yes, it is the braking and red lights that cause people to make mistakes and freak out. cars speed up and slow down all the time. put on your blinker while you decrease acceleration and cars behind you will back off and know what is going on
It is perfectly fine to slow down. It is not perfectly fine to hit your brakes and then to continue moving.
Take your foot off the gas early enough so that you slow down to get behind.
You SHOULD ALWAYS be paying attention to what is in front of you and the only times you should ever be hitting your brakes on the highway is in heavy traffic.
This is actually a huge reason why traffic is behind in the first place. All it takes is one person to slow down or brake and it starts a whole domino effect.
This!! I can’t remember where but I read that when one car ‘taps’ their breaks, it causes a 5km slowdown per car. So 10 cars back, depending on the traffic and road conditions, can be over 50kms of speed lost.
So buddy in the front of traffic is causing problems by ‘tapping’ and causing sudden decrease in acceleration vs a slow decline in acceleration causing a more controlled and smoother flow of traffic. The ‘tapping’ could be from driving too close and needing to constantly break to prevent rear ending, lack of confidence in driving at high speeds, aging ailments that affect vision, muscular and brain function, etc. whatever causes someone to hit their breaks without reason.
Edit: forgot a word
Yes, the correct move would be to let the examiner know you can’t safely make the requested exit and will exit when it’s safe to do so, and backtrack to the required destination
Yeah, people are seeing this as a speed up/ slow down question when the safest option in this situation is to just take the next exit. During a test narrate this even. “Not safe to merge without slowing down on the highway, I’ll take the next exit.”
I mean, you aren’t wrong about control at higher speeds but accidents are typically caused at higher speeds because of speed differential. I would argue you’re far more dangerous to the cars on the highway by slowing down a significant amount or braking for no apparent reason than you are by speeding up to 130 to overtake a car.
I was always taught you should really try to avoid deceleration into your lane change and I almost always accelerate into a lane change.
You should never be slowing in a passing Lane, if there are vehicles passing you on the right you are DANGEROUS.
Most accidents are a result of inexperience, a compromised or distracted state, poor driving skills, understanding, or human error, speed mostly just increases the stakes.
This part of the world has two to three times the fatality rate of countries that prioritize and strogy adhere to Lane discipline, despite those countries having generally higher road density, larger disparity between commercial and private vehicle sizes, and significantly higher and in some cases no speed limits whatsoever.
Different center but this is the nearly the exact reason nearly why my son failed his first G attempt. He didnt want to go to 120 so he let the trucks pass on his right. Failed instantly for this.
I dont get it but he just shook it off and retook the test (and passed)
I was 27 when I did my G.
Instructor also wanted to fail me, to which I replied "I would like you to put into writing that you are failing me because I refused to break the law by accelerating well above the posted speed limit, and then cutting off a semi truck dangerously close to an offramp, otherwise I will be immediatly be requesting a conversation with the manager of your location to explain this exact thing."
I passed.
Those isntructors can be dicks, sometimes you just gotta be a dick right back.
To be fair he’s just lucky the examiner backed off. He could still fail you and your resource is limited. Just try again and hope you get a different one.
Yes she did.
I am not so concerned about internet points that I would lie about it.
They easily intimidate meeker people, or younger people, less experienced etc.
I had been driving on a G2 for 8 years by the time I went to do my G, I had no reason to back down when they threatened to fail me for that incident.
Very true! This also explains the kamikaze style driving I see on the highway when people deal with trucks. There was even a tanker that blew up months ago
It's a dead end from scenario from a pass/fail perspective based on their testing requirement. This specific situation you cant pass because you're cornered into making 2 incorrect choices. The only option is to pick the safest choice and retest
It’s a dead end from the perspective of getting to the exit. But wouldn’t the safer thing here be to miss the exit if you are trying to stay within the test parameters?
This. Examiner always includes “When it is safe to do so…” in their instructions. I think in this situation you say it wasn’t safe to change lanes because you’d have to go too fast or slow down too much to make your exit. So you just take the next one.
Yes I think that’s the right approach. You have to take the next exit and tell the examiner although they know the reason. But breaking and slowing down on the highway is a fail. Tbh all of this is very illogical. As long as you are acting safe ( assuming u are slowing down because there are no cars behind you ) is what we would do in real life situations. Examiners should actually see what logical decisions have been taken instead of going purely by the book.
Sorry for you but that’s just how it is
I assumed missing the exit is an automatic fail to be honest that’s why I got flustered
With the pressure of the test I assumed I couldn’t speed up so checking my rear view mirror I saw there was no car behind me so I gently kissed the break just to ensure I wouldn’t miss the exit but I also get the examiners point of view. I went down at max 5 KM but I guess I can’t do that which is fair
Talk the examiner through your decision in a situation like this, next exit is the right answer if it's as you describe.
You were hit with conditions you couldn't meet without getting dinged, due to externalites.
The problem with slowing down and braking is that you're in the middle and shouldn't be getting passed by the slow lane. Next time I suggest maybe just taking your foot off the gas sooner, not pressing the brake.
I did my G test in Barrie and did 120+KM the entire test and didn't get dinged. "Go the speed of traffic, I want to wake up tomorrow" is what the instructor told me.
This can be worse. Brake lights indicate clearly to the other cars you are slowing down. Letting off the gas does not. Applying slight brake pressure to trigger your lights plus your signal shows the people behind you your intent.
Given this was Toronto though the proper answer was probably just to floor it and try to cut off the truck. Because why the fuck not.
Was the truck in front of you when you changed your lane? Not to say it’s your fault but if that’s the case then you could manage your speed so you could manage the right lane change ahead of the exit.
Slowing down apparently is blasphemy for Drivetest examiners. Considering it was the reason you failed reminds me of [this G test video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7023EypeXXI)
Depends on how big that gap was. You can easily pass a truck in a few seconds.
Hesitating and presumably braking on a highway is dangerous and proves your not ready. Driving on the 407 is easy mode.
Try some rush hour 401 drives (I'm not kidding)
Stopping on the highway is illegal, not breaking. It's silly they have such rigid standards. It is your responsibility to get on t highway and not for others to move over, etc. in saying that you might have to rocketship through the on ramp. You might have to slow down and enter the highway. You might have to enter the highway at 20kms because someone is afraid of driving or poor road conditions. I dated a lady who was a drive test person, who used to tell me all these little factoids about my driving.
Slowing down on a highway is perfectly fine, I don’t know what this examiner was thinking. As long as you are signaling your intention to change lane before you start slowing down to get behind the truck.
To be honest, I'd be unpleasantly surprised if a car in front of me would use breaks to merge in. I guess your mistake was getting into this situation in the first place. If you know where your exit is, you are supposed to think a few steps ahead and may be don't accelerate that fast, so you have to break again. In terms of what was the right thing to do in your situation, I'd say the safest option was to just miss the exit and state to the instructor that it wasn't safe to merge.
Wow this is insane, I literally failed my G test like 8\~ years ago due to the exact same situation.
The examiner expected to me to speed up beyond the speed limit and quickly cut in front of a truck to make an exit instead of just slightly adjusting my speed lower and merging behind. I think I probably dropped from 100\~ to maybe 90 without even breaking and there was no traffic behind me that I impeded either.
I was absolutely shocked at the time, as what the examiner expected me to do both seemed illegal (speeding) and the significantly less safe move.
As someone that drives daily I swear these truckers do this on purpose. Why are you in a the lane where people are getting off and on? WHY? Ya ll are heavy and big. It’s hard to navigate around you. Please go in the middle lane near merging points. It’s very very very very frustrating.
The responsibility is on the person merging to merge safely the truck is already in his lane. Speed up or slow down trucks are supposed to keep in the right lane.
If there’s back to back trucks or cars in the merging lane you quite literally cannot speed up to the 100kms safety needed to pass the G. Thats not fair and very common.
Trucks are supposed to stay in the right lane the middle lane is for passing because they can’t use the left lane. Just like the left lane is supposed to be for passing for regular cars. Most will move over if they see cars coming down the ramp to merge but if they can’t move over because of traffic what do you expect them to do? I don’t see how they could fail you for not getting to 100km to merge if it’s not possible to do so safely.
I failed my first time taking G test because of shitty instructor. They are heavily based. Don’t worry about this. Just focus on booking another test.
