14 Mar 2020

You booked the test, told all your mates about it and envisioned yourself rocking up to school, car pimped out with your fresh P plates. You've also already planned the Maccas runs in your free periods, giving your little brother lifts and the Instagram post with you holding red P plate like a trophy. Oh, how life will be bliss when you have your license...

But then you carked it...Bugger. 

Even if you were on top of your indicators, head checks, gear changes, parking techniques and road rules. Nerves can cloud your judgement and cause you to do one silly manoeuvre or a few tiny mistakes that cost you your license. Even the most confident people are tense in driving exams...they suck!

You're gonna feel gutted. I mean, any type of failure is a real kick in the tum.

You'll go over that one manoeuvre that cost you, whether it was forgetting an indicator or hitting the curb. You'll dwell on it and beat yourself up about it. 

You'll wish you didn't tell everyone that you were going for your license too, feeling ashamed when friends or family bring it up.

The worst is when you fail on your birthday and that special day becomes a flop... But don't worry, a slice of birthday cake heals all wounds.

You will feel like a loser. I'm not sugarcoating it because I failed my first attempt too. I was so disheartened.

But guess what. That's life! I fail, you fail, everyone fails! All we can do is roll with the punches.

So what? You didn't get your license. Tonnes of people failed their license on the first, second, even third attempt. The truth is, you're not an experienced driver! You've only got a few hundred hours under your belt which really isn't a lot! 

Get back behind the wheel when your bitterness subsides. Analyse your test score sheet and perfect anything you lost marks for. Book a driving lesson if you want and get them to help you with anything you need. Learn from what you failed for! 

Here is what's gonna happen when you fail your driver's test... You'll feel gutted and embarrassed. But then you'll pick yourself up and give it another red hot go. You'll still get to rock up to school flaunting your red P plates, it'll just take a little more time. 

If it makes you feel better, my surname is Parker and I failed my first driving test attempt during parking. I let my family name down...haha I kid. But it's a good laugh looking back now.