Failed Mod 2 - Curious of opinions

[HACK]

Failed my mod 2 on tuesday with only 1 minor and 1 major, I am so incredibly gutted and looking for opinions on my major.

 

I went onto a slip road for a 60mph dual carriageway, started to get upto speed (55 ish) about 3/4 of the way up there is a temp speed limit sign of 40mph, I backed off and down to the 40mph.

Problem is it’s 8:40 and the height of rush hour, the traffic on the dual carriage way is not observing the temp 40mph.

Keept moving along the slip road do my relevant life saver and had to join in front of traffic going faster than me, resulted in the van (which was speeding) having to brake.

Rest of the test was faultless.

Help me feel better lol, what can I do better.

 

Went around in my car today, couldnt extract the video because im at work so its a video of a video, here you can see when i go onto the slip road and why i went up to 55/60mph then had to brake back to 40 as the limit sign came up then join the carriageway at 40... this is at a different time where the traffic is backed up, at the time during the test the carriageway was doing 60/65.

 

Slip Road Video

Edited March 8 by HACK

[Simon Davey]

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Without even seeing the video, it's pretty cut and dried.

If you can't join the main carriageway at the correct speed (for whatever reason) you have to stop until it's safe to do so. Causing another vehicle to brake heavily (that vehicle's speed is irrelevant) is deemed as unsafe.

 

If the examiner didn't know of the temporary speed, fair enough, but if he/she did, then they're a bit of a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ for taking you that route.

 

Don't be a stranger, stick around the forum and keep us updated about what you're doing 

[Capt Sisko]

Tough call, but you have to look at it from the examiners point of view. You either failed to observe, take in, process and act accordingly, or you chose to pull out in front of a faster moving vehicle. You failed on the very first bullet point of Highway Code Rule 259 "give priority to traffic already on the motorway". That's pretty fundamental stuff and the examiner didn't have any choice but to fail you.

What would I have done differently, not sure, you've knocked the speed off but that slip road looks reasonably long and it looks there there would have been ample space to indicate, bide your time and someone would have let you in. It's a tough call and best of luck next time.

Edited March 7 by Capt Sisko

[HACK]

appreciate the responses and agree i could have done better, getting up to speed then having to brake at the merge point down to 40 threw me completely off and would never for a second considered stopping on the slip road (though legally you can and in hindsight i probably should have done).

 

Harsh lesson to learn but yeah, ive rebooked anyway and hopefully will get it 2nd time around.

 

If that slip road was sign posted correctly and had the temp speed limit upon entry rather than right at the very top then i feel confident that i would have handled the situation better.

 

EDIT : I take full responsibility for the fail, im not blaming the examinor in anyway just dont feel like i knew how to handle the situation differently given how new to this world i am so was looking for advice.

Edited March 7 by HACK

[Simon Davey]

26 minutes ago, HACK said:

appreciate the responses and agree i could have done better, getting up to speed then having to brake at the merge point down to 40 threw me completely off and would never for a second considered stopping on the slip road (though legally you can and in hindsight i probably should have done).

 

Harsh lesson to learn but yeah, ive rebooked anyway and hopefully will get it 2nd time around.

 

If that slip road was sign posted correctly and had the temp speed limit upon entry rather than right at the very top then i feel confident that i would have handled the situation better.

 

EDIT : I take full responsibility for the fail, im not blaming the examinor in anyway just dont feel like i knew how to handle the situation differently given how new to this world i am so was looking for advice.

 

If you weren't taking your test, you would have done as we all would, and joined at a higher speed to match the traffic, and been a safe rider for doing it.

There's no judgement here, and joining a forum to ask the question shows great responsibility and the right way of thinking.

 

[Capt Sisko]

18 minutes ago, HACK said:

If that slip road was sign posted correctly and had the temp speed limit upon entry rather than right at the very top

Can't disagree with that. There ought to be a simple Roadworks in 200m or whatever sign as you turn off the roundabout.

[Capt Sisko]

3 minutes ago, Simon Davey said:

If you weren't taking your test, you would have done as we all would, and joined at a higher speed to match the traffic, and been a safe rider for doing it.

What the man said!

[HACK]

27 minutes ago, Capt Sisko said:

What the man said!

and i agree with you both, not under test conditions i would have just joined at the speed of the carriageway.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Regrettably I fear you have been a victim of Sod's law. It's tough but at least you know the very particular circumstances and it wasn't down to your general inability to ride a motorcycle. 

 

I would have hoped the examiner gave you a thorough debrief afterwards. Hopefully next time you won't have any problems. 

[RideWithStyles]

if they failed you, you should of been given the reason why? i suspect you where told but as you were so bummed out that it didnt go in? any how you should of asked them why in the first place, you do have the right to know...

 

agree with the others.

im glad your taking it on the chin and wishing to learn from it- that what makes a safe and good rider.

 

One thing to ride safely to pass a structured test on a random scenario called real world road users and road infrastructure (most poor std) than the another to ride safely on real road on your own.