Before the tests start they usually ask if you have any questions. I would mention this situation to them and ask their opinion so if you have to make the decision again you will know what they prefer. That’s what I did and passed second try
They mean that you should take your foot off of the gas before braking, since braking at high speeds is dangerous and has been proven to cause major traffic congestion.
Lmfao the amount of times traffic goes from 100 km per hour to 60 is insane - sometimes with only a 2 seconds of braking info to process. I utilize breaks ALOT on Toronto highways. Their mayhem.
If either of those options comprises safety, your third option is to go to the next exit. I don't know why this isn't taught. These days, it seems that everyone either speeds like a maniac or slams on the brakes like a maniac. And, as long as you can explain your safe maneuver adequately to the tester, there should be no problem.
Did u check your score sheet in drivetest.ca? May be it is the accumulated multiple mistakes that causes the fail, not just this big error. In general, going between 90 to 110 kmh is acceptable, but not abrupt and sudden brakes. Remember, you can get a fail if you did any unsafe moves, but marks deducted only in worst case scenerio with driving errors such as slower speed or wasn't able to complete lane changing due to unsafe condition.
You should have slowed to let the trucker get ahead of you, then merge into the right lane. There was no point in speeding up to get in between to rockets. I face this a lot coming home. No need of a potential accident.
I was in a similar situation for my G2 and luckily I had a cool examiner who told me it’s fine to go above the speed limit and pass to get on the exit. I had cars behind me so slowing down would be a no no.
This is a tricky one but you should always drive predictably.
Braking on the highway when there's no cars in front of you is unpredictable and dangerous
Decelerating and not braking is the correct maneuver. Braking is not. If you are doing 100Km/h = you doing close to 1.5KM/minute. So you have significant travel time and distance to adjust your speed without touching brakes. Unless you are near London just past Woodstock where that one exit and on-ramp are close together you had time and distance to make the exit safely without any sudden changes.
This exact situation happened to me also in Oshawa on my G test back in 2018, except they still passed me. I didn’t think I could speed up to pass the truck so I braked slightly to tuck in behind him and take the exit. The examiner said “what are you doing?” and freaked me out a bit and I thought for sure I had failed but when we got back to the test centre he told me I passed with no issues lol. Frustrating situation to find yourself in for sure
I know other people who failed the same. Get on the 401. Move one lane over. And of course there is a transport. But they have to move back and exit. Our section of the 401 has such short distances between exits. In real driving you would never plan so poorly that you would move if you were getting off.
I've been reviewing all these different circumstances with my son as that will be his next test.
Sorry for my ignorance, but is there no appeal process in Ontario? Does the examiner have ultimate authority with no way to appeal the decision to an unbiased commission? It sounds like a perfect job for someone who craves power.
For instance, if they allowed dashcam footage from three channels (front, back, and inside) or even one channel with audio, it would still be relevant.
They used to allow dashcam footage, so why did this policy change?
I did my g test here about 5 years ago. I had a similar situation. You already know this but you're supposed to get into the exit lane in advance so you don't get into situations like this, but the on ramp and exit there are so close together, one reason why they make you go into the middle lane then right after take the exit. Aside from testing your lane changing skills. It isn't fair in my opinion. I asked my instructor if I can take the next exit as slowing down on the highway to take an exist is as bad as speeding up to take an exist. I said either situation isn't safe. She agreed and let me take the next exit. The end goal here is to drive safely. In every situation you'd want to just take the next exist. If it's not safe, don't do it. Bad drivers never miss their exist. There's always exceptions and weird situations that happen in real life. But if it's unsafe during the test, it's unsafe out side of a test. Next time just let the instructor know that you do not feel safe speeding up to overtake nor do you feel safe slowing down to take an exit. Also as others said, ease off the gas, you don't really need to brake based on diagram you posted if you wanted to slow down.
I also failed my g the first time at Oshawa. Don’t worry about it you’ll pass next time. It sucks right now but in 15 years from now(like me) the only thing that will remind you of it is posts like this! Haha
Same happened to my son. Don’t stress, just take the test again. The test is not “real driving” as most would slow down to allow the trucks to pass. Some instructors are out to fail you no matter what you do.
I don’t think I can edit image posts so I’ll make this comment here. Thanks for all the feedback, I’ll take everything into account. To people wondering if this was a real life driving situation I would have either overtook the truck or probably just missed the exit, I could have timed better and not been in that situation either. I just simply choked under the pressure, I made this post right after failing and I was mad. But, now that it’s been a few days I agree with the fail. Everyone made very valid points so, thanks.
Here is what most examiners would have wanted out of this situation and also for you to do in such scenarios going forward. First things first -
1. Slowing down is not an option. This is there highway.
2. Trying to pass them from the left art a higher speed isn't an option either. You might lost control and it could be tragic for both you and the two trucks.
So what should you do...
Continue at the speed suited for the highway (in this case 100) and then give your turn signals / indicators for a while. But as the situation doesn't allow you to merge into the lane. You simply turn off the signal / indicators and continue straight on there highway, until you find yourself in a better position.
What's more important is safety, than following the instructions. I hope this helps. :)
You were correct. The examiner was a miserable cunt, theres a few of those guys at each location. If he was bald then hes probably one of the cunts that fails people on nothing. He should lose his job.
Had a very similar experience on my G test, now this is almost 15 years ago, but virtually identical to what you encountered.
Completely boxed in by slow moving traffic in the right lane as I try to merge onto the highway. The cars to my left were completely oblivious, neither slowing down or speeding up to allow me space. I was running out of merge lane and had to make a decision.
I checked all my surroundings, absolutely gunned drove for about 10 m on the shoulder to get around and into the right lane of the highway.
Once there I came down to traffic speed of 100 KMH kept appropriate distance with the truck in front of me, signalled early and immediately merged off on the next exit
When we return to the testing centre and I stopped the car. The instructor turned directly to me and said “is there anything you’d like to talk about you did on that test? walk me through it?” “The answer will decide on if you pass or fail. “
Immediately said “yes, the merge onto the highway I was boxed in and the traffic was not responding. I felt I had no safe options to slow down. In the merging lane breaking would be dangerous for cars behind me. so I took the aggressive route, although on the shoulder, I did it quickly and cautiously as possible to avoid a potential accident or obstruction to other vehicles.
The instructor looked at me and said “good you pass.” And “I’m passing you because you took initiative and acted as safely as you could. You were in a bad situation but it’s better to take initiative, safely then to break hard be overly cautious and put others in danger.”
Full pass.
I think what you would’ve had to do is check your mirrors and blind spots, signal to merge, begin deceleration (don’t push on the break, just release the gas and you’ll begin to slow), check your blind spot again then merge once the trucks have passed. Accelerating would’ve also been bad so I can only assume this is the only option other than missing the exit and taking the next one
similar thing happened to me but when the examiner tried to fail me except my examiner tried to grab the wheel and force a turn into a truck. had i not grabbed the wheel back i’d probably be dead. i contested it and explained what happened and that the examiner was clearly holding me accountbly for his personal problems and i would sue the place if i wasn’t retested with a new examiner right away. they restested me and i passed.
Let’s be honest here everyone I spoke to said all the instructors are notorious for being angry or frustrated in Oshawa as soon as they get into the vehicles! I’d say for your next test head up to Lindsay or ptbo easier to do the testing and they are also pretty relaxed. Plus only 2 lane highways!
Take the test in Newmarket next time. It’s the easiest one, 6 in the morning is best since there’s very little traffic, and the highways are mostly clear
I would keep normal speed and miss the exit if necessary. I think the examiner might rather you to miss the exist then any unsafe act (both speed up or down)
One of my frd missed the exit, but his examiner just told him to return to the starting point and try again.
Your tester told you to speed up past the legally allowed speed on the road. They told you to risk a speeding ticket. I’d have went to their manager and stated your “failure” was due to you not willing to abandon the law and speed for no good reason. Also braking to slow down and move over to another lane is not grounds for a failure either. Your tester failed you for following the law, which is ironic.
If the tester told you to take the exit at the last second (so to speak) where there were already two trucks blocking the exit lane, I would have kept my pace and simply state out loud that it's unsafe to cut off 2 semi trucks and that the safest approach is to take the next exit instead.
If I could have merged behind the trucks without braking and just letting my foot off the gas and not drop speed too much, I would have done that, with my turn signal on the entire time to let drivers behind me know that I'm trying to merge behind the trucks.
