UK’s worst L-plate drivers exposed as being so dangerous they failed over 13 times

Last year, 28 learner drivers committed 10 or more serious or dangerous faults last year during their driving tests, including not looking in mirrors and ignoring traffic lights

The nation’s worst L-plate drivers have been exposed as being so dangerous they could have failed their driving test as many as THIRTEEN times over because of all the blunders they made.

These drivers were so bad other motorists and pedestrians had to take evasive action to avoid accidents, while the examiners also recorded errors that could have resulted in a pile-up if the road had not been empty.

The worst errors saw these drivers ignore traffic lights, pull out of junctions without looking, drive in the wrong part of the road and almost mow down people on pedestrian crossings.

Records released by the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) show there were 28 L-plate drivers who clocked up a total of 10 or more serious or dangerous faults while taking their tests in the last year.

Just ONE serious or dangerous fault is enough to fail a test showing these rookie motorists gave the examiners a hair-raising ride.

A dangerous fault is logged when an accident is only avoided because another road user has taken swift action to avoid a calamity, while a serious fault is logged when sloppy driving could have triggered an accident if somebody else had been using the road.

The worst driver managed to clock up 12 serious faults and one dangerous fault, meaning they were frequently a whisker away from an accident.

Among the man’s catalogue of disaster was failing to look in their mirrors which almost caused an accident, driving in the wrong part of the road, speeding and failing to take notice of traffic lights and road markings.

A woman driver also clocked up 11 serious faults and one dangerous fault. These included a hazardous pull away from the kerb, failing to look in their mirrors, ignoring traffic lights and failing to see other vehicles when negotiating a junction.

Other drivers who had a total of 10 serious or dangerous errors guilty of not looking in their mirrors when changing direction, moving off dangerously and ignoring road signs.

The DVSA also revealed the people who flunked their test last year after having the most attempts in the last 12 months to jettison their L-plates.

There was a person who last year took got behind the wheel for test number 43 but was again failed by the examiner.

However, there was a success for a person who had previously failed the test on 36 occasions but passed on test number 37.

An AA spokesperson said: “Learning to drive and passing your driving test is a key life milestone for many people, which opens up independent travel and enables access to education and employment.

“The driving test is necessarily robust and around half of the 1.9 million learners who take a test every year do fail.

“Nerves can play a big part in how someone performs during their driving test, especially at the moment when the majority of test centres have 24 week waits to secure a test slot.

“Learners should try to make sure they are as ready as possible for their test – a good instructor will help with this and ensure they have some mock test practice under their belt.

“Ensuring novice drivers are safe when they pass their test is vitally important for all road users.

“As well as a robust driving test, we would also like to see changes made post-test, such as limiting peer-age passengers for new drivers under the age of 21 first the first six months after gaining their licence, to help support new drivers as they gain experience.”

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