 

Edited March 8 by RideWithStyles

[HACK]

5 hours ago, RideWithStyles said:

if they failed you, you should of been given the reason why? i suspect you where told but as you were so bummed out that it didnt go in? any how you should of asked them why in the first place, you do have the right to know...

 

agree with the others.

im glad your taking it on the chin and wishing to learn from it- that what makes a safe and good rider.

 

One thing to ride safely to pass a structured test on a random scenario called real world road users and road infrastructure (most poor std) than the another to ride safely on real road on your own.

 

sorry if i wasnt clear they did tell me why i failed. On the slip road i posted i went onto it and got up to speed 55/60 (the same speed at the carriageway) but right as you are about to merge with traffic there is a temp 40 mph sign, i slowed down to 40mph and then tried to merge with the traffic, unfortunately nobody moved over for me meaning i had to join a carriageway which was doing 60 at 40mph.

 

This resulted in the van which i came out infront of needing to brake thus me failing my test for impeding progress of another road user. (in hindsight i should have stopped on the slip road)

Edited March 8 by HACK

[bonio]

Bad luck buddy. You were caught up in a bad situation. Even if he'd really wanted you to pass, the examiner didn't have much choice over the matter - making another road user brake or change course is a major. 

Next time you'll be fine. Lightening doesn't strike twice in the same place.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

In theory you could have stopped on the slipway but in reality that's stupidly dangerous.  

 

1....you'll have cars coming up behind you doing 60mph not expecting to come across a stationary vehicle

 

And

 

2.....you're then trying to accelerate into moving traffic from a standing start.

 

You were in a no win situation created by a system that isn't perfect. 

[fredc]

32 minutes ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

In theory you could have stopped on the slipway but in reality that's stupidly dangerous.  

 

1....you'll have cars coming up behind you doing 60mph not expecting to come across a stationary vehicle

 

And

 

2.....you're then trying to accelerate into moving traffic from a standing start.

 

You were in a no win situation created by a system that isn't perfect. 

spot on

[HACK]

Thanks for the inputs guys, i just wanted to post and see if anyone could offer advice as to what i could have done better thats all.

 

Because though legally i could have stopped i just couldnt bring myself to do that and would never consider doing so outside of test conditions.

 

As i mentioned earlier in the thread and you can see in the video i feel like had the 40mph signs been at the start of the slip road rather than right at the traffic merge point then i would have been better prepared and handled the situation better.

 

Slip Road Video

 

£225 down and a learning experience, onto the next one - my 2nd test is booked.

[S-Westerly]

Keep at it and hopefully you won't get the same route next time. Good luck. 

[fullscreenaging]

On 08/03/2024 at 17:03, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

In theory you could have stopped on the slipway but in reality that's stupidly dangerous.  

 

1....you'll have cars coming up behind you doing 60mph not expecting to come across a stationary vehicle

 

And

 

2.....you're then trying to accelerate into moving traffic from a standing start.

 

You were in a no win situation created by a system that isn't perfect. 

The examiner would have been hit first from behind

 

Yeah always give way to traffic in the major road if you can’t merge. 

Pisses me off when people force their way onto the major road like they have priority. This is dangerous and can cause big accidents.

 

Not saying you forced your way in. 
I imagine the examiner knew about the temp 40 limit though as it was on the test route, so knew there would be one of two outcomes. 
 

You’ll nail it next time.
 

 

[Phil1]

I suppose there could have been a priority of safety involved. 

 

The idea that you've pulled out and caused someone to brake heavily will have been decided to have been much more dangerous than breaking the speed limit. 

 

As a learner you're always taught to never break the speed limit, and this will no doubt have been weighing heavy on your mind in the split second decision you made.

 

A brief excursion over the speed limit is not generally something an examiner would have been able to pick up on though and you could have gradually backed off again once with the flow of traffic. The car test is very much different and you've got someone sat next to you, looking at the speedo. On the bike it's a little more difficult for them to judge your speed, but he/she will have been perfectly placed to see the van having to brake heavily and thought it looked awful from thier point of view. 

 

At least you didn't have another learner pull out in front of you in the test centre and pull the brakes too hard and drop the bike before you'd even got out the complex. I've no idea which idiot did that .

 

The other rider with us for his test also dropped his bike, but as he was out on the road the examiner deemed him to have failed from that point and no longer under his responsibility so had to leave him at the side of the road. What a git. Not a good day for us. 

 

I passed second time. Don't let it get to you. 

Edited March 9 by Phil1

[HACK]

Following up to say thanks for everyones words of encouragement, passed today with no faults.

 

Let the real learning begin.

[Fiddlesticks]

Congratulations!

[Angela Collen]

Congratulations Hack, good you didn't let the first disappointment put you off, relax and enjoy

[HACK]

Thank you both.

[Simon Davey]

2 hours ago, HACK said:

Following up to say thanks for everyones words of encouragement, passed today with no faults.

 

Let the real learning begin.

 

Fantastic, well done! 

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

[RideWithStyles]

Good job!