Sounds like the tester would have failed me in both cases based on your description but ultimately, you did the right thing because in the end, I'm glad to see a safe driver like yourself on the roads that chose not to potentially cause a multi-car pile-up from cutting off two semis and forcing them to slam on their brakes.
So good on you for your defensive driving and sorry to hear you got an asshole to grade you.
Oshawa Tests are corrupt. I failed my first driving test because how I looked. I noticed the instructor had written I failed actions I have not even done yet. Take the test an hour north of you, honest folks up there.
The advice I received when I was 18 was to book tests at the beginning of the month, they fail more people at the end of month to make their quota. I have no idea if there is any truth to this or not but for next time! Give it a go.
Probably one of the best pieces of advice my driving instructor gave me was that on the test I didn’t have to actually exit where the examiner wanted me to. Safety over driving extra, in this scenario best option was to miss the exit and take the next one.
As long as you had your indicator on you absolutely did the right thing. Had you decided to miss the exit entirely(which also would be a safe option) I bet the instructor still would have failed you. Don't be discouraged.
I would have slowed down and failed if I was doing a driving test but usually I would just pass the trucks and exit cause.. racecar vs slow trucks. Sorry you had this situation but its quite common.
I had this happen to me as well.
I think the right answer is to verbalize its not safe and you'll take the next exit.
I think they intentionally do this. I had to change lanes and accelerate to do so (driving lessons) and they definitely waited for my back wheel to be infront of the trailer to tell me to take the exit
You can slow down without hitting your brakes you could have just let off the gas let the trucks overtake you and went on your way but braking to slow down not the smartest move absolutely can see why they would say something but failing seems harsh
That’s a tough call. I would’ve backed off and merged behind as well. Realistically, if you were driving in that scenario in real life, you’d be in the right lane before this point anyways. I usually try to merge over a bit before when I see an opening to avoid a situation like this.
Your examiner was right to fail you. You don’t hit the brakes there. You let off the gas to slow down and then merge. People see brake lights ahead of them on a highway and slam on the brakes themselves. It’s dangerous
Avoid breaking on the highway at all costs. Take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow on its own. Signal as you do this to let the car behind you know you are slowing down to get behind the truck.
Truly I do not understand why slowing down without your brake lights telling drivers behind you that you're slowing is seen as safer than slowing down with the brakes. Abruptly slowing down is dangerous. Indicating you're slowing down: how is this worse than secretly slowing down?!
its not secret, people will follow the speed of traffic in response. Hitting the brakes causes a chain reaction of red brake lights behind you which causes congestion or can cause someone to panic. I have no idea how hard you are going to stop in front of me when your brake lights come on for seemingly no reason. If you let off, signal and lane change, i know you are trying to get over to an exit or out of a lane.
I'm surprised how most people discuss what is less illegal thing to do to make the exit, when in reality, the right and the safest answer would be just to skip the exit.
From your post, he said braking on the highway was unsafe and why you failed, he never said slowing down would have failed you. Sounds like you applied the brakes on the highway that he didn’t like.
To answer your question, slowing down makes you seem like less of a cunt to other drivers on the road. Nobody likes someone who speeds up to cut over and literally everyone will comment on what a douchebag you are, even if you were nowhere near them.
Sometimes it's just bad luck.
I never ran a red light until I did it on my motorcycle license test so it was an instant fail.
You CANNOT speed. So plan ahead. Even if you missed your exit, just take the next one.
I understand why you failed. you should’ve a) never went into your left lane to pass the trucks in the first place or b) if you were in that left lane you should’ve anticipated your exit and got behind the trucks before you passed them.
You need to know what’s going on all around you at all times. You passing the truck to begin with was the fail.
This examiner sounds like a 'karen' in a bad mood. I would call it dumb luck. You did it the way i would have. People behind you are supposed to be paying attention right?
No it's not illegal to brake or slow down on the highway assuming you're not slamming on your brakes and impeding traffic behind you (or intentionally brake-checking someone).
We weren't in the car so we can't tell what the examiner saw and don't have the same context.
Obviously in your opinion you "slowed down" and in his opinion you "slammed the brakes". Maybe you were somewhere in the middle?
Don’t drive in the middle lane.
When the examiner said to merge left then back to the right you should have done both maneuvers in the same open area before reaching the trucks. When behind the truck if you have to brake it’s due to traffic and you won’t fail.
All of their instructions are supposed to be followed with the caveat of "when it's safe to do so" so just say "it isn't safe for me to get off at that exit since you had me enter the middle lane when I wasn't passing anyone" and continue down the highway for the next exit
What you did was def a much safer option and I wouldn’t fail you for that if I were the examiner. Perhaps they meant to tell you to slow down without braking?
Best option is NOT to brake, however if you see these truck remove your foot off the gas and allow your vehicle to naturally decelerate until you are safely behind the truck then merge safely if possible. If the merge is not possible….simply tell the instructor it’s not safe to merge. Safely allow the trucks to safely merge in front of you, move to the far right lane then proceed to the next exit. However if you have to decelerate DO NOT go below 90kph. Any slower than you risk a rear end collision.
Sorry to hear that.
I finally took my G test a couple years ago. Trying not to ever speed, going 100 on the highway (it's being bumped to 110 I heard, but people were still going 120 at the time).
He requested I merge two lanes left, afterwards to exit coming up quick and he told me to get back to the exit. If I maintained speed I couldn't merge with cars zipping by. He pretty much told me to gun it and quickly merge back two lanes over to exit, so I did and he passed me.
After the test I asked if there was anything that I could improve on, he only said I needed to go faster before merging onto the highway.
I think the option you may not be considering is, if its unsafe to brake on the highway, and its also unsafe to accelerate and pass through the trucks, you miss the exit.
Straight outta the Driver Instructions Handbook
There are usually three parts to a freeway exit: a deceleration lane for slowing down that leads drivers out of the main flow of traffic, an exit ramp and an intersection with a stop sign, yield sign or traffic light. When leaving the freeway, signal that you want to move into the deceleration lane, but do not slow down. When you are in the lane, reduce your speed gradually to the speed shown for the exit ramp. Check your speedometer to make sure you are going slowly enough. You may not realize how fast you are going because you are used to the high speed of the freeway. Losing your ability to judge your speed accurately is sometimes called speed adaptation or velocitization. It is a special danger when leaving a freeway. Be prepared to stop at the end of the exit ramp.
Signs telling you that there are freeway exits ahead are far enough in advance for you to make any lane changes safely. If you miss an exit, do not stop or reverse on the freeway. Take the next exit.
The exit lanes are for slowing down in, not the lane to the left of the exit lane. So the driving examiner was correct. Granted, there are situations when we find ourselves unable to do what we are supposed to do. You were unfortunate in finding yourself in a less than ideal circumstances during your driving test. There was no ideal thing to do and pass your driving test given the circumstances. Better luck next time.
Best thing to do is continue past this exit and move over when it's safe. Yes, bit of an inconvenience but that's what you must do to not cause and interruption to flow.
You probably could have released the gas and coasted, if the truck was pressuring your lane so much. Hitting the brakes with nothing in front of you is inviting a rear end.
Generally speaking braking into a lane change tends to be more dangerous than accelerating into one. Best option was to likely pass them at an acceptable speed and hit the next exit or foot off gas and drop in behind them and hit the next exit .
As others have stated, there is a difference between slowing down and braking. In this situation you just back off the gas, your car will instantly start to slow down a bit while the truck beside you maintains speed and passes you in probably less than 5 seconds. You probably would have only need to stop to 95kmh for this maneuver to happen. Then you merge behind him and done. If you hit your brake pedal and the instructor felt the car jerk to slow down, I can sort of see why he failed you.
Were you able to just remove your foot from the gas to slow down? Instead of braking? Or there wasn't enough time for that? I definitely think slowing down is the safer option but it sounds like he said you shouldn't break, not you shouldn't slow down
You never slow down like that to merge, that’s how accidents happen, speeding up to pass is not dangerous, …. slowing down and potentially causing an accident is very dangerous
How did the semis get on your right side? Were you driving over to the left for a while?
Without seeing the whole series of events, I'd say you did the right thing to slow down and move over. Did you have your signal on the whole time?
Did the instructor actually say you should have (broken the law) by speeding to get in front of semis?? That's very curious and worth reporting.
Honest question, is it not an option to state that the request is unreasonable and cannot be completed safely? It definitely sounds like you were put in a no win situation which means the instructor acted irresponsibly. Obviously, in real-world driving it could have easily been done but your options during a test were not appropriate.
