Of course I wasn’t going to blog about this before I went for it! (Yes, therefore you should be able to work out the outcome!)
A long drive down to Exeter this morning for my school minibus test.
The first bit was a drive around the Westpoint Arena – the Devon County show and The Mix music festival are held here so many of the children would recognise the venue.
Oddly, we drove round the circuit a few times but he told me to ignore the red traffic lights – plenty of them in Topsham and Exmouth apparently. It felt extremely odd driving through those!
On to the road, we spent a couple of hours in the minibus. Having a brother who has recently passed his ROSPA Gold on his motorbike and car, the assessor decided to crank up the test asking me to do the commentary as I drove too! What do I need to work on?
– looking in the mirror as I change down gear,
– yes, that’s it!
– apparently, you don’t change down on the approach to a red light anymore either, but brake, clutch and select the gear for pulling away… I remember getting told off for that back in ’91!
What a stressful way to finish the term – however, I passed! Shame he didn’t hand me a ROSPA Gold, but only a DCC signed certificate – something to be lost and forgotten about in Mrs Herbert’s cupboard ;-(
Photo Credit: Kecko via Compfight
No – this is a generated photo from Compight and NOT the bus I drove!
Have a lovely Easter everyone!
Mr Thomas
Well done you ! Always remember my mother doing her test (looong time ago) and how thrilled she was to have passed. Its a great feeling I am sure.
Does this mean the school is getting its own Minibus ?! now that WOULD be cool…..
Haha, wouldn’t a minibus be cool? Elaine would be organising a Cribbs Causeway trip every weekend!
Well done Mr T! The idea of a school mini bus for shopping trips is something Elaine would certainly be keen on 😉
Well done brawd, awesome job! Lots of things to think about with commentary, and using the system flexibly makes driving much more enjoyable. Ex-police examiner was keen to express their priorities however: Safety, Safety, Safety, System, Speed. One for you to remember here – Gears to GO, Brakes to SLOW.
You know, I thought there seemed a pattern to the assessor doing it – safety, safety, safety, system, speed sounds like it may have been it. What’s in ‘system’ though – position, gear, mirror etc…?