why not?
So why do driving instructors drive you home after your test?
Here are the real reasons driving instructor drive you home after your driving test whether you pass or fail.
If you pass
Passing a driving test is one of those big moments in your life.
Pupils are often excited and just aren’t thinking straight. It’s not good to be driving a car when you’re not thinking straight!
Pupils often want to phone family and friends to tell them the news and it’s much safer that they do that from the passenger seat. With test results now being emailed to pupils, they can also read that email safely.
There is no reason why you can’t drive home after passing your driving test. It is legal but you’ve probably had enough of driving by now.
It’s a nice touch to drive a pupil home and allow them to sit and relax. Their ordeal of going through the driving test is over so why not give them a ride home as a reward!
If you fail
Failing a driving test can be a traumatic experience for many people.
They’ve put in all that effort, spent all that money and worried about the test for days. Then they fail.
It’s quite common for people to cry and get angry after failing a driving test. It’s not good to be driving a car when you’re crying and angry.
It has been known for pupils to do silly things like crash the car on purpose as a way of getting back at the instructor. This is actually one of the main reasons because whether you pass or fail you are unlikely to be thinking straight.
Yes, it has been known for pupils to crash cars on purpose after tests. This will get you in serious trouble with the law and you’ll be facing large bills for the damage!
Instructors won’t let this happen by making sure we drive you home.
This is why we drive you home whatever the result!
We’re checking to see if you’ve done any damage to the vehicle.
I’ve had pupils that have smashed into a kerb on a driving test and damaged the tyres, wheels and even the steering. We can tell this by feeling a shake on the wheel when we’re driving you home.
If you hit a kerb hard, go through a pothole or even think you have damaged the car then tell your instructor. Examiners will often not stop you from damaging the vehicle – I know that from experience! I have been in the car on driving tests when pupils have blown tyres in potholes and smashed a wing mirror off on a wheelie bin.
How would you like it if we drove your car and damaged it but just didn’t tell you? If you’ve done damage to the vehicle then you could be putting peoples lives at risk by not telling your instructor.
I remember one occasion when I was driving home from a driving lesson and saw a red light saying STOP displaying on the dashboard. This light couldn’t be seen from the passenger seat so I hadn’t noticed it until now. Unbelievably, the pupil had done the whole lesson without even thinking to tell me this light had come on. When I asked them about it in the next lesson they said “Oh yeah, it said stop for about an hour and a half but I didn’t know what it meant”.
Now you know why driving instructors drive you home after your test
It’s really just for courtesy and safety. It’s not a legal requirement and you can drive home after your test if you want.
To discover more answers like this visit the pages in the menu which are under Help>why?
You’ll enjoy my pages on why do driving instructors wave at each other and why are driving tests at such odd times?
Or you can head over to the 1stDrive YouTube channel to watch some driving videos.