Technically, he is very wrong for telling you to speed. It's against the law to speed more than the posted limit, even if it's to pass. You're to slow to merge behind if you can't remain at posted limit and get over for your exit. It's not against the law to brake on the highway.
Contact the driving center, explain the event and that you were failed for following the law AND were encouraged to make an illegal move while being tested. I've had family in a similar situation and the follow up test was free of charge and with a different instructor
I would have put my turning signal on indicating that I’m about to get off the highway and slow down to merge onto the exit, a few idea was to speed up past the two trucks I can see why the examiner would have failed you
After reading all this this reinforces my belief that we should go G1 straight to G or make the G2 renewable if it must be kept. This G2 level is bullshit. What good does it do to society when this G2 driver fails for some bullshit reason by a d*ck examiner, yet can get right back on the road and drive by themselves and have to pay another $100 for a road test wasting time and money.
OP tough luck but try again and try to put this bullshit behind you. Don’t forget to over exaggerate blind spot and mirror head movements during this bullshit test.
Is he a 50 - 60 years old lean white guy with a beard? Cause he failed me G in Oshawa couple of years ago for not over taking a truck going around 110kmph while merging, instead I merged behind it at around 100kmph. I told him I didn’t feel safe overtaking the truck on the ramp. But he failed me. He was mean since he entered the car, and all the time until he exits. Heard a similar story from a friend that the same guy failed him as well. Booked the test after 2 weeks and passed.
He would have failed you in any scenarios.
You: Sped up to pass and take over those big trailers and take an exit.
Instructor: THAT WAS VERY UNSAFE WHAT YOU JUST DID! FAILED!
You: .\_\_\_\_.
To me: As a driver with over a decade of experience, what you did was 100% safer and right way to do it. Or you can just skip the current exit and go for the next if you wanna be even safe.
your Instructors wanted a revenge as he was mad at something as you mention so he just released frustration on you.
What do you do now? Just book an other ROAD TEST and try to go to a different location and you will pass.
The same thing happened to me, although a little different. I had to exit the highway but was in the left lane. Car behind me in the lane, I had to switch to was going super slow. So I signaled right and safely got to the right lane. Lady didn't like that and failed me. Said I changed lanes, almost crashing into the car. Mind due, the car was atleast 2 meters away when I switched lanes.
Don't fret too much. Just go and give the test again in a week. I'm sure you'll pass.
Lol this is also why I failed my test. Intructor wanted me to change lanes to the right but a truck was on that side. I slowed down a bit and let the truck pass and I failed. Unlucky for trying to be safe I guess
If I can’t change lanes in the appropriate way and exit then I would have passed the exit and told the instructor it was not safe to do so and I will take the next exit. From what I remember the examiner always ends the sentence with “when it is safe to do so”, this allows you to not exit. They can’t fail you for being to safe. To be honest it seems like the examiner just put you in a spot to fail…. I’ve heard they need to fail a certain amount of people a week..
Question; if you just got on the highway why did you enter the centre lane? The instructor asked you to merge into traffic but did he state to merge again into the centre lane?
I knew one of the previous testers and people jump to the middle lane without instruction. They’ll wait, then tell you to get off and you’ll either go too fast or go too slow to get back over; Automatic fail.
The examiner was absolutely right. When you slow down on a highway, you create a dangerous situation for everyone behind you. The correct thing to do was to increase the speed, overtake the trucks, merge right, and take the next exit.
Curious if OP would have just missed the exit and told the examiner that he couldnt take the exit because of trucks, would they have still failed them?
To get a clearer picture, do you have a copy of your marking sheet? If it's been less than 2 weeks you can still download it.
Where did the trucks come from?
In the image you provided you are in a passing Lane, so you should be advancing on any traffic to your right.
I'm a little confused, The examiner would have told you what expressway and how fast of an expressway you were merging with, but not to drive at a specific speed. At least that's what they should have done.
Did The examiner ask for the lane change into the passing Lane?
I'm curious if there's a misunderstanding, or just a crappy examiner. Much of the reason I left is because we were not given enough time to explain the results, we were told to go over one positive and one negative. People leave and end up thinking they failed for that one thing that often seems so ridiculous. The more you go over it, like the fish that gets bigger so does how big of an asshole The examiner is.
I mean maybe yours was, but the best and the worst examiners get terrible things said about them.
Op explained this. Examiner told him to merge left. Likely testing him on safe lane changes. Second truck probably overtook him on the right because op was doing the speed limit (as he should be on an exam) and trucks were going faster.
Bro these examiners can actually be dumb as fuck.
I failed because they couldn't hear my signal due to my signal charm not being loud enough, as if I can control it (looked at the dashcam footage to verify)
You actually had four options:
1. Speed up unnecessarily and increase your risk of causing an accident
2. Hit your breaks on the highway to slow down suddenly by 5-10km and move over and increasing your risk of an accident - which you admitted to doing
3. Release your foot off the gas and decrease your speed responsibly and in a controlled fashion for everyone and move over, reducing your risk for an accident
4. Maintain speed to merge safely either between or past the trucks and get off at the next exit safely and track back to where you need to go. Significantly reducing the risk of an accident as you are calmly adapting to the change in the situation vs reacting and causing an accident.
Just because you drive on the highway all the time, clearly means you don’t know how to drive on the highway.
As someone who recently moved from California, I feel the general traffic sense here is lacking. I have encountered more idiots on the road here in a matter of months than I had in California in years.
The instructor and his argument are stupid and I bet he would himself fail the test in places outside Canada. It’s looks especially dumb when the “two tier system” is boasted about here.
I just wanna say, same thing happened to me, I told the examiner "I can't sir it is unsafe to merge" and I did not, I left the next exit and I passed the exam
Slowing down and letting the trucks pass is the better option; accidents happen at higher speeds because the car is harder to control
"but the examiner failed me, stating that braking on the highway" -- slowing down and merging is different than breaking to slow down and merging.
What if there are cars behind you? Is it still okay to slow down to merge?
yes, it is the braking and red lights that cause people to make mistakes and freak out. cars speed up and slow down all the time. put on your blinker while you decrease acceleration and cars behind you will back off and know what is going on
The difference is the braking causing the brake lights to light up. You can slow down by easing off the gas which eliminates the brake light dominoes.
It is perfectly fine to slow down. It is not perfectly fine to hit your brakes and then to continue moving. Take your foot off the gas early enough so that you slow down to get behind. You SHOULD ALWAYS be paying attention to what is in front of you and the only times you should ever be hitting your brakes on the highway is in heavy traffic.
This! It is SO annoying to constantly see brake lights on when there is no one in front of the driver!
This is actually a huge reason why traffic is behind in the first place. All it takes is one person to slow down or brake and it starts a whole domino effect.
This!! I can’t remember where but I read that when one car ‘taps’ their breaks, it causes a 5km slowdown per car. So 10 cars back, depending on the traffic and road conditions, can be over 50kms of speed lost. So buddy in the front of traffic is causing problems by ‘tapping’ and causing sudden decrease in acceleration vs a slow decline in acceleration causing a more controlled and smoother flow of traffic. The ‘tapping’ could be from driving too close and needing to constantly break to prevent rear ending, lack of confidence in driving at high speeds, aging ailments that affect vision, muscular and brain function, etc. whatever causes someone to hit their breaks without reason. Edit: forgot a word
Not on a freeway. If you don't merge soon enough you miss it. Hit the next exit. Paying attention matters.
Yeah don't brake on the highway. That causes so many issues on the highway for people behind you, just coast down
Barely.
How did you spell braking correctly and then incorrectly? Lol
Yes, the correct move would be to let the examiner know you can’t safely make the requested exit and will exit when it’s safe to do so, and backtrack to the required destination
You don’t do either, you take the next exit because you couldn’t execute his instructions safely
Yeah, people are seeing this as a speed up/ slow down question when the safest option in this situation is to just take the next exit. During a test narrate this even. “Not safe to merge without slowing down on the highway, I’ll take the next exit.”
From what I’ve seen with the testers from oshawa the OP would have still failed the test for not following the exact instructions
This is the way.
Bad decision. Should not slow down and just take the next exit.
No it’s not, I recommend you start off the roads and definitely don’t teach anyone how to drive
I mean, you aren’t wrong about control at higher speeds but accidents are typically caused at higher speeds because of speed differential. I would argue you’re far more dangerous to the cars on the highway by slowing down a significant amount or braking for no apparent reason than you are by speeding up to 130 to overtake a car. I was always taught you should really try to avoid deceleration into your lane change and I almost always accelerate into a lane change.
There is only fast. No braking in the fucking highway bud
You should never be slowing in a passing Lane, if there are vehicles passing you on the right you are DANGEROUS. Most accidents are a result of inexperience, a compromised or distracted state, poor driving skills, understanding, or human error, speed mostly just increases the stakes. This part of the world has two to three times the fatality rate of countries that prioritize and strogy adhere to Lane discipline, despite those countries having generally higher road density, larger disparity between commercial and private vehicle sizes, and significantly higher and in some cases no speed limits whatsoever.
Different center but this is the nearly the exact reason nearly why my son failed his first G attempt. He didnt want to go to 120 so he let the trucks pass on his right. Failed instantly for this. I dont get it but he just shook it off and retook the test (and passed)
I was 27 when I did my G. Instructor also wanted to fail me, to which I replied "I would like you to put into writing that you are failing me because I refused to break the law by accelerating well above the posted speed limit, and then cutting off a semi truck dangerously close to an offramp, otherwise I will be immediatly be requesting a conversation with the manager of your location to explain this exact thing." I passed. Those isntructors can be dicks, sometimes you just gotta be a dick right back.
That’s dope what you did man, I wish I stood up for myself more but I was just so shocked with the whole situation
To be fair he’s just lucky the examiner backed off. He could still fail you and your resource is limited. Just try again and hope you get a different one.
You should’ve told him you cant exit safely and that you will exit at the next opportunity if that’s ok.
This sounds like a fan fic, did he communicate that he was going to fail you?
Yes she did. I am not so concerned about internet points that I would lie about it. They easily intimidate meeker people, or younger people, less experienced etc. I had been driving on a G2 for 8 years by the time I went to do my G, I had no reason to back down when they threatened to fail me for that incident.
Driving instructors are like the Reddit mods of the dmv :(
Very true! This also explains the kamikaze style driving I see on the highway when people deal with trucks. There was even a tanker that blew up months ago
It's a dead end from scenario from a pass/fail perspective based on their testing requirement. This specific situation you cant pass because you're cornered into making 2 incorrect choices. The only option is to pick the safest choice and retest
It’s a dead end from the perspective of getting to the exit. But wouldn’t the safer thing here be to miss the exit if you are trying to stay within the test parameters?
Or, skip the exit and remain firm that the testers instructions were dangerous if he failed you for it.
Yeah it’s unfortunate but congratulations to him, I rebooked for July so hopefully I pass this time 🙂
You hit the brakes on the highway instead of just taking your foot off the gas? You can also go to the next exit
This. Examiner always includes “When it is safe to do so…” in their instructions. I think in this situation you say it wasn’t safe to change lanes because you’d have to go too fast or slow down too much to make your exit. So you just take the next one.
Yes I think that’s the right approach. You have to take the next exit and tell the examiner although they know the reason. But breaking and slowing down on the highway is a fail. Tbh all of this is very illogical. As long as you are acting safe ( assuming u are slowing down because there are no cars behind you ) is what we would do in real life situations. Examiners should actually see what logical decisions have been taken instead of going purely by the book. Sorry for you but that’s just how it is
Breaking on a 400 highway for 0 reason is never safe.
I assumed missing the exit is an automatic fail to be honest that’s why I got flustered With the pressure of the test I assumed I couldn’t speed up so checking my rear view mirror I saw there was no car behind me so I gently kissed the break just to ensure I wouldn’t miss the exit but I also get the examiners point of view. I went down at max 5 KM but I guess I can’t do that which is fair
Talk the examiner through your decision in a situation like this, next exit is the right answer if it's as you describe. You were hit with conditions you couldn't meet without getting dinged, due to externalites.
Let go of the gas and you will immediately drop 5km/h, applying your break was unnecessary. Miss the exit next time
Fairs
We want drivers who prioritize road safety over their destination.
The problem with slowing down and braking is that you're in the middle and shouldn't be getting passed by the slow lane. Next time I suggest maybe just taking your foot off the gas sooner, not pressing the brake.
I did my G test in Barrie and did 120+KM the entire test and didn't get dinged. "Go the speed of traffic, I want to wake up tomorrow" is what the instructor told me.
This can be worse. Brake lights indicate clearly to the other cars you are slowing down. Letting off the gas does not. Applying slight brake pressure to trigger your lights plus your signal shows the people behind you your intent. Given this was Toronto though the proper answer was probably just to floor it and try to cut off the truck. Because why the fuck not.
Was the truck in front of you when you changed your lane? Not to say it’s your fault but if that’s the case then you could manage your speed so you could manage the right lane change ahead of the exit.
Slowing down apparently is blasphemy for Drivetest examiners. Considering it was the reason you failed reminds me of [this G test video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7023EypeXXI)
Depends on how big that gap was. You can easily pass a truck in a few seconds. Hesitating and presumably braking on a highway is dangerous and proves your not ready. Driving on the 407 is easy mode. Try some rush hour 401 drives (I'm not kidding)
Try driving in rush hour traffic on the 401 and never using your brake. Go ahead try it.
Stopping on the highway is illegal, not breaking. It's silly they have such rigid standards. It is your responsibility to get on t highway and not for others to move over, etc. in saying that you might have to rocketship through the on ramp. You might have to slow down and enter the highway. You might have to enter the highway at 20kms because someone is afraid of driving or poor road conditions. I dated a lady who was a drive test person, who used to tell me all these little factoids about my driving.
Slowing down on a highway is perfectly fine, I don’t know what this examiner was thinking. As long as you are signaling your intention to change lane before you start slowing down to get behind the truck.
Yeah I signaled, did mirror blind spot everything and then slowed down slightly with a kiss of the brake to let the truck pass but oh well
To be honest, I'd be unpleasantly surprised if a car in front of me would use breaks to merge in. I guess your mistake was getting into this situation in the first place. If you know where your exit is, you are supposed to think a few steps ahead and may be don't accelerate that fast, so you have to break again. In terms of what was the right thing to do in your situation, I'd say the safest option was to just miss the exit and state to the instructor that it wasn't safe to merge.
Wow this is insane, I literally failed my G test like 8\~ years ago due to the exact same situation. The examiner expected to me to speed up beyond the speed limit and quickly cut in front of a truck to make an exit instead of just slightly adjusting my speed lower and merging behind. I think I probably dropped from 100\~ to maybe 90 without even breaking and there was no traffic behind me that I impeded either. I was absolutely shocked at the time, as what the examiner expected me to do both seemed illegal (speeding) and the significantly less safe move.
As someone that drives daily I swear these truckers do this on purpose. Why are you in a the lane where people are getting off and on? WHY? Ya ll are heavy and big. It’s hard to navigate around you. Please go in the middle lane near merging points. It’s very very very very frustrating.
The responsibility is on the person merging to merge safely the truck is already in his lane. Speed up or slow down trucks are supposed to keep in the right lane.
If there’s back to back trucks or cars in the merging lane you quite literally cannot speed up to the 100kms safety needed to pass the G. Thats not fair and very common.
Trucks are supposed to stay in the right lane the middle lane is for passing because they can’t use the left lane. Just like the left lane is supposed to be for passing for regular cars. Most will move over if they see cars coming down the ramp to merge but if they can’t move over because of traffic what do you expect them to do? I don’t see how they could fail you for not getting to 100km to merge if it’s not possible to do so safely.
A bad driver never misses their exit. You made the right call, IMHO.
I failed my first time taking G test because of shitty instructor. They are heavily based. Don’t worry about this. Just focus on booking another test. Before the tests start they usually ask if you have any questions. I would mention this situation to them and ask their opinion so if you have to make the decision again you will know what they prefer. That’s what I did and passed second try
I’ll be sure to ask this next time, thanks!
If they actually said "braking on a highway is not allowed" they shouldn't have a driver's license let alone be handing them out.
They mean that you should take your foot off of the gas before braking, since braking at high speeds is dangerous and has been proven to cause major traffic congestion.
And accidents
Lmfao the amount of times traffic goes from 100 km per hour to 60 is insane - sometimes with only a 2 seconds of braking info to process. I utilize breaks ALOT on Toronto highways. Their mayhem.
If either of those options comprises safety, your third option is to go to the next exit. I don't know why this isn't taught. These days, it seems that everyone either speeds like a maniac or slams on the brakes like a maniac. And, as long as you can explain your safe maneuver adequately to the tester, there should be no problem.
Yeah that’s the most logical thing for sure; I just assumed it was an automatic fail if I missed the exit
You can slow down very quickly at high speeds without breaking. That is probably the issue.
Did u check your score sheet in drivetest.ca? May be it is the accumulated multiple mistakes that causes the fail, not just this big error. In general, going between 90 to 110 kmh is acceptable, but not abrupt and sudden brakes. Remember, you can get a fail if you did any unsafe moves, but marks deducted only in worst case scenerio with driving errors such as slower speed or wasn't able to complete lane changing due to unsafe condition.
You should have slowed to let the trucker get ahead of you, then merge into the right lane. There was no point in speeding up to get in between to rockets. I face this a lot coming home. No need of a potential accident.
I was in a similar situation for my G2 and luckily I had a cool examiner who told me it’s fine to go above the speed limit and pass to get on the exit. I had cars behind me so slowing down would be a no no.
I failed for this exact reason when I was getting my G
This is a tricky one but you should always drive predictably. Braking on the highway when there's no cars in front of you is unpredictable and dangerous
Decelerating and not braking is the correct maneuver. Braking is not. If you are doing 100Km/h = you doing close to 1.5KM/minute. So you have significant travel time and distance to adjust your speed without touching brakes. Unless you are near London just past Woodstock where that one exit and on-ramp are close together you had time and distance to make the exit safely without any sudden changes.
This exact situation happened to me also in Oshawa on my G test back in 2018, except they still passed me. I didn’t think I could speed up to pass the truck so I braked slightly to tuck in behind him and take the exit. The examiner said “what are you doing?” and freaked me out a bit and I thought for sure I had failed but when we got back to the test centre he told me I passed with no issues lol. Frustrating situation to find yourself in for sure
Yeah Same thing with me, he freaked out on me too but I wasn’t lucky enough to pass haha
This is the stupidest driving test I have ever seen
I know other people who failed the same. Get on the 401. Move one lane over. And of course there is a transport. But they have to move back and exit. Our section of the 401 has such short distances between exits. In real driving you would never plan so poorly that you would move if you were getting off. I've been reviewing all these different circumstances with my son as that will be his next test.
Sorry for my ignorance, but is there no appeal process in Ontario? Does the examiner have ultimate authority with no way to appeal the decision to an unbiased commission? It sounds like a perfect job for someone who craves power.
How exactly would you appeal failing your driver’s test? What would you rely on?
For instance, if they allowed dashcam footage from three channels (front, back, and inside) or even one channel with audio, it would still be relevant. They used to allow dashcam footage, so why did this policy change?
I did my g test here about 5 years ago. I had a similar situation. You already know this but you're supposed to get into the exit lane in advance so you don't get into situations like this, but the on ramp and exit there are so close together, one reason why they make you go into the middle lane then right after take the exit. Aside from testing your lane changing skills. It isn't fair in my opinion. I asked my instructor if I can take the next exit as slowing down on the highway to take an exist is as bad as speeding up to take an exist. I said either situation isn't safe. She agreed and let me take the next exit. The end goal here is to drive safely. In every situation you'd want to just take the next exist. If it's not safe, don't do it. Bad drivers never miss their exist. There's always exceptions and weird situations that happen in real life. But if it's unsafe during the test, it's unsafe out side of a test. Next time just let the instructor know that you do not feel safe speeding up to overtake nor do you feel safe slowing down to take an exit. Also as others said, ease off the gas, you don't really need to brake based on diagram you posted if you wanted to slow down.
I also failed my g the first time at Oshawa. Don’t worry about it you’ll pass next time. It sucks right now but in 15 years from now(like me) the only thing that will remind you of it is posts like this! Haha
❤️❤️❤️
Seems like passing vs failing comes down to trucks being in the way
Same happened to my son. Don’t stress, just take the test again. The test is not “real driving” as most would slow down to allow the trucks to pass. Some instructors are out to fail you no matter what you do.
I don’t think I can edit image posts so I’ll make this comment here. Thanks for all the feedback, I’ll take everything into account. To people wondering if this was a real life driving situation I would have either overtook the truck or probably just missed the exit, I could have timed better and not been in that situation either. I just simply choked under the pressure, I made this post right after failing and I was mad. But, now that it’s been a few days I agree with the fail. Everyone made very valid points so, thanks.
Here is what most examiners would have wanted out of this situation and also for you to do in such scenarios going forward. First things first - 1. Slowing down is not an option. This is there highway. 2. Trying to pass them from the left art a higher speed isn't an option either. You might lost control and it could be tragic for both you and the two trucks. So what should you do... Continue at the speed suited for the highway (in this case 100) and then give your turn signals / indicators for a while. But as the situation doesn't allow you to merge into the lane. You simply turn off the signal / indicators and continue straight on there highway, until you find yourself in a better position. What's more important is safety, than following the instructions. I hope this helps. :)
You were correct. The examiner was a miserable cunt, theres a few of those guys at each location. If he was bald then hes probably one of the cunts that fails people on nothing. He should lose his job.
Had a very similar experience on my G test, now this is almost 15 years ago, but virtually identical to what you encountered. Completely boxed in by slow moving traffic in the right lane as I try to merge onto the highway. The cars to my left were completely oblivious, neither slowing down or speeding up to allow me space. I was running out of merge lane and had to make a decision. I checked all my surroundings, absolutely gunned drove for about 10 m on the shoulder to get around and into the right lane of the highway. Once there I came down to traffic speed of 100 KMH kept appropriate distance with the truck in front of me, signalled early and immediately merged off on the next exit When we return to the testing centre and I stopped the car. The instructor turned directly to me and said “is there anything you’d like to talk about you did on that test? walk me through it?” “The answer will decide on if you pass or fail. “ Immediately said “yes, the merge onto the highway I was boxed in and the traffic was not responding. I felt I had no safe options to slow down. In the merging lane breaking would be dangerous for cars behind me. so I took the aggressive route, although on the shoulder, I did it quickly and cautiously as possible to avoid a potential accident or obstruction to other vehicles. The instructor looked at me and said “good you pass.” And “I’m passing you because you took initiative and acted as safely as you could. You were in a bad situation but it’s better to take initiative, safely then to break hard be overly cautious and put others in danger.” Full pass.
Your instructor is a fuck and needs to lighten up
I think what you would’ve had to do is check your mirrors and blind spots, signal to merge, begin deceleration (don’t push on the break, just release the gas and you’ll begin to slow), check your blind spot again then merge once the trucks have passed. Accelerating would’ve also been bad so I can only assume this is the only option other than missing the exit and taking the next one
similar thing happened to me but when the examiner tried to fail me except my examiner tried to grab the wheel and force a turn into a truck. had i not grabbed the wheel back i’d probably be dead. i contested it and explained what happened and that the examiner was clearly holding me accountbly for his personal problems and i would sue the place if i wasn’t retested with a new examiner right away. they restested me and i passed.
Let’s be honest here everyone I spoke to said all the instructors are notorious for being angry or frustrated in Oshawa as soon as they get into the vehicles! I’d say for your next test head up to Lindsay or ptbo easier to do the testing and they are also pretty relaxed. Plus only 2 lane highways!
Take the test in Newmarket next time. It’s the easiest one, 6 in the morning is best since there’s very little traffic, and the highways are mostly clear
Both are a fail. Money grab.
I would keep normal speed and miss the exit if necessary. I think the examiner might rather you to miss the exist then any unsafe act (both speed up or down) One of my frd missed the exit, but his examiner just told him to return to the starting point and try again.
Your tester told you to speed up past the legally allowed speed on the road. They told you to risk a speeding ticket. I’d have went to their manager and stated your “failure” was due to you not willing to abandon the law and speed for no good reason. Also braking to slow down and move over to another lane is not grounds for a failure either. Your tester failed you for following the law, which is ironic.
Sounds like you just got a instructor that was having a bad day and was taking it out on you
If the tester told you to take the exit at the last second (so to speak) where there were already two trucks blocking the exit lane, I would have kept my pace and simply state out loud that it's unsafe to cut off 2 semi trucks and that the safest approach is to take the next exit instead. If I could have merged behind the trucks without braking and just letting my foot off the gas and not drop speed too much, I would have done that, with my turn signal on the entire time to let drivers behind me know that I'm trying to merge behind the trucks. Sounds like the tester would have failed me in both cases based on your description but ultimately, you did the right thing because in the end, I'm glad to see a safe driver like yourself on the roads that chose not to potentially cause a multi-car pile-up from cutting off two semis and forcing them to slam on their brakes. So good on you for your defensive driving and sorry to hear you got an asshole to grade you.
If u are unsure about getting same grumpy instructor then just pick a different driving test city. A friend of mine did that.
Oshawa Tests are corrupt. I failed my first driving test because how I looked. I noticed the instructor had written I failed actions I have not even done yet. Take the test an hour north of you, honest folks up there.
Ah yes merge between two trucks as it’s “safer”
The advice I received when I was 18 was to book tests at the beginning of the month, they fail more people at the end of month to make their quota. I have no idea if there is any truth to this or not but for next time! Give it a go.
Cyclist's fault
Probably one of the best pieces of advice my driving instructor gave me was that on the test I didn’t have to actually exit where the examiner wanted me to. Safety over driving extra, in this scenario best option was to miss the exit and take the next one.
Exact thing happened to me too back in 2020, I retook it and got luckier
As long as you had your indicator on you absolutely did the right thing. Had you decided to miss the exit entirely(which also would be a safe option) I bet the instructor still would have failed you. Don't be discouraged.
I would have slowed down and failed if I was doing a driving test but usually I would just pass the trucks and exit cause.. racecar vs slow trucks. Sorry you had this situation but its quite common.
I had this happen to me as well. I think the right answer is to verbalize its not safe and you'll take the next exit. I think they intentionally do this. I had to change lanes and accelerate to do so (driving lessons) and they definitely waited for my back wheel to be infront of the trailer to tell me to take the exit
You can slow down without hitting your brakes you could have just let off the gas let the trucks overtake you and went on your way but braking to slow down not the smartest move absolutely can see why they would say something but failing seems harsh
That’s a tough call. I would’ve backed off and merged behind as well. Realistically, if you were driving in that scenario in real life, you’d be in the right lane before this point anyways. I usually try to merge over a bit before when I see an opening to avoid a situation like this.
Let off the escalator to slowdown on a highway, don’t break. Breaking causes traffic jams.
Your examiner was right to fail you. You don’t hit the brakes there. You let off the gas to slow down and then merge. People see brake lights ahead of them on a highway and slam on the brakes themselves. It’s dangerous
Valued feedback
Avoid breaking on the highway at all costs. Take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow on its own. Signal as you do this to let the car behind you know you are slowing down to get behind the truck.
Truly I do not understand why slowing down without your brake lights telling drivers behind you that you're slowing is seen as safer than slowing down with the brakes. Abruptly slowing down is dangerous. Indicating you're slowing down: how is this worse than secretly slowing down?!
its not secret, people will follow the speed of traffic in response. Hitting the brakes causes a chain reaction of red brake lights behind you which causes congestion or can cause someone to panic. I have no idea how hard you are going to stop in front of me when your brake lights come on for seemingly no reason. If you let off, signal and lane change, i know you are trying to get over to an exit or out of a lane.
I'm surprised how most people discuss what is less illegal thing to do to make the exit, when in reality, the right and the safest answer would be just to skip the exit.
From your post, he said braking on the highway was unsafe and why you failed, he never said slowing down would have failed you. Sounds like you applied the brakes on the highway that he didn’t like. To answer your question, slowing down makes you seem like less of a cunt to other drivers on the road. Nobody likes someone who speeds up to cut over and literally everyone will comment on what a douchebag you are, even if you were nowhere near them.
Did you let off the gas or did you press the brake where your head jerked forward?
i think the proper thing would be to just take the next exit. the whole reason they always say "when its safe to do so"
Sometimes it's just bad luck. I never ran a red light until I did it on my motorcycle license test so it was an instant fail. You CANNOT speed. So plan ahead. Even if you missed your exit, just take the next one.
I understand why you failed. you should’ve a) never went into your left lane to pass the trucks in the first place or b) if you were in that left lane you should’ve anticipated your exit and got behind the trucks before you passed them. You need to know what’s going on all around you at all times. You passing the truck to begin with was the fail.
Never go under 100 if traffic permits
You must’ve got a few other things wrong. I did this job for years and I find it hard to believe you failed just for this.
This examiner sounds like a 'karen' in a bad mood. I would call it dumb luck. You did it the way i would have. People behind you are supposed to be paying attention right?
He did not give me feedback on a single other thing other than that lol, he literally said just because of that situation I failed
Yeah, that driver evaluator is a douche bag and was obviously having a bad day….. just wait to required time and pass it with flying colours next time
No it's not illegal to brake or slow down on the highway assuming you're not slamming on your brakes and impeding traffic behind you (or intentionally brake-checking someone). We weren't in the car so we can't tell what the examiner saw and don't have the same context. Obviously in your opinion you "slowed down" and in his opinion you "slammed the brakes". Maybe you were somewhere in the middle?
Don’t drive in the middle lane. When the examiner said to merge left then back to the right you should have done both maneuvers in the same open area before reaching the trucks. When behind the truck if you have to brake it’s due to traffic and you won’t fail.
I’ll keep this in mind for next time
All of their instructions are supposed to be followed with the caveat of "when it's safe to do so" so just say "it isn't safe for me to get off at that exit since you had me enter the middle lane when I wasn't passing anyone" and continue down the highway for the next exit
What you did was def a much safer option and I wouldn’t fail you for that if I were the examiner. Perhaps they meant to tell you to slow down without braking?
Best option is NOT to brake, however if you see these truck remove your foot off the gas and allow your vehicle to naturally decelerate until you are safely behind the truck then merge safely if possible. If the merge is not possible….simply tell the instructor it’s not safe to merge. Safely allow the trucks to safely merge in front of you, move to the far right lane then proceed to the next exit. However if you have to decelerate DO NOT go below 90kph. Any slower than you risk a rear end collision.
3rd option: take the next exit. Even a good driver misses their exits once in a while. A bad driver never does.
Sorry to hear that. I finally took my G test a couple years ago. Trying not to ever speed, going 100 on the highway (it's being bumped to 110 I heard, but people were still going 120 at the time). He requested I merge two lanes left, afterwards to exit coming up quick and he told me to get back to the exit. If I maintained speed I couldn't merge with cars zipping by. He pretty much told me to gun it and quickly merge back two lanes over to exit, so I did and he passed me. After the test I asked if there was anything that I could improve on, he only said I needed to go faster before merging onto the highway.
You did the right thing. The examiner is wrong and probably having a bad day.
I think the option you may not be considering is, if its unsafe to brake on the highway, and its also unsafe to accelerate and pass through the trucks, you miss the exit.
Yeah I mentioned somewhere I assumed missing the exit was a fail
Thte safest thing to do is miss your exit and take the next one. A few minutes added to your life vs potentially ending your life.
Braking on the highway isn’t allowed. You can just let go of the gas. It’s not an on off switch.
Straight outta the Driver Instructions Handbook There are usually three parts to a freeway exit: a deceleration lane for slowing down that leads drivers out of the main flow of traffic, an exit ramp and an intersection with a stop sign, yield sign or traffic light. When leaving the freeway, signal that you want to move into the deceleration lane, but do not slow down. When you are in the lane, reduce your speed gradually to the speed shown for the exit ramp. Check your speedometer to make sure you are going slowly enough. You may not realize how fast you are going because you are used to the high speed of the freeway. Losing your ability to judge your speed accurately is sometimes called speed adaptation or velocitization. It is a special danger when leaving a freeway. Be prepared to stop at the end of the exit ramp. Signs telling you that there are freeway exits ahead are far enough in advance for you to make any lane changes safely. If you miss an exit, do not stop or reverse on the freeway. Take the next exit.
You slow down by letting up off the gas, not by breaking. What you should have done is properly anticipate how to exit safely well in advance.
Omg the comments here are validating my feelings about the fact that 50% of current drivers should not be on the road.
The exit lanes are for slowing down in, not the lane to the left of the exit lane. So the driving examiner was correct. Granted, there are situations when we find ourselves unable to do what we are supposed to do. You were unfortunate in finding yourself in a less than ideal circumstances during your driving test. There was no ideal thing to do and pass your driving test given the circumstances. Better luck next time.
Best thing to do is continue past this exit and move over when it's safe. Yes, bit of an inconvenience but that's what you must do to not cause and interruption to flow.
You should have taken the next exit.
You probably could have released the gas and coasted, if the truck was pressuring your lane so much. Hitting the brakes with nothing in front of you is inviting a rear end.
Generally speaking braking into a lane change tends to be more dangerous than accelerating into one. Best option was to likely pass them at an acceptable speed and hit the next exit or foot off gas and drop in behind them and hit the next exit .
As others have stated, there is a difference between slowing down and braking. In this situation you just back off the gas, your car will instantly start to slow down a bit while the truck beside you maintains speed and passes you in probably less than 5 seconds. You probably would have only need to stop to 95kmh for this maneuver to happen. Then you merge behind him and done. If you hit your brake pedal and the instructor felt the car jerk to slow down, I can sort of see why he failed you.
Were you able to just remove your foot from the gas to slow down? Instead of braking? Or there wasn't enough time for that? I definitely think slowing down is the safer option but it sounds like he said you shouldn't break, not you shouldn't slow down
slow down or break? Breaking is bad
Technically ur supposed to be driving in the right lane except when passing. In which case this situation wouldn't have presented itself
You never slow down like that to merge, that’s how accidents happen, speeding up to pass is not dangerous, …. slowing down and potentially causing an accident is very dangerous
How did the semis get on your right side? Were you driving over to the left for a while? Without seeing the whole series of events, I'd say you did the right thing to slow down and move over. Did you have your signal on the whole time? Did the instructor actually say you should have (broken the law) by speeding to get in front of semis?? That's very curious and worth reporting.
Honest question, is it not an option to state that the request is unreasonable and cannot be completed safely? It definitely sounds like you were put in a no win situation which means the instructor acted irresponsibly. Obviously, in real-world driving it could have easily been done but your options during a test were not appropriate.
Technically, he is very wrong for telling you to speed. It's against the law to speed more than the posted limit, even if it's to pass. You're to slow to merge behind if you can't remain at posted limit and get over for your exit. It's not against the law to brake on the highway.
Contact the driving center, explain the event and that you were failed for following the law AND were encouraged to make an illegal move while being tested. I've had family in a similar situation and the follow up test was free of charge and with a different instructor
In between accelerating and braking is a third option: let off the gas. Don’t brake on the highway unless the guy in front of you is braking.
You dont have to brake to slow down.
I would have put my turning signal on indicating that I’m about to get off the highway and slow down to merge onto the exit, a few idea was to speed up past the two trucks I can see why the examiner would have failed you
What would have happened if you went to the next exit?
After reading all this this reinforces my belief that we should go G1 straight to G or make the G2 renewable if it must be kept. This G2 level is bullshit. What good does it do to society when this G2 driver fails for some bullshit reason by a d*ck examiner, yet can get right back on the road and drive by themselves and have to pay another $100 for a road test wasting time and money. OP tough luck but try again and try to put this bullshit behind you. Don’t forget to over exaggerate blind spot and mirror head movements during this bullshit test.
he's not wrong
Is he a 50 - 60 years old lean white guy with a beard? Cause he failed me G in Oshawa couple of years ago for not over taking a truck going around 110kmph while merging, instead I merged behind it at around 100kmph. I told him I didn’t feel safe overtaking the truck on the ramp. But he failed me. He was mean since he entered the car, and all the time until he exits. Heard a similar story from a friend that the same guy failed him as well. Booked the test after 2 weeks and passed.
He would have failed you in any scenarios. You: Sped up to pass and take over those big trailers and take an exit. Instructor: THAT WAS VERY UNSAFE WHAT YOU JUST DID! FAILED! You: .\_\_\_\_. To me: As a driver with over a decade of experience, what you did was 100% safer and right way to do it. Or you can just skip the current exit and go for the next if you wanna be even safe. your Instructors wanted a revenge as he was mad at something as you mention so he just released frustration on you. What do you do now? Just book an other ROAD TEST and try to go to a different location and you will pass.
More drivers need to understand that you can slow down without breaking. Put your signal on, ease off the gas, and merge when it is safe to do so.
The same thing happened to me, although a little different. I had to exit the highway but was in the left lane. Car behind me in the lane, I had to switch to was going super slow. So I signaled right and safely got to the right lane. Lady didn't like that and failed me. Said I changed lanes, almost crashing into the car. Mind due, the car was atleast 2 meters away when I switched lanes. Don't fret too much. Just go and give the test again in a week. I'm sure you'll pass.
Lol this is also why I failed my test. Intructor wanted me to change lanes to the right but a truck was on that side. I slowed down a bit and let the truck pass and I failed. Unlucky for trying to be safe I guess
If I can’t change lanes in the appropriate way and exit then I would have passed the exit and told the instructor it was not safe to do so and I will take the next exit. From what I remember the examiner always ends the sentence with “when it is safe to do so”, this allows you to not exit. They can’t fail you for being to safe. To be honest it seems like the examiner just put you in a spot to fail…. I’ve heard they need to fail a certain amount of people a week..
Question; if you just got on the highway why did you enter the centre lane? The instructor asked you to merge into traffic but did he state to merge again into the centre lane? I knew one of the previous testers and people jump to the middle lane without instruction. They’ll wait, then tell you to get off and you’ll either go too fast or go too slow to get back over; Automatic fail.
Seems to me the answer is if the turn is unsafe take the next exit. I am sure the examiner would have preferred this as well
The examiner was absolutely right. When you slow down on a highway, you create a dangerous situation for everyone behind you. The correct thing to do was to increase the speed, overtake the trucks, merge right, and take the next exit.
no need to brake, just ease off the accelerator. braking to get over is no bueno.
Curious if OP would have just missed the exit and told the examiner that he couldnt take the exit because of trucks, would they have still failed them?
To get a clearer picture, do you have a copy of your marking sheet? If it's been less than 2 weeks you can still download it. Where did the trucks come from? In the image you provided you are in a passing Lane, so you should be advancing on any traffic to your right. I'm a little confused, The examiner would have told you what expressway and how fast of an expressway you were merging with, but not to drive at a specific speed. At least that's what they should have done. Did The examiner ask for the lane change into the passing Lane? I'm curious if there's a misunderstanding, or just a crappy examiner. Much of the reason I left is because we were not given enough time to explain the results, we were told to go over one positive and one negative. People leave and end up thinking they failed for that one thing that often seems so ridiculous. The more you go over it, like the fish that gets bigger so does how big of an asshole The examiner is. I mean maybe yours was, but the best and the worst examiners get terrible things said about them.
Go to drivers ed if you can’t figure this out or don’t drive
I'm just curious why you weren't in the rightmost lane since you weren't passing the trucks. In BC that would be a fail on a highway.
Op explained this. Examiner told him to merge left. Likely testing him on safe lane changes. Second truck probably overtook him on the right because op was doing the speed limit (as he should be on an exam) and trucks were going faster.
Ooh sorry, I read "merge left" as "enter the highway using the merge lane". Makes sense.
Bro these examiners can actually be dumb as fuck. I failed because they couldn't hear my signal due to my signal charm not being loud enough, as if I can control it (looked at the dashcam footage to verify)
You actually had four options: 1. Speed up unnecessarily and increase your risk of causing an accident 2. Hit your breaks on the highway to slow down suddenly by 5-10km and move over and increasing your risk of an accident - which you admitted to doing 3. Release your foot off the gas and decrease your speed responsibly and in a controlled fashion for everyone and move over, reducing your risk for an accident 4. Maintain speed to merge safely either between or past the trucks and get off at the next exit safely and track back to where you need to go. Significantly reducing the risk of an accident as you are calmly adapting to the change in the situation vs reacting and causing an accident. Just because you drive on the highway all the time, clearly means you don’t know how to drive on the highway.
As someone who recently moved from California, I feel the general traffic sense here is lacking. I have encountered more idiots on the road here in a matter of months than I had in California in years. The instructor and his argument are stupid and I bet he would himself fail the test in places outside Canada. It’s looks especially dumb when the “two tier system” is boasted about here.
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Sorry, I was speaking about Toronto, not Canada
you just got unluckly that day. I failed G once because I went for the safer option too
I just wanna say, same thing happened to me, I told the examiner "I can't sir it is unsafe to merge" and I did not, I left the next exit and I passed the